By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Reds' 9-8 loss to the Houston Astros Saturday pretty much was a microcosm of the season.

The Reds got great relief pitching, made a stirring comeback, but couldn't overcome another abysmal performance by a starter.

Jimmy Haynes put the Reds in a 6-0 hole after two innings. They spent the next three hours trying to get out of it.

The effort was very entertaining for the sellout crowd of 41,772, but, in the end, it was just another loss - the Reds' third straight and ninth straight to the Astros.

The Reds are back to 10 games under .500 and a season-high 91/2 games behind the Astros in the National League Central.

In other words, the Reds are done. Sixty-six games remain, but the possibility of getting to the playoffs is beyond remote.

So what should the Reds do now? The short answer is to find some better starting pitching. Haynes' two-inning, six-run outing made the Reds starters 18-45 with a 6.34 ERA on the year.

"We all know that among the many problems we have, the biggest problem is starting pitching," Reds general manager Jim Bowden said. "It's the worst in the league. All of our efforts in baseball operations have been to draft, develop and trade for young starting pitching."

That's where the current slide comes in. If the Reds were sitting on the buy-sell fence before the double debacles against the Astros, they are now solidly in the sell mode.

With the trading deadline 11 days away, Casey, Aaron Boone and Scott Williamson could be used to lure top prospects from contenders.

"I don't want to comment on any individual players, except to say if we don't get starting pitching, we're not going to win," Bowden said. "Everyone has seen what happens when we get a quality start. (Scott) Sullivan and (Felix) Heredia are 12-0 combined. When we're in a game late, our bullpen and offense have been good enough to win. But we're in a hole every single night."

That was the case Saturday. Haynes gave up five runs in the first and one in second before being pulled after getting only one out.

The bullpen allowed just two runs over the next 7 2/3 innings. The Reds scored two in the eighth and five in the ninth (three on Jason LaRue's pinch-hit, three-run homer), but in the end they couldn't overcome Haynes' start.

The Reds have a lot of money already committed to 2004's rotation. Danny Graves is due to make $6 million, Paul Wilson $3.5 million and Haynes $2.5 million. Ryan Dempster makes $3.25 million and is arbitration eligible.

The Reds could non-tender Dempster, but the only way to get out of paying the other three is to trade them. That could happen.

"I don't think we're committed to any of them for next year," Bowden said.

The Reds are also giving their top minor leaguers consideration.

2003 No.1 draft pick Ryan Wagner made his big league debut Saturday - after all of nine games in the minors. Jose Acevedo, a 25-year-old right-hander, will start Monday's game. Seth Etherton, 7-5 and a 3.64 ERA at Triple-A Louisville, could be up soon. Josh Hall, a 23-year-old right-hander, has pitched well at Double-A Chattanooga (5-7, 3.03 ERA). He and former No. 1 picks Ty Howington and Dustin Moseley could be here by September.

Sobering stats

• Last year, every division winner in baseball won at least 94 games. To get to 94 wins, the Reds would have to go 51-15.

• To win just 88 games, the Reds would have to go 45-21.

Houston	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Biggio cf	4	3	2	0	1	0	.275
PMunro p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Gallo p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Merced ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	.252
Saarloos p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Dotel p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Blum 2b	5	1	1	1	1	0	.273
Bagwell 1b	2	1	0	0	2	0	.274
Berkman lf	3	2	2	5	2	1	.282
Hidalgo rf	5	1	2	1	0	2	.333
Ensberg 3b	4	1	1	2	1	1	.310
Ausmus c	5	0	1	0	0	1	.201
Bruntlett ss	5	0	1	0	0	0	.276
Villone p	3	0	0	0	0	1	.071
BHunter ph-cf	2	0	0	0	0	1	.239
Totals	38	9	10	9	8	7

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
DJimenez 2b	6	0	2	0	0	3	.342
Larkin ss	3	0	0	0	1	1	.275
JCastro ss	1	0	0	0	0	0	.239
JGuillen rf	5	2	2	0	0	2	.335
Casey 1b	5	3	3	1	0	0	.301
ABoone 3b	4	1	2	0	1	0	.266
RMateo cf-lf	4	1	2	3	0	2	.236
Dunn lf	2	0	1	0	1	1	.203
Wagner p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Heredia p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Branyan ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.224
JoAcevedo p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
LaRue ph	1	1	1	3	0	0	.241
Stinnett c	3	0	1	1	1	1	.257
JHaynes p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Riedling p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.235
Larson ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.080
Reith p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Mercker p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Taylor cf	1	0	0	0	1	1	.224
Totals	38	8	14	8	5	11

Houston	510	012	000	-9	10	0
Cincinnati	000	100	025	-8	14	2

E-Larkin (8), ABoone (12). LOB-Houston 11, Cincinnati 11. 2B-Blum (15), Casey (14), ABoone (17). HR-LaRue (11), off Dotel; Ensberg (18), off JHaynes; Hidalgo (17), off JHaynes; Berkman 2 (19), off Reith, JHaynes. RBIs-Blum (36), Berkman 5 (64), Hidalgo (54), Ensberg 2 (46), Casey (49), RMateo 3 (8), LaRue 3 (32), Stinnett (17). SF-RMateo. DP-Houston 2; Cincinnati 1

Houston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Villone W, 2-0	6	6	1	1	2	7	96	2.50
PMunro	1 2/3	4	2	2	0	1	35	5.05
Gallo	1/3	0	0	0	1	1	11	0.00
Saarloos	1/3	3	4	4	1	0	20	7.39
Dotel S, 4	2/3	1	1	1	1	2	19	2.60

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
JHaynes L, 2-10	1 1/3	6	6	6	1	1	42	5.86
Riedling	2 2/3	0	0	0	0	3	38	5.92
Reith	1 1/3	2	3	3	3	1	33	4.20
Mercker	2/3	0	0	0	2	1	19	2.22
Wagner	1 2/3	0	0	0	0	1	16	0.00
Heredia	1/3	1	0	0	1	0	14	2.93
JoAcevedo	1	1	0	0	1	0	21	0.00

HBP-by PMunro (Taylor), by Villone (Stinnett), by JHaynes (Bagwell).

How the runs scored:

Astros first. Biggio singled to center. Blum flied out to left fielder Dunn. Bagwell was hit by a pitch, Biggio to second. Berkman homered to right on a 2-0 count, Biggio scored, Bagwell scored. Hidalgo homered to center on a 0-1 count. Ensberg homered to left on a 2-0 count. Ausmus grounded out, shortstop Larkin to first baseman Casey. Bruntlett flied out to center fielder Mateo.

5 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Astros 5, Reds 0.

Astros second. Villone struck out. Biggio singled to left. Blum doubled to right, Biggio scored. Bagwell walked on a full count. Riedling pitching. Berkman struck out. Hidalgo struck out.

1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Astros 6, Reds 0.

Reds fourth. Casey singled to center. Boone doubled to left, Casey to third. Mateo hit a sacrifice fly to left fielder Berkman, Casey scored. Dunn singled to center, Boone to third. Stinnett was hit by a pitch, Dunn to second. Larson pinch-hitting for Riedling. Larson grounded into a double play, third baseman Ensberg to second baseman Blum to first baseman Bagwell, Stinnett out.

1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Astros 6, Reds 1.

Astros fifth. Reith pitching. Berkman homered to left on the first pitch. Hidalgo fouled out to first baseman Casey. Ensberg struck out. Ausmus singled to center. Bruntlett grounded out, first baseman Casey unassisted.

1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Astros 7, Reds 1.

Astros sixth. Villone flied out to left fielder Dunn. Biggio walked. Blum walked, Biggio to second. Bagwell walked on four pitches, Biggio to third, Blum to second. Mercker pitching. Berkman walked on four pitches, Biggio scored, Blum to third, Bagwell to second. Hidalgo struck out. Ensberg walked on a full count, Blum scored, Bagwell to third, Berkman to second. Ausmus fouled out to first baseman Casey.

2 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on. Astros 9, Reds 1.

Reds eighth. Guillen singled to right. Casey singled to right, Guillen to second. Boone flied out to right fielder Hidalgo, Guillen to third. Mateo singled to left, Guillen scored, Casey to second. Branyan pinch-hitting for Heredia. Branyan flied out to left fielder Berkman. Stinnett singled to right, Casey scored, Mateo to third. Gallo pitching. Taylor walked, Stinnett to second. Jimenez struck out.

2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on. Astros 9, Reds 3.

Reds ninth. Saarloos pitching. Castro flied out to center fielder Hunter. Guillen singled to center. Casey doubled to left, Guillen scored. Boone walked. Mateo singled to center, Casey scored, Boone to second. LaRue pinch-hitting for Acevedo. Dotel pitching. LaRue homered to right on a 1-0 count, Boone scored, Mateo scored. Stinnett walked on a full count. Taylor struck out. Jimenez struck out.

5 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Astros 9, Reds 8.