By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Friday's game

Live by the long ball, die by the long ball.

The pinball machine known as Great American Ball Park can sometimes go "T-I-L-T" on the Reds, who can't light it up every night.

Such as Friday night, when the Toronto Blue Jays' bats were good - and their pitching was even better. Roy Halladay (8-2) gave up only two runs, one of them earned, in eight innings, as the Reds lost 9-2 before 28,281 waterlogged fans.

The "T-I-L-T" that was the topic of conversation after the game Friday didn't have to do with the pinball ballpark, but rather the Mickey Mouse mound.

John Riedling (0-3) went off on the mound after a ballgame in which he couldn't get his sinker to dive the way it normally does on a better elevated mound, such as those in St. Louis or Atlanta.

"Me being 5-9, I've got to have some kind of height out there to get tilt on my fastball," Riedling said. "I rely heavily on that. Every other stadium's got mounds that are a lot higher - I don't care what anybody says. Other pitchers who come in here talk about it. It might be up to standards, but it's lower."

Reds officials said after Friday's game that the mound has been checked six times - three times by Major League Baseball and three times by Berding Surveying - and every time, it has been found to meet MLB regulations.

Some people might think Riedling is making excuses, but there isn't a pitcher among them. Pitchers love high mounds, and loathe low ones, and it definitely impacts their performance.

Halladay was diplomatic, but how could he not be after such a fine performance?

"It's flat, but you adjust," said Halladay, who has a natural "tilt" to his pitches, being 6 feet 6.

Sinkerballer Danny Graves called attention to Halladay's height and said he doesn't need a high mound.

Told that maybe the Reds management likes a mound on the low side because it means more offense and big home run production, Graves said: "You win with pitching and defense."

Riedling at first was taking the high road after the game and not going off on the low mound, but one question too many opened the floodgates.

"The mound is a lot lower and has no slope," Riedling said.

He said the Reds pitchers haven't gone to groundskeeper Doug Gallant as a group but have voiced their concerns individually.

"Everybody's told him," Riedling said. "Last I heard, he was going to do something when we left for the last road trip, but apparently nothing was done."

It was a bad night not to have command. Toronto is averaging seven runs a game in its last 21 games and has tremendous 3-4 hitters in Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells.

"They aren't aggressive, but they look for their pitch, and when they get it, they put something on it," Riedling said.

Reds manager Bob Boone admitted to wondering about whether to keep Riedling in the rotation but said he didn't have any immediate thoughts to express.

"If you come up with something, give me a call," Boone said.

Toronto	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Johnson rf	6	1	1	0	0	0	.279
Catalanotto lf	5	3	4	1	1	0	.333
Wells cf	5	2	1	3	1	1	.285
CDelgado 1b	5	1	2	5	0	1	.323
GMyers c	4	0	3	0	2	0	.360
Sturtze p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
OHudson 2b	4	0	2	0	1	0	.296
Woodward ss	2	0	0	0	2	1	.254
Berg 3b	5	0	1	0	0	1	.284
Halladay p	5	2	1	0	0	2	.200
Huckaby c	0	0	0	0	0	0	.182
Totals	41	9	15	9	7	6

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Dunn lf	3	2	2	1	1	1	.213
JGuillen rf	3	0	0	0	1	2	.333
Casey 1b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.296
Kearns cf	4	0	0	0	0	0	.283
ABoone 3b	4	0	2	0	0	0	.259
LaRue c	4	0	1	0	0	1	.269
JCastro 2b	4	0	1	0	0	1	.263
Olmedo ss	4	0	2	0	0	0	.238
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Branyan ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.100
Hamilton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
WPena ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.100
Mercker p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Taylor ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.224
Sullivan p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Williamson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	33	2	9	1	2	7

Toronto	240	030	000	-9	15	2
Cincinnati	101	000	000	-2	9	1

E-Woodward 2 (12), Dunn (7). LOB-Toronto 14, Cincinnati 6. 2B-Catalanotto (21), CDelgado (20), GMyers (9), OHudson (11). 3B-Catalanotto (4). HR-Wells (13), off Hamilton; CDelgado (18), off Riedling; Dunn (19), off Halladay. RBIs-Catalanotto (33), Wells 3 (58), CDelgado 5 (64), Dunn (42). GIDP-Berg, JGuillen, Kearns, Olmedo.

Runners left in scoring position-Toronto 8 (GMyers, Woodward 2, Berg 3, Halladay 2); Cincinnati 3 (Olmedo, Branyan, Taylor).

Runners moved up-OHudson, JCastro.

DP-Toronto 3 (OHudson, Woodward and CDelgado), (OHudson, Woodward and CDelgado), (Woodward, OHudson and CDelgado); Cincinnati 1 (Olmedo, JCastro and Casey).

Toronto	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Halladay W, 8-2	8	8	2	1	2	7	110	4.13
Sturtze	1	1	0	0	0	0	14	5.47

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Riedling L, 0-3	2	7	6	6	4	0	66	6.20
Hamilton	3	5	3	3	0	2	44	12.66
Mercker	2	0	0	0	2	2	39	2.25
Sullivan	1	2	0	0	1	1	18	4.35
Williamson	1	1	0	0	0	1	22	3.38

HBP-by Williamson (CDelgado), by Riedling (Woodward).

Umpires-Home, Lance Barksdale; First, Tim McClelland; Second, Tony Randazzo; Third, Ted Barrett.

T-2:58. A-28,281 (42,263).