By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HOUSTON - Paul Wilson, the last starter standing from the Opening Day rotation, keeps getting better as the season wears on.

Wilson went seven innings Saturday to beat the Houston Astros 3-1 before a crowd of 32,560 at Minute Maid Park.

Wilson (8-10) allowed one run on five hits. He struck out three and walked one. It was Wilson's fifth straight quality start. He is 2-2 with a 2.43 ERA over that span.

"I don't think it has anything to do with me," Reds manager Dave Miley said, "but I haven't seen the guy make a bad start."

The Reds are 15-11 in Wilson's 26 starts. He leads the team with 16 quality starts (six innings, three or fewer runs).

Wilson, a 30-year-old right-hander, is under contract for next year. He is the one lock to be in the rotation in 2004. The same can't be said about any of the others in the Opening Day rotation - two (Ryan Dempster and Jimmy Haynes) are injured, one (Danny Graves) was moved to the bullpen and one (Jimmy Anderson) was released.

"He hasn't done anything to say otherwise," Miley said. "He's thrown a lot of innings. He's made every start. He's a very solid big-league starter."

The victory was the Reds' fourth in five games against the Astros. Before the current streak, the Reds had lost 10 straight to Houston.

"Any time you can beat a club the caliber of the Astros, it's good," Miley said. "We've been scratching and clawing. That's the best way to put it."

And winning. The Reds have won six of their last nine.

"We've had guys traded, guys get hurt," Wilson said. "But we still have 25 big-league players in here. I miss the guys who are gone, but we've got a job to do."

The Reds took advantage of a lapse in control by Houston starter Tim Redding in the second inning. Redding hit Ruben Mateo with a pitch and Dernell Stenson followed with a walk. Juan Castro grounded one over the first-base bag and it rolled all the way into the right-field corner for a double, scoring Mateo and Stenson.

The Reds made it 3-0 in the fifth. Reggie Taylor doubled and scored on D'Angelo Jimenez's single.

The Astros finally got to Wilson in the seventh. Richard Hidalgo doubled with two outs. Brad Ausmus singled, scoring Hidalgo.

Felix Heredia pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and Chris Reitsma pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save in his past six appearances.

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Taylor cf	5	1	2	0	0	3	.218
Olmedo ss	4	0	0	0	1	1	.276
DJimenez 2b	3	0	1	1	1	0	.302
Casey 1b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.292
RMateo rf	3	1	0	0	0	1	.242
Stenson lf	3	1	0	0	1	2	.273
Heredia p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Reitsma p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
JCastro 3b	4	0	2	2	0	0	.254
LaRue c	3	0	0	0	0	2	.230
PWilson p	2	0	0	0	1	1	.125
Freel lf	1	0	0	0	0	0	.288
Totals	32	3	6	3	4	10

Houston	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Biggio cf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.256
Berkman lf	4	0	0	0	0	0	.281
Bagwell 1b	4	0	0	0	0	1	.273
JKent 2b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.290
Ensberg 3b	4	0	1	0	0	1	.288
Hidalgo rf	3	1	2	0	0	0	.304
Ausmus c	3	0	2	1	0	0	.226
AEverett ss	2	0	0	0	0	0	.237
JVizcaino ph-ss	1	0	0	0	0	0	.240
Redding p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.179
Blum ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	.262
Gallo p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Lidge p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Merced ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.233
RiWhite p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	31	1	5	1	1	4

Cincinnati	020	010	000	-3	6	0
Houston	000	000	100	-1	5	0

LOB-Cincinnati 8, Houston 4. 2B-Taylor (5), JCastro (10), Ensberg (11), Hidalgo (32). RBIs-DJimenez (11), JCastro 2 (30), Ausmus (33). SB-DJimenez (5), Freel (6). GIDP-AEverett.

DP-Cincinnati 1 (PWilson, DJimenez and Casey).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
PWilson W, 8-10	7	5	1	1	1	3	83	4.74
Heredia H, 7	1	0	0	0	0	1	7	3.00
Reitsma S, 5	1	0	0	0	0	0	10	3.88

Houston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Redding L, 8-12	6	4	3	3	4	7	93	3.70
Gallo	1	1	0	0	0	1	12	2.70
Lidge	1	0	0	0	0	1	12	3.28
RiWhite	1	1	0	0	0	1	21	3.00

HBP-by RiWhite (LaRue), by Redding (RMateo).

T-2:30. A-32,560 (40,950).

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

Reds second. Mateo was hit by a pitch. Stenson walked on a full count, Mateo to second. Castro doubled to right, Mateo scored, Stenson scored. Castro to third. LaRue struck out. Wilson walked on four pitches. Taylor struck out. Olmedo walked on four pitches, Wilson to second. Jimenez flied out to left fielder Berkman. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 left on. Reds 2, Astros 0.

Reds fifth. Taylor doubled to left. Olmedo struck out. Jimenez singled to center, Taylor scored. Casey flied out to left fielder Berkman. Jimenez stole second. Mateo grounded out, third baseman Ensberg to first baseman Bagwell. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 3, Astros 0.

Astros seventh. Kent grounded out, third baseman Castro to first baseman Casey. Ensberg struck out. Hidalgo doubled to right. Ausmus singled to center, Hidalgo scored. Ausmus to second. Vizcaino pinch-hitting for Everett. Vizcaino fouled out to third baseman Castro. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 3, Astros 1.