By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's game

NEW YORK - Ray Olmedo's wakeup call was at 4 a.m. Sunday. He had to get up that early to catch a flight from Louisville to New York to get to Shea Stadium in time for the Reds-New York Mets game.

"I told myself before the game, 'Play hard for three hours,' " Olmedo said.

He kept the promise to himself. He went 2-for-5, scored two runs and made two nice plays in the field in the Reds' 8-5 win over the Mets before a crowd of 30,173 at Shea Stadium.

So how did he feel afterward?

"Tired," Olmedo said.

He didn't play like it.

"He has extremely too much energy," Adam Dunn said. "He's like a little sparkplug out there."

Two-run homers by Dunn and Jose Guillen and a solo shot from Juan Castro accounted for most of the Reds' offense.

But Olmedo got the offense started.

He led off the game with a single and went to second when pitcher Steve Trachsel's pickoff attempt got through first baseman Tony Clark. Olmedo went to third on Dunn's flyout and scored on a single by Guillen.

In the fifth, Olmedo laid down a perfect bunt. Met catcher Jason Phillips threw the ball away trying to get him at first. The infield single and error put Olmedo at second. He went to third on another Dunn flyout, then scored when Guillen homered.

"That's his personality," catcher Kelly Stinnett said. "He's a fast little guy. Speed makes things happen."

Making things happen against Trachsel was key. He came in 8-3 with a 2.37 ERA against the Reds in his career.

Olmedo was called up from Triple-A Louisville because the Reds needed a middle infielder with Barry Larkin's strained right hamstring still bothering him.

So Olmedo got his third call-up of the year. Olmedo, a 22-year-old from Venezuela, was hitting .289 when the Reds sent him to Louisville on July 14. He was sent out when it was clear D'Angelo Jimenez had won the second base job.

The Reds wanted Olmedo to play every day. A lot has changed since then.

Felipe Lopez, who along with Olmedo was considered a candidate to be the Reds' shortstop of the future, suffered a season-ending ankle injury last week.

With Larkin in the last year of his contract, the Reds may go into spring training with the shortstop position open for the first time since 1988.

Olmedo could go a long way toward earning a shot at the starting job by playing well down the stretch.

"I'm going to get him a lot of work," Reds manager Bob Boone said.

The book on Olmedo has always been that if he hits enough, he'll play in the big leagues - he's that good in the field.

He showed that Sunday. He took a hit away from Phillips with a diving catch of a line drive. He also made a bare-handed play in the hole to take a hit away from Trachsel.

Olmedo's bat is what has surprised the Reds. He's hitting .296. He's scored 13 runs and driven in seven in only 19 starts.

The Reds, by the way, are 10-9 in games he starts.

"A spark is how he's plays," Boone said. "What he did today, that's a spark."

When Olmedo found out he was leading off Sunday, he talked to Larkin, Sean Casey and Jason LaRue to get some tips.

That's typical Olmedo. He's a sponge of baseball knowledge.

After Sunday's game, Ryan Dempster informed Olmedo that he would have to carry the stereo bag - rookie duty.

Olmedo playfully pleaded his case. His final remark: "I'm a baseball player, not a bellboy."

It's hard to argue that.

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Olmedo ss	5	2	2	0	0	1	.296
Dunn lf	4	2	1	2	1	1	.208
JGuillen rf	5	1	2	3	0	0	.342
Casey 1b	5	0	1	1	0	0	.301
ABoone 3b	5	1	3	0	0	2	.275
Taylor cf	5	0	0	0	0	2	.217
JCastro 2b	4	1	2	2	0	0	.249
Stinnett c	2	0	1	0	2	0	.261
PWilson p	3	1	1	0	0	1	.081
RMateo ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.213
Heredia p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Williamson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	39	8	13	8	3	8

New York	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Duncan cf	4	1	1	0	0	0	.308
Feliciano p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Reyes ss	4	1	1	0	0	1	.279
Floyd lf	3	0	1	0	0	0	.274
JPhillips c	4	0	0	1	0	0	.322
TPerez rf-cf	3	0	1	1	0	0	.284
RGonzalez ph-cf	1	0	0	0	0	1	.254
TClark 1b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.222
JBell 3b	3	1	0	0	1	1	.177
McEwing 2b	4	1	2	0	0	2	.244
Trachsel p	2	0	0	1	0	1	.059
Weathers p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Cedeno ph-rf	1	1	1	2	0	0	.253
Totals	33	5	8	5	1	6

Cincinnati	100	123	001	-8	13	1
New York	200	010	200	-5	8	2

E-PWilson (1), JPhillips (4), TClark (4). LOB-Cincinnati 7, New York 3. 2B-JCastro (8), PWilson (1), TPerez (10). HR-Cedeno (5), off PWilson; Dunn (26), off Weathers; JCastro (7), off Trachsel; JGuillen (22), off Trachsel. RBIs-Dunn 2 (53), JGuillen 3 (61), Casey (53), JCastro 2 (20), JPhillips (31), TPerez (20), Trachsel (2), Cedeno 2 (24). SB-ABoone (15). GIDP-Taylor, JBell.

DP-Cincinnati 1 (Olmedo, JCastro and Casey); New York 1 (McEwing, Reyes and TClark).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
PWilson W, 6-8	7	8	5	5	1	3	102	5.37
Heredia H, 4	1	0	0	0	0	1	9	2.75
Williamson S, 21	1	0	0	0	0	2	12	3.27

New York	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Trachsel L, 9-7	5 1/3	9	6	5	2	4	101	4.71
Weathers	1 2/3	1	1	1	0	2	22	3.16
Feliciano	2	3	1	1	1	2	31	3.06

IBB-off Trachsel (Stinnett) 1. HBP-by Heredia (Floyd).

T-2:45. A-30,173 (56,749).

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

Reds first. Jimenez was hit by a pitch. Dunn singled to center, Jimenez to second. Guillen struck out. Casey grounded out, first baseman Phillips unassisted, Jimenez to third, Dunn to second. Boone singled to center, Jimenez scored, Dunn scored. Boone stole second. Mateo doubled to center, Boone scored. LaRue flied out to center fielder Duncan. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 3, Mets 0.

Mets second. Floyd homered to center on a 2-1 count. Cedeno doubled to left. Wigginton struck out. Wilson sacrificed, pitcher Acevedo to first baseman Casey, Cedeno to third. McEwing was intentionally walked. Heilman grounded out, catcher LaRue to first baseman Casey. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Reds 3, Mets 1.

Reds third. Dunn doubled to left. Guillen grounded out, shortstop Reyes to first baseman Phillips, Dunn to third. Casey singled to left, Dunn scored. Boone popped out to right fielder Cedeno. Mateo flied out to left fielder Floyd. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 4, Mets 1.

Mets third. Duncan struck out. Reyes infield single to third. Phillips singled to left, Reyes to third. Floyd hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Mateo, Reyes scored. Cedeno grounded into fielder's choice, shortstop Castro to second baseman Jimenez, Phillips out. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 4, Mets 2.

Reds sixth. LaRue walked on a full count. Castro singled to right, LaRue to third. Acevedo sacrificed, pitcher Heilman to first baseman Phillips, Castro to second. Jimenez struck out. Lloyd pitching. Dunn singled to right, LaRue scored, Castro scored. Guillen singled to left, Dunn to second. Casey grounded out, first baseman Phillips to pitcher Lloyd. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Reds 6, Mets 2.

Mets sixth. Phillips doubled to center. Floyd walked on four pitches. Cedeno grounded into fielder's choice, first baseman Casey to shortstop Castro, Phillips to third, Floyd out. Wigginton hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Guillen, Phillips scored. Cedeno was caught stealing, catcher LaRue to second baseman Jimenez, Cedeno out. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Reds 6, Mets 3.

Reds seventh. Almonte pitching. Boone lined out to right fielder Cedeno. Mateo struck out. LaRue doubled to center. Castro homered to left on a 1-2 count, LaRue scored. Acevedo struck out. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Reds 8, Mets 3.