By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Tuesday's game

As he sat by his locker late Tuesday, Aaron Boone sifted through more than his postgame meal.

A 2-1 loss against the Dodgers at Great American Ball Park was the 14th in 20 games this season for the Reds.

To Boone, however, it was a victory lost.

"It's not acceptable," the Reds third baseman said.

"Sometimes when things start going bad ... it's not okay. This should stink tonight. This is a game we had, a game we had a chance to win.

"With that said, I do think we are starting to play better."

Missed opportunities cost the Reds their second consecutive win and starting pitcher Paul Wilson his first victory of the season.

Cincinnati left 10 men on base and was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position while Wilson turned in the club's first quality start in 10 games.

"We've looked more like a solid ball club (lately)," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "I think a lot of the early losses hurt because we didn't play very well.

"Then you've got games like this and you don't have (Ken Griffey Jr.) here. If we play like this and have Junior's bat in the lineup that would make a significant difference."

The announced crowd of 19,029 was the smallest to see a game so far at Great American Ball Park. The total did not include 7,100 Kid Glove tickets.

Those who came saw the Dodgers take a lead on Wilson's 108th and final pitch of the game.

Making his fourth and easily best start of the season, Wilson allowed two runs on seven hits, striking out eight and walking one in 7 2/3 innings.

"I really wanted to be down in the zone, focus on being aggressive and being down," Wilson said. "We were there all night. But I let it get away from me."

Held to one hit through the first 5 1/3 innings, Los Angeles scored one run in both the seventh and eighth innings off Wilson.

Left fielder Brian Jordan singled to right field, scoring center fielder Dave Roberts with help from an error by Reds right fielder Ruben Mateo. The ball skipped off Mateo's glove, allowing Roberts enough time to score easily.

"I had a lead and I let it go," said Wilson, who threw a sinker to Jordan. "... It was my game to win and I didn't."

It was Jordan who, with two outs in the fourth inning, got the first hit off Wilson.

The Reds, who had fallen behind in their previous six games, already were up 1-0 at the time Jordan reached.

Shortstop Felipe Lopez drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and stole second. He scored on a single to left by Aaron Boone, who made his first start of the season at third base.

The Reds left at least one runner on base in each of the first six innings Tuesday.

The Dodgers tied the game at one in the seventh.

Cincinnati left a runner on second in the eighth as Dodgers relievers struck out five of the final six batters they faced.

The Reds struck out 13 times in the first homerless game at Great American Ball Park.

"I thought we put a real good game together tonight," Bob Boone said. "We didn't get key hits when we needed them. But that's part of this game."

Los Angeles	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
DRoberts cf	4	1	1	0	0	0	.310
Lo Duca c	4	0	1	0	0	1	.290
ShGreen rf	4	0	0	0	0	3	.309
BJordan lf	4	0	2	1	0	0	.280
McGriff 1b	4	0	1	0	0	1	.225
Kinkade 3b	2	1	0	0	1	1	.182
Coomer 3b	1	0	0	0	0	0	.118
Beltre 3b	0	0	0	0	0	0	.190
Cora 2b	3	0	1	0	0	0	.224
Izturis ss	4	0	1	1	0	0	.232
Ishii p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.000
Ward ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Shuey p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
TMartin p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Quantrill p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Gagne p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	33	2	7	2	1	8

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
FLopez ss	3	1	1	0	2	2	.211
JCastro 2b	5	0	0	0	0	2	.389
Casey 1b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.364
Kearns cf-rf	3	0	1	0	1	1	.294
ABoone 3b	3	0	2	1	0	0	.235
Dunn lf	4	0	0	0	0	2	.219
RMateo rf	3	0	0	0	0	2	.179
Taylor ph-cf	1	0	0	0	0	1	.188
LaRue c	2	0	1	0	2	1	.192
PWilson p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.000
GWhite p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Sullivan p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JGuillen ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.240
Totals	31	1	6	1	5	13

Los Angeles	000	000	110	-2	7	2
Cincinnati	100	000	000	-1	6	1

E-DRoberts (1), Kinkade (1), RMateo (1). LOB-Los Angeles 6, Cincinnati 10. RBIs-BJordan (12), Izturis (2), ABoone (12). SB-DRoberts (10), FLopez (1), ABoone (2), Dunn (1), LaRue 2 (2). CS-FLopez (1), Kearns (2). S-ABoone, PWilson.

Los Angeles	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Ishii	6	5	1	1	4	7	117	3.57
Shuey W, 2-1	1 1/3	1	0	0	0	1	13	0.79
TMartin H, 4	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	7	1.23
Quantrill H, 2	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	4	2.45
Gagne S, 5	1	0	0	0	1	3	19	0.00

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
PWilson L, 0-2	7 2/3	7	2	2	1	8	107	3.38
GWhite	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	1	2.79
Sullivan	1	0	0	0	0	0	12	4.22

IBB-off Ishii (LaRue) 2. HBP-by PWilson (Cora).

Umpires-Home, Phil Cuzzi; First, Jerry Crawford; Second, Brian O'Nora; Third, Larry Poncino.

T-2:59. A-19,029 (42,263).