By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Friday's game

The simple explanation would be that Jeff Austin just couldn't find the strike zone Friday. But in the mind of Austin, the Reds starting pitcher and a former Stanford student, what happened in an 8-4 loss against the Marlins at Great American Ball Park is much more complicated than that.

"After I walked the first guy, I think the little hamster in my mind started running on its wheel and he ran out of control," Austin said. "I started thinking about things. I started hearing some boos and my confidence went down. I just started thinking too much. That's a problem I have.

"If I don't pitch with confidence and don't trust my stuff, then I'm not very good. And I was terrible tonight."

Austin failed to record an out and was pulled after facing seven batters in the first inning.

The right-hander, who has spent the last two seasons moving between the big leagues and Triple-A, allowed five runs on three hits and walked four before 30,596 fans.

He has allowed 10 earned runs and walked 10 in his past two starts spanning 3 1/3 innings.

"I hope going up and down in the past hasn't somehow conditioned me that at the first sign of trouble I think I'm going to get sent down," Austin said. "I don't think my performance tonight warranted me any kind of secure spot at all here on this team or any team."

The Marlins were ahead 4-0 by the time Reds manager Bob Boone relieved Austin.

"I didn't see him attacking the strike zone," Boone said. "He just couldn't throw a strike."

Added pitching coach Don Gullett: "You may not have good stuff on a particular night, but you still have to go after hitters."

Florida snapped a six-game losing streak with the win, which was the first in Cincinnati for their new manager, Jack McKeon, since the Reds fired him in 2000.

"I didn't think much about (being back)," McKeon said. "I was just happy with a win. I don't care what town it was in, but it was nice really. We needed to win more than they did."

Felix Heredia took over for Austin and allowed one run in a career-high five innings of relief.

Austin's early exit could've limited the Reds bullpen for the next few days, but Heredia's effort saved some arms.

"If Heredia couldn't have done that," Boone said, "we would've been strapped."

Brian Reith and Scott Sullivan each pitched an inning. Kent Mercker allowed home runs in the eighth and ninth to make it 8-3.

Behind from the start, Marlins pitcher Tommy Phelps held the Reds offense hitless for the first 2 2/3 innings. The Reds had their home run streak snapped at 16 games.

Phelps was starting in place of Brad Penny, who was a late scratch because of the flu.

Heredia singled down the third-base line for the Reds' first hit in the third with the score 6-0.

Wily Mo Pena drove home the Reds' first run with a double to center field in the fifth to make it 6-1.

The Reds loaded the bases with one out in the sixth but failed to score.

Reggie Taylor, pinch hitting in the seventh, generated two runs with an RBI triple to right off Marlins reliever Tim Spooneybarger. He later scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-3. Ryan Freel's run-scoring single in the ninth made it 8-4.

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E-mail kkelly@enquirer.com

Florida	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Pierre cf	4	1	0	0	1	0	.288
LCastillo 2b	4	1	2	0	1	1	.326
IRodriguez c	5	2	2	1	0	2	.255
Lowell 3b	3	2	2	2	2	0	.279
DeLee 1b	5	1	2	1	0	1	.244
JEncarnacion rf	5	0	1	1	0	0	.274
AGonzalez ss	4	0	0	0	1	0	.323
BBanks lf	4	1	3	2	1	0	.216
Phelps p	2	0	0	0	1	1	.000
Spooneybarger p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
CAllen ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Looper p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	38	8	12	7	7	7

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
FLopez ss	4	0	0	0	0	2	.235
Casey 1b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.299
Griffey Jr. cf	3	0	0	0	1	1	.239
Kearns rf	4	0	1	0	0	0	.307
ABoone 3b	4	0	1	0	0	2	.266
Dunn lf	3	1	0	0	1	1	.232
LaRue c	4	1	1	0	0	0	.254
JCastro 2b	2	1	1	0	0	0	.258
Freel 2b	2	0	1	1	0	0	.174
Austin p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
Heredia p	1	0	1	0	0	0	.500
WPena ph	1	0	1	1	0	0	.100
Reith p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Sullivan p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Taylor ph	1	1	1	1	0	0	.259
Mercker p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JGuillen ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Totals	34	4	9	3	2	6

Florida	510	000	011	-8	12	0
Cincinnati	000	010	201	-4	9	2

E-FLopez (15), ABoone (6). LOB-Florida 10, Cincinnati 5. 2B-IRodriguez 2 (5), Lowell (12), WPena (1). 3B-Taylor (2). HR-Lowell (15), off Mercker; BBanks (3), off Mercker. RBIs-IRodriguez (24), Lowell 2 (39), DeLee (24), JEncarnacion (25), BBanks 2 (10), Freel (2), WPena (2), Taylor (9). SB-Dunn (3). GIDP-Pierre, JEncarnacion, Dunn, JGuillen.

Runners left in scoring position-Florida 4 (Pierre, Lowell, DeLee, CAllen); Cincinnati 1 (FLopez).

Runners moved up-JEncarnacion.

Florida	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Phelps W, 1-0	5 1/3	5	1	1	1	4	71	1.21
Spooneybarger	2 2/3	3	2	2	0	2	32	4.15
Looper	1	1	1	1	1	0	18	3.00

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Austin L, 2-2	0	3	5	5	4	0	30	7.16
Heredia	5	5	1	1	1	3	51	2.25
Reith	1	1	0	0	1	0	17	4.11
Sullivan	1	0	0	0	0	1	16	4.91
Mercker	2	3	2	2	1	3	41	2.55

Austin pitched to 7 batters in the 1st.

WP-Spooneybarger, Heredia, Mercker. PB-LaRue.

Umpires-Home, Mike Reilly; First, Tim Timmons; Second, Bill Hohn; Third, Eric Cooper.

T-2:38. A-30,596 (42,263).