By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Some sat by their lockers in solitude; others were out of sight. The Reds clubhouse was, as one would expect after an ill-played 6-4 loss against the Brewers on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park, not a fun place. But beyond the errors, the missed opportunities offensively and the six-run performance by their starting pitcher against last-place Milwaukee were two glimmers of encouragement for the Reds.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Tuesday's game

First-round draft pick Ryan Wagner impressed again in his second major-league outing, and left fielder Adam Dunn appeared on the verge of freeing himself from a slump.

With Cincinnati trailing by four runs, the right-handed Wagner came on in the seventh before 22,336 fans.

The 14th overall pick in June's draft struck out four in two scoreless innings.

"All the jitters were out," said Wagner, who has now thrown 92 innings between college, the minors and major leagues this season. "It felt like college ball again. I wasn't nervous. I went out there, did my thing, and threw my pitches when I wanted to throw them. And I was successful."

He has now thrown 3 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed one hit since being recalled after Friday's game. "He's got that knockout slider, breaking ball, whatever it is," manager Bob Boone said.

Dunn, who had three hits in his previous 36 at-bats entering Tuesday's game, reached base three of the four times he batted.

His sacrifice fly in the second inning scored first baseman Sean Casey from third base. It marked the first time Dunn had driven in a teammate in 43 games.

"We know the type of hitter he is," right fielder Jose Guillen said. "Sooner or later he'll get out of his slump and start swinging the bat well and start putting the ball in the gaps. Hopefully, he'll come on and start doing what he does best."

Other than that, there weren't many highlights.

The loss again dropped Cincinnati to 10 1/2 games behind the Astros in the NL Central.

"We didn't put the bat on the ball enough," Boone said. "We had our opportunities and couldn't hit the ball."

Starting pitcher Paul Wilson's streak of four consecutive quality starts ended with a five-inning performance.

The right-hander allowed six runs, two of which crossed the plate after he was relieved with nobody out and the Brewers ahead 4-2 in the sixth.

Milwaukee scored three each in the second and sixth innings.

Every run scored in the second came after shortstop Barry Larkin bounced a throw to first after fielding a groundball by Milwaukee third baseman Keith Ginter.

The Reds loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, but managed to score just once on Dunn's sacrifice. They loaded the bases again in the fourth, but failed to score.

A 419-foot solo homer by Guillen made it 3-2 in the fifth inning.

After the inning ended, a Reds bat boy jogged over to the third base line, where a foul ball from Guillen had bounced into the stands and struck 11-year-old Daniel James during the at-bat.

The bat boy presented Guillen's bat to those who had been seated with the injured boy. James was taken to Children's Hospital.

Before scoring two runs in the eighth, the Reds were 0-for-3 with the bases loaded and 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

The Reds loaded the bases when second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez hit a single to right field that scored two and made it 6-4.

"We just left too many runs out there," Guillen said. "We can't do that and expect to win."

Milwaukee	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
EYoung 2b	4	1	1	0	1	1	.252
Podsednik cf	5	0	0	0	0	1	.308
Jenkins lf	3	0	1	1	1	2	.280
Sexson 1b	5	0	1	1	0	2	.259
Vander Wal rf	5	0	1	0	0	1	.283
Kolb p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
KGinter 3b	4	2	2	0	1	0	.271
Osik c	2	1	1	1	1	1	.232
Hall ss	4	2	2	2	0	1	.400
WFranklin p	2	0	1	1	0	1	.143
b-Clayton ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.206
DeJean p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Estrella p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
BClark rf	0	0	0	0	0	0	.282
Totals	35	6	10	6	4	11

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
DJimenez 2b	5	0	2	2	0	0	.333
Larkin ss	5	0	0	0	0	0	.267
JGuillen rf	5	1	2	1	0	2	.340
Casey 1b	5	1	2	0	0	0	.305
ABoone 3b	5	1	3	0	0	0	.271
RMateo cf	3	0	1	0	1	1	.246
Dunn lf	1	1	1	1	1	0	.205
LaRue c	3	0	0	0	1	0	.238
PWilson p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.059
Heredia p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235
Larson ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.077
Wagner p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Branyan ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	.235
Reitsma p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
Totals	35	4	11	4	4	5

Milwaukee	030	003	000	-6	10	0
Cincinnati	010	010	020	-4	11	2

E-Larkin (9), LaRue (3). LOB-Milwaukee 9, Cincinnati 10. 2B-Osik (7), Hall (1), DJimenez (2), Casey (15). 3B-Hall (1). HR-JGuillen (20), off WFranklin. RBIs-Jenkins (70), Sexson (73), Osik (11), Hall 2 (2), WFranklin (2), DJimenez 2 (3), JGuillen (55), Dunn (49). SB-EYoung (20). CS-ABoone (2). S-WFranklin. SF-Dunn. GIDP-EYoung, Casey.

Runners left in scoring position-Milwaukee 6 (EYoung 2, Sexson, Vander Wal 2, Clayton); Cincinnati 6 (Larkin, Casey, PWilson 3, Larson).

Runners moved up-Hall, Larkin.

DP-Milwaukee 1 (EYoung, Hall and Sexson); Cincinnati 1 (ABoone, DJimenez and Casey).

Milwaukee	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
WFranklin W, 7-6	6	6	2	2	3	4	90	4.88
DeJean	1	1	0	0	0	1	14	5.11
Estrella	1	3	2	2	1	0	28	2.97
Kolb S, 2	1	1	0	0	0	0	12	2.65

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
PWilson L, 5-8	5	7	6	5	3	5	110	5.31
Heredia	2/3	0	0	0	1	1	13	2.89
Riedling	1/3	1	0	0	0	0	2	5.80
Wagner	2	1	0	0	0	4	29	0.00
Reitsma	1	1	0	0	0	1	14	4.17

PWilson pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.

Inherited runners-scored-Heredia 2-1, Riedling 3-1.

IBB-off Heredia (EYoung) 1. HBP-by Heredia (Jenkins), by PWilson (Osik), by WFranklin (Dunn). PB-LaRue.

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

T-3:01. A-22,336 (42,263).

How the runs scored:

Brewers second. Vander Wal popped out to center fielder Mateo. Ginter safe at second on Larkin's error. Osik doubled to right, Ginter scored. Hall tripled to center, Osik scored. Franklin singled to right, Hall scored. Young grounded into a double play, third baseman Boone to second baseman Jimenez to first baseman Casey, Franklin out.

3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 0 left on. Brewers 3, Reds 0.

Reds second. Casey doubled to right. Boone bunt single to third, Casey to third. Mateo walked, Boone to second. Dunn hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Vander Wal, Casey scored, Boone to third. LaRue walked, Mateo to second. Boone was caught stealing, catcher Osik to third baseman Ginter, Boone out. Wilson struck out.

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

Reds fifth. Jimenez grounded out, shortstop Hall to first baseman Sexson. Larkin flied out to right fielder Vander Wal. Guillen homered to left on a 2-1 count. Casey flied out to center fielder Podsednik.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Brewers 3, Reds 2.

Brewers sixth. Ginter walked on a full count. Osik was hit by a pitch, Ginter to second. Hall doubled to right, Ginter scored, Osik to third. Heredia pitching. Franklin struck out. Young was intentionally walked. Podsednik grounded into fielder's choice, first baseman Casey to catcher LaRue, Osik out, Hall to third, Young to second. Jenkins was hit by a pitch, Hall scored, Young to third, Podsednik to second. Riedling pitching. Sexson infield single to short, Young scored, Podsednik to third, Jenkins to second. Vander Wal grounded out, first baseman Casey unassisted.

3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on. Brewers 6, Reds 2.

Reds eighth. Estrella pitching. Boone singled to right. Mateo popped out to shortstop Hall. Dunn singled to right, Boone to second. LaRue flied out to left fielder Jenkins. Branyan pinch-hitting for Wagner. Branyan walked, Boone to third, Dunn to second. Jimenez singled to right, Boone scored, Dunn scored, Branyan to second. Larkin grounded out, shortstop Hall to first baseman Sexson.

2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Brewers 6, Reds 4.