By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Sammy Sosa hits a home run off Reds starting pitcher Danny Graves in the fourth inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

CHICAGO - If the Reds' Web site did a poll on whether Danny Graves should be sent back to the bullpen, the vote wouldn't be close.

But there are only two votes that count, and Reds manager Bob Boone and Graves aren't ready to give up on the idea of Graves being a starter.

So far, however, it clearly is not working.

Graves gave up nine runs (six earned) on 11 hits over five innings in the Reds' 11-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday at Wrigley Field. The loss ended a seven-game winning streak by the Reds at Wrigley.

"That was a step forward," Boone said of Graves' performance. "That's the best he's thrown."

That's an indication of how bad Graves was in his two previous starts and how far he has to go to be effective.

Graves was perplexed by his performance.

"I'm at a loss for words," he said. "I cruised the first three innings, and then the floodgates opened."

Graves allowed five runs in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth.

But he and Boone don't think it's a product of Graves moving from the closer role to starter.

Reds starting pitcher Danny Graves in the first inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

"Not at all," Graves said. "I still think this can work. Obviously, the first three starts are not up to par. Right now, nothing's working, and I'm not catching any breaks."

Graves came into this season with a 33-21 record and a 3.32 ERA as a Red. He had allowed 1.31 walks and/or hits per inning over 477 innings.

This year, he is 0-2 with an 8.62 ERA. He has allowed 2.15 walks/hits per inning over 15 2/3 innings.

Boone doesn't think the shift to starting is behind the bad numbers.

"I don't question the role," he said. "Today was the best accuracy we've seen him have (this year). We haven't seen the velocity or the good sinker. Without that, he's not Danny Graves."

Graves threw 99 pitches Tuesday. Boone saw no sign of fatigue.

"His stuff didn't drop off," Boone said. "His location did. His arm strength is improving. He did miss eight days (with a sore knee) in spring training. We should start to see the velocity we're used to."

He was Danny Graves early Tuesday. He got three groundball outs around Sammy Sosa's double in first. He struck out two and got another groundball out in the second. The third inning was also routine, although the Cubs did line out for the final two outs.

"I did exactly what I wanted to," Graves said.

It all changed with Sosa's at-bat to lead off the fourth. The count was 2-2 when Graves threw a sinker in, which Sosa hit out.

"It wasn't even up. But Sammy's a low-ball hitter," Graves said.

Troy O'Leary followed with a single and stole second. Hee Seop Choi walked, and Ramon Martinez singled to score another run. Mark Bellhorn singled.

Graves then got Paul Bako to fly to shallow left. The wind took the ball away from Adam Dunn, who had it go off his glove for an error after a long run. Another run scored to make it 3-0.

After Graves got Cubs starter Shawn Estes, Corey Patterson hit a ball down the left-field line that sliced away from Dunn for a two-run double.

Graves could have pitched well and it's likely the Reds still would have lost - they didn't manage a hit off Estes until the sixth inning. They totaled five hits to 14 for the Cubs, marking the 14th straight game the Reds (5-9) have not outhit their foe.

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
FLopez ss	3	0	0	0	1	0	.125
ABoone 2b	3	0	0	0	0	0	.228
JManzanillo p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JGuillen ph	1	0	1	0	0	0	.333
Heredia p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Casey 1b	3	1	1	0	0	0	.327
Kearns rf	4	0	0	0	0	0	.292
Dunn lf	4	0	0	1	0	1	.200
RMateo cf	3	0	1	0	1	0	.133
Larson 3b	4	0	0	0	0	2	.098
Stinnett c	3	0	1	0	0	0	.500
Graves p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
WPena ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
JCastro 2b	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.000
Totals	31	1	5	1	2	5

Chicago	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
CPatterson cf	5	1	2	2	0	1	.308
ASGonzalez ss	5	0	0	0	0	0	.321
SSosa rf	4	1	3	3	1	1	.341
O'Leary lf	5	1	1	0	0	1	.100
Choi 1b	4	3	2	1	1	2	.250
REMartinez 2b	5	2	2	1	0	0	.231
Bellhorn 3b	4	2	2	3	1	1	.175
Bako c	3	0	2	1	1	1	.429
Estes p	2	1	0	0	0	0	.000
Farnsworth p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	37	11	14	11	4	7

Cincinnati	000	000	100	-1	5	2
Chicago	000	542	00x	-11	14	0

E-Dunn (3), Larson (3). LOB-Cincinnati 6, Chicago 9. 2B-Stinnett (2), CPatterson (3), SSosa 2 (6), REMartinez (1). HR-Bellhorn (1) off JManzanillo; Choi (2) off JManzanillo; SSosa (2) off Graves. RBIs-Dunn (9), CPatterson 2 (11), SSosa 3 (9), Choi (5), REMartinez (2), Bellhorn 3 (11), Bako (7). SB-O'Leary (1). S-Estes 2. SF-Bako. GIDP-Kearns. DP-Chicago 1.

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Graves L, 0-2	5	11	9	6	3	2	99	8.62
Jmanzanillo	2	3	2	2	0	3	33	7.56
Heredia	1	0	0	0	1	2	19	1.17

Chicago	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Estes W, 1-1	8	5	1	1	1	4	102	3.50
Farnsworth	1	0	0	0	1	1	14	3.18

IBB-off Graves (SSosa) 1. HBP-by Estes (Casey). WP-Estes. Umpires-Home, Paul Nauert; First, Gerry Davis; Second, Ed Rapuano; Third, Mark Carlson. T-2:16. A-31,642 (39,241).