By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Saturday's game

The sky still had a hint of daylight left in it. Were that not enough of a giveaway, the clock positioned atop the scoreboard at Great American Ball Park was.

"Any time you're in the seventh inning and it's 8:30 p.m., you know something is going on," Mets leftfielder Cliff Floyd said.

"That's really, really good pitching and not giving us a chance to hit."

But in the seventh inning Saturday, and before a sellout crowd of 41,020, Reds starter Danny Graves gave the Mets a chance.

New York got its first hit off the sinkerball pitcher and rallied that inning on its way to a 6-2 win against Cincinnati.

"I was aware of it," Graves said of no-hit bid. "But that last inning, I got a couple of balls up that they hit to the outfield. What can you say?"

The right-hander, who is in his first full season as a starter, retired 18 of the first 19 Mets batters he faced.

The trouble began when he walked second baseman Jay Bell after getting him 0-2 in the seventh.

"Then it all fell apart," Reds shortstop Barry Larkin said.

With a runner on first and nobody out, New York right fielder Jeromy Burnitz hit a double that short-hopped the left-field wall to break up the no-hitter and scoreless game.

Floyd followed with another run-scoring double and moved to third on a bunt by third baseman Ty Wigginton, who stole second while Graves and second baseman Ray Olmedo discussed strategy.

"All of the sudden, Ray threw the ball and I heard (first baseman Sean) Casey screaming," Graves said. "By that time it was already too late. It caught us off guard."

Both Floyd and Wigginton scored on a single by catcher Vance Wilson to make it 4-0 before Graves escaped his final inning with a double play.

Graves has gone seven innings or longer in nine of his 17 starts and three consecutive.

"He was really putting it where he wanted to," manager Bob Boone said. "Pretty much everything was working."

A day after the Reds committed a season-high tying four errors, Graves also benefited early from a series of dazzling plays by shortstop Barry Larkin and third baseman Aaron Boone in the second, third and fifth innings.

"We were on our toes because we knew he had some great movement on his ball," Larkin said. "If they hit it, they were going to be hitting it on the ground."

The Reds' offense, however, provided little help.

Mets starter Steve Trachsel didn't allow a hit through his first 3 2/3 innings.

Left fielder Adam Dunn hit a sharp single to the gap in right-center in the fourth inning for the Reds' first hit.

Cincinnati, which lost its two games against the Mets by a combined 13-4 and has lost 10 of its past 14 games overall, went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position from the fifth inning on.

Trachsel allowed four hits, struck out two and walked one in six innings.

Stinnett pulled the Reds to within three runs when he homered off reliever Dan Wheeler with two outs in the seventh.

"Regardless of what happened the first six innings, the outcome was not good," Graves said. "I can go out there and throw seven innings and give up three or four runs, and if we score more, then I feel great because I did my job.

"Giving up four in that seventh inning, I feel like I didn't do what I was supposed to do."

New York	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
TPerez cf	4	0	1	0	0	0	.254
JBell 2b-1b	3	1	0	0	1	0	.206
Burnitz rf	3	2	2	1	0	1	.288
Floyd lf	4	2	2	3	0	0	.275
Wigginton 3b	4	1	1	0	0	0	.273
JPhillips 1b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.312
McEwing pr-2b	0	0	0	0	0	0	.224
VWilson c	4	0	2	2	0	0	.293
RSanchez ss	4	0	0	0	0	0	.212
Trachsel p	2	0	0	0	0	0	.069
Wheeler p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Lloyd p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Weathers p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	33	6	9	6	1	1

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Larkin ss	4	0	2	0	0	0	.284
JGuillen rf	3	0	0	0	1	1	.353
Dunn lf	4	0	1	0	0	0	.209
Kearns cf	4	0	0	0	0	0	.266
ABoone 3b	4	1	2	0	0	0	.268
Casey 1b	4	0	0	1	0	0	.300
Stinnett c	4	1	2	1	0	2	.275
Olmedo 2b	4	0	1	0	0	1	.314
Graves p	2	0	0	0	0	0	.111
Branyan ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.256
Sullivan p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Reitsma p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
Taylor ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.217
Totals	35	2	8	2	1	5

New York	000	000	402	-6	9	1
Cincinnati	000	000	101	-2	8	1

E-JBell (4), JGuillen (8). LOB-New York 2, Cincinnati 7. 2B-TPerez (6), Burnitz 2 (17), Floyd (22), Larkin (10). HR-Floyd (15), off Reitsma; Stinnett (3), off Wheeler. RBIs-Burnitz (40), Floyd 3 (47), VWilson 2 (30), Casey (41), Stinnett (15). SB-Wigginton (6). GIDP-JBell, RSanchez 2, Casey. DP-New York 1, Cincinnati 3.

New York	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Trachsel W, 8-5	6	4	0	0	1	2	79	4.10
Wheeler	1 1/3	3	1	1	0	1	16	2.13
Lloyd H, 4	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	3	3.14
Weathers S, 1	1 1/3	1	1	0	0	2	27	3.26

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Graves L, 4-8	7	4	4	4	1	1	80	4.79
Sullivan	1	1	0	0	0	0	11	4.07
Reitsma	1	4	2	2	0	0	19	4.93

Inherited runners-scored-Lloyd 1-0, Weathers 1-0.

HBP-by Graves (Burnitz). WP-Wheeler. PB-VWilson.

Umpires-Home, Dan Iassogna; First, Gary Darling; Second, Chris Guccione; Third, Jerry Meals.

T-2:33. A-41,020 (42,263).

How the runs scored in Saturday's game between the Mets and the Reds

Mets seventh. Bell walked on a full count. Burnitz doubled to center, Bell scored. Burnitz to third. Floyd doubled to center, Burnitz scored. Wigginton bunt single to third, Floyd to third. Phillips popped out to shortstop Larkin. Wigginton stole second. Wilson singled to left, Floyd scored, Wigginton scored. Sanchez grounded into a double play, shortstop Larkin to second baseman Olmedo to first baseman Casey, Wilson out.
4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Mets 4, Reds 0.

Reds seventh. Wheeler pitching. Boone grounded out, third baseman Wigginton to first baseman Phillips. Casey grounded out, second baseman Bell to first baseman Phillips. Stinnett homered to left on a 1-0 count. Olmedo infield single to first. Branyan pinch-hitting for Graves. Branyan grounded out, second baseman Bell to first baseman Phillips.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Mets 4, Reds 1.

Mets ninth. Reitsma pitching. Burnitz doubled to right. Floyd homered to right on a 1-1 count, Burnitz scored. Wigginton grounded out, second baseman Olmedo to first baseman Casey. Phillips singled to center. McEwing pinch-running for Phillips. Wilson infield single to third, McEwing to second. Sanchez grounded into a double play, second baseman Olmedo to first baseman Casey, Wilson out.
2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Mets 6, Reds 1.

Reds ninth. Bell in as first baseman. McEwing in as second baseman. Boone singled to left. On defensive indifference, Boone to second. On Wilson's passed ball, Boone to third. Casey grounded out, first baseman Bell unassisted, Boone scored. Stinnett struck out. Olmedo safe on Bell's error. Taylor pinch-hitting for Reitsma. On defensive indifference, Olmedo to second. Taylor struck out.
1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 left on. Mets 6, Reds 2.