By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's game

They are a beat up ballclub in need of a break. Or better yet, reinforcements.

The assorted aches, pains and illnesses of a difficult first half of the season are beginning to pile up for the Reds and manager Bob Boone.

"We've been playing short-handed for two weeks, and today we really felt it," Boone said after a disheartening 7-5 loss to the Mets Sunday. "We're down to about 19 guys. That doesn't allow you to do much."

Hit hardest of late has been Cincinnati's bullpen.

The team's strength for much of the first half, it allowed the Mets to come back from three runs down and complete a three-game sweep before 31,054 fans Sunday at Great American Ball Park.

The loss dropped the Reds six games below .500 for the first time since April 29th.

They have lost 11 of their past 15 games, are 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Cardinals in the National League Central, and are in danger of falling behind the Pirates in the standings.

"We've just got to play better baseball," third baseman Aaron Boone said. "I guess as simple as that sounds, that's what it is.

"It's a tough time for us right now, but it's no time to pout about it. We can do something about it, that's the good thing."

Another good thing was the 11th quality start by pitcher Paul Wilson.

Wilson, working on three-days' rest for only the second time in his career, limited the Mets to a pair of home runs in seven innings of work.

Mindful of the four-man rotation, Boone removed Wilson from the game after 90 pitches and with the Reds ahead 5-2.

"I felt like I was aggressive, down in the zone," Wilson said. "I tried not to walk too many guys. I just let them put the bat on the ball.

"With a four-man rotation, when the boss says come out, I can argue until I'm blue in the face. But once he makes the decision, it's his decision."

Without Chris Reitsma, Scott Sullivan, Felix Heredia, Gabe White and Kent Mercker to choose from, Boone brought Todd Van Poppel on to start the eighth.

Van Poppel allowed two hits and three runs in 1/3 of an inning.

After retiring the first batter he faced, Mets third baseman Ty Wigginton hit a two-run double to tie the game at five.

Relief pitcher Brian Reith pitched the ninth and allowed two runs on a pair of doubles and a home run by Tony Clark.

"We've got a few guys down," Scott Williamson said. "But we've got a lot of guys that can fill their shoes. We've just got to get those guys healthy and get them back."

Less than a month remains before the trade deadline, and Reds general manager Jim Bowden continues his search for a starting pitcher in a difficult trade market.

"There are about 29 clubs looking for starting pitching," Bowden said. "There are a lot of teams in (pennant races) and a lot of teams that are out but don't want to trade the pitchers they do have."

The Reds refuse to consider parting with Austin Kearns or Adam Dunn.

"Are you going to trade one of those two guys who's going to be a star here for 10 years?" Bowden said. "For what? A pitcher making $6 million that may be a .500 pitcher? It doesn't make any sense.

"It's one thing if you're getting a Randy Johnson or a Curt Schilling or a guy that can win 18 to 20 games for a few years. That would probably make sense, but you're not going to get those kinds of guys in a trade."

The Reds expect to get some help in the near future as players get healthy and become available.

"We've got to put something together," Williamson said. "I think this is a point in the season, especially when you're losing, that you really have to pull together as a team and start finding something deep inside of you to get out of this."

Swept, sinking

The Reds were swept in a series for the third time this season.

They are 4-11 in the first 15 games of their 22-game stretch - 19 on the road - leading to the All-Star break.

The fourth-place Reds are now only one game ahead of the fifth-place Pirates.

NL Central standings

Team	W-L	Pct.	GB
St. Louis	46-41	.529	-
Chicago	44-43	.506	2
Houston	44-43	.506	2
Reds	40-46	.465	5 1/2
Pittsburgh	38-46	.452	6 1/2
Milwaukee	35-51	.407	10 1/2

Low point

The Reds are six games under .500 for the first time since they were 10-16 on April 29.

Home not so sweet

The Reds have lost 13 of their last 19 games at home, where they are now 21-22.

New York	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
TPerez cf	5	2	3	3	0	0	.266
McEwing 2b	5	0	0	0	0	2	.215
Burnitz rf	3	2	1	1	2	0	.288
Floyd lf	3	0	0	0	1	1	.272
Cerda p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
d-JBell ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.203
Benitez p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Wigginton 3b	4	0	1	2	0	0	.273
JPhillips c	4	0	0	0	0	1	.304
TClark 1b	4	1	2	1	0	0	.226
RSanchez ss	4	0	1	0	0	0	.213
Heilman p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Cedeno ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.262
Feliciano p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
RGonzalez ph-lf	2	2	2	0	0	0	.264
Totals	37	7	10	7	3	5

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Larkin ss	5	0	1	0	0	1	.281
Casey 1b	4	2	1	1	1	0	.299
JGuillen rf	5	1	1	0	0	1	.350
Kearns cf	4	0	1	1	1	1	.266
ABoone 3b	5	0	1	0	0	1	.267
Dunn lf	3	2	2	1	1	0	.215
Stinnett c	4	0	1	1	0	0	.274
JCastro 2b	2	0	2	1	2	0	.243
PWilson p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.067
Van Poppel p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Williamson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Taylor ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.215
Reith p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	35	5	10	5	5	6

New York	101	000	032	-7	10	0
Cincinnati	013	100	000	-5	10	1

E-Van Poppel (1). LOB-New York 6, Cincinnati 9. 2B-TPerez (7), Wigginton (18), RGonzalez (8), JGuillen (15), ABoone (16). HR-TClark (10), off Reith; Casey (9), off Heilman; Burnitz (17), off PWilson; Dunn (24), off Heilman; TPerez (2), off PWilson. RBIs-TPerez 3 (17), Burnitz (41), Wigginton 2 (40), TClark (27), Casey (42), Kearns (58), Dunn (47), Stinnett (16), JCastro (14). S-PWilson. GIDP-Larkin.

Runners left in scoring position-New York 2 (JBell, JPhillips); Cincinnati 4 (Larkin, ABoone, PWilson 2).

Runners moved up-Floyd, Kearns.

DP-New York 1 (McEwing, RSanchez and TClark).

New York	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Heilman	4	6	5	5	4	3	94	4.76
Feliciano	3	3	0	0	0	2	33	3.33
Cerda W, 1-1	1	0	0	0	1	0	13	7.85
Benitez S, 21	1	1	0	0	0	1	11	3.11

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
PWilson	7	4	2	2	1	5	90	4.40
Van Poppel H, 1	1/3	2	3	3	1	0	20	11.57
Williamson BS, 4	2/3	1	0	0	0	0	6	3.38
Reith L, 1-1	1	3	2	2	1	0	29	4.57

Inherited runners-scored-Williamson 2-2.

IBB-off Reith (Burnitz) 1, off Heilman (Dunn) 1.

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

T-2:48. A-31,054 (42,263).

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

Mets first. Perez homered to right on a 0-1 count. McEwing lined out to left fielder A.Dunn. Burnitz popped out to shortstop Larkin. Floyd walked on four pitches. Wigginton flied out to right fielder Guillen.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Mets 1, Reds 0.

Reds second. A.Dunn homered to right on a 2-1 count. Stinnett grounded out, third baseman Wigginton to first baseman Clark. Castro walked on a full count. Wilson sacrificed, pitcher Heilman to second baseman McEwing, Castro to second. Larkin struck out.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Mets 1, Reds 1.

Mets third. Perez grounded out, second baseman Castro to first baseman Casey. McEwing struck out. Burnitz homered to right on a 1-1 count. Floyd struck out.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Mets 2, Reds 1.

Reds third. Casey walked. Guillen doubled to center, Casey to third. Kearns grounded out, shortstop Sanchez to first baseman Clark, Casey scored. Boone struck out. A.Dunn was intentionally walked. Stinnett singled to left, Guillen scored, A.Dunn to second. Castro singled to right, A.Dunn scored, Stinnett to second. Wilson struck out.

3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Reds 4, Mets 2.

Reds fourth. Larkin lined out to center fielder Perez. Casey homered to right on a 1-0 count. Guillen grounded out, third baseman Wigginton to first baseman Clark. Kearns flied out to right fielder Burnitz.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Reds 5, Mets 2.

Mets eighth. Van Poppel pitching. Gonzalez pinch-hitting for Feliciano. Gonzalez singled to right. On Van Poppel's error on a pickoff attempt, Gonzalez to second. Perez singled to center, Gonzalez scored. McEwing popped out to left fielder A.Dunn. Burnitz walked, Perez to second. Williamson pitching. Floyd grounded out, first baseman Casey unassisted, Perez to third, Burnitz to second. Wigginton doubled to center, Perez scored, Burnitz scored. Phillips flied out to left fielder A.Dunn.

3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 left on. Mets 5, Reds 5.

Mets ninth. Reith pitching. Clark homered to center on a 3-1 count. Sanchez grounded out, second baseman Castro to first baseman Casey. Gonzalez doubled to left. Perez doubled to center, Gonzalez scored. McEwing flied out to center fielder Kearns. Burnitz was intentionally walked. Bell pinch-hitting for Cerda. Bell lined out to third baseman Boone.

2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Mets 7, Reds 5.