By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Saturday's game

MIAMI - In Danny Graves' mind, the game came down to two suicide squeezes. One was perfectly executed. The other was not.

The Reds failed early. The Marlins were successful late. The result was a 3-2 Florida victory over the Reds before a crowd of 16,190 at Pro Player Stadium Saturday night.

"To me, that was the difference in the game," Graves said.

The Reds have lost four of five to the Marlins this year and are 5-10 overall in their last 15 games.

Graves blamed himself for this one. Not because of how he pitched, but for the squeeze that wasn't.

The play came in the second inning when Aaron Boone led off with a triple. Sean Casey singled into left, and Boone scored. Jason LaRue followed with a ball right fielder Juan Encarnacion lost in the sun. It hit on the warning track and bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double.

That gave the Reds a 1-0 lead, with runners at second and third and no outs.

In other words, a two- or three-run lead just waiting to happen.

Florida starter Dontrelle Willis got Juan Castro to pop to shallow center for the first out.

That brought Graves to the plate. Willis was throwing pitches up to Graves - perfect for bunting.

"But then we put the squeeze on and he throws it low and away," Graves said. "I did all I could to foul it off."

Graves struck out, Felipe Lopez followed suit, and the Reds' inning was over.

"They're giving us the run," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "All you have to do is touch it to the right side."

Graves agreed.

"That's a run right there," he said. "No one expects us (pitchers) to hit .300, but we're in the National League, we've got to do something when we get up there."

Now, contrast that with the Marlins' third run, which scored on the squeeze. Juan Pierre was at the plate in the seventh with Alex Gonzalez at third.

Graves saw Gonzalez break and thought: suicide squeeze.

"I've always been told when the squeeze is on, throw it right at them," Graves said. "That's what I did. It was right at his belt, maybe a little lower."

Pierre still got the bunt down.

Other than those two plays the game was even.

The Reds got an excellent performance out of Graves, who went 7 2/3 innings, giving up nine hits and three runs, walking three and striking out nobody. Indeed, no Marlin struck out on the night.

Florida got an excellent performance out of Willis, who went seven innings, giving up five hits, one run, three walks, and striking out eight.

Willis (3-1) also beat Graves (3-4) a week ago in Cincinnati. In his two starts against the Reds, Willis has gone 15 innings and allowed one run for a 0.60 ERA.

The 21-year-old rookie left-hander has a herky-jerky motion - and a 93 mph fastball.

The Reds' 1-0 lead didn't last long. The Marlins used their speed to tie it in the third. Pierre walked, stole second and went to third when LaRue's throw went into center field. Pierre scored an out later on Ivan Rodriguez's single.

Willis got himself a lead by hitting the first pitch of the fifth inning to right-center - a 403-foot shot. Willis' theory on hitting is swing hard.

Pierre's squeeze made it 3-1.

The Reds got the run back in the eighth, but Braden Looper, who blew the save Friday, got through the ninth this time.

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
FLopez ss	4	0	0	0	0	3	.219
JGuillen lf	3	1	1	0	1	0	.341
Griffey Jr. cf	4	0	1	1	0	2	.279
Kearns rf	3	0	0	0	1	1	.290
ABoone 3b	4	1	1	0	0	1	.256
Casey 1b	3	0	1	1	1	0	.288
LaRue c	3	0	2	0	0	0	.244
Dunn ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	.218
JCastro 2b	3	0	0	0	0	1	.238
Branyan ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Graves p	3	0	0	0	0	2	.111
Mercker p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	31	2	6	2	4	10

Florida	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Pierre cf	2	1	0	1	1	0	.298
LCastillo 2b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.324
IRodriguez c	3	0	2	1	1	0	.247
Lowell 3b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.291
DeLee 1b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.250
JEncarnacion rf	4	0	3	0	0	0	.286
Hollandsworth lf	4	0	1	0	0	0	.296
AGonzalez ss	2	1	1	0	1	0	.324
Willis p	2	1	1	1	0	0	.182
Mordecai ph	0	0	0	0	0	0	.171
Spooneybarger p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Looper p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	29	3	9	3	3	0

Cincinnati	010	000	010	-2	6	1
Florida	001	010	10x	-3	9	1

E-LaRue (2), Willis (2). LOB-Cincinnati 6, Florida 7. 2B-JGuillen (8), Griffey Jr. (7), LaRue (10), LCastillo (5), JEncarnacion (11), Hollandsworth (21), AGonzalez (16). 3B-ABoone (2), JEncarnacion (4). HR-Willis (1), off Graves. RBIs-Griffey Jr. (11), Casey (23), Pierre (16), IRodriguez (25), Willis (1). SB-Pierre (22). S-Pierre, Mordecai. GIDP-Kearns, Lowell 2.

Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 4 (FLopez 2, Kearns, Graves); Florida 4 (Hollandsworth 2, AGonzalez, Willis).

Runners moved up-Griffey Jr., Hollandsworth.

DP-Cincinnati 2 (FLopez, JCastro and Casey), (ABoone, JCastro and Casey); Florida 2 (AGonzalez, LCastillo and DeLee), (JEncarnacion and AGonzalez).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Graves L, 3-4	7 2/3	9	3	3	3	0	100	4.79
Mercker	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	4	2.57

Florida	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Willis W, 3-1	7	5	1	1	3	8	106	3.72
Spooneybarger H, 5	1	1	1	1	0	2	18	3.65
Looper S, 9	1	0	0	0	1	0	12	2.78

Inherited runners-scored-Mercker 2-0.

IBB-off Graves (AGonzalez) 1. WP-Spooneybarger.

Umpires-Home, Paul Schrieber; First, Angel Hernandez; Second, Randy Marsh; Third, Sam Holbrook.

T-2:22. A-16,190 (36,331).