By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

In an attempt to preserve arm strength at the end of a season divided among three leagues, Danny Serafini is throwing as little as possible between starts.

"I'm just giving myself a rest, going start to start," the Reds pitcher said. "If I feel like I need to work on something, I'll throw a short bullpen in between."

Whether the approach works remains unclear.

Making his first appearance on the mound and in the Reds clubhouse since Tuesday, Serafini threw 115 pitches and allowed two runs over six innings during a 5-0 loss against the Cardinals on Sunday at Great American Ball Park.

Cincinnati has lost seven of its last eight and is in sole possession of last place in the National League Central.

"(St. Louis has) a tough lineup," said Serafini, who rejoined the club Sunday after an excused trip to visit family in California. "They've got a good hitting team, a good pitching staff."

Cardinals MVP candidate Albert Pujols accounted for all of his team's runs with a pair of home runs, and St. Louis pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout before 29,272 fans.

Pujols' first home run, with one on in the sixth inning, was a 477-blast off Serafini that clanged off the top of the Batter's Eye Pavilion in center field.

"I was trying to sneak one by him, and it didn't work," Serafini said.

The ball, which was the first to hit off the structure's roof and roll onto the concourse behind it, traveled an estimated 477 feet.

"I figured right off the bat it was going to be a pretty deep ball," Reds center fielder Ryan Freel said. "It just kept going."

Pujols, who is vying to become baseball's first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, made it 5-0 by golfing a Danny Graves pitch over the wall in left center field in the eighth inning.

"The ball he hit off Graves was about 2 feet off the ground," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "Most hitters, if they swing at it, it's a double-play ball."

St. Louis starter Sterling Hitchcock pitched six scoreless innings and allowed three hits.

Right fielder Wily Mo Pena provided the Reds only other hit with two outs in the seventh inning.

Cincinnati managed to get just eight runners on base the entire game and was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

"Hitchcock kept us off balance," Miley said. "We had a couple of opportunities, but couldn't get that two-out hit."

St. Louis	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Hart 2b	4	1	1	0	1	0	.276
Cairo lf	5	2	3	0	0	0	.271
Pujols 1b	4	2	2	5	0	0	.368
Rolen 3b	4	0	0	0	0	1	.288
EduPerez rf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.275
Springer p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Renteria ss	3	0	0	0	1	0	.334
Matheny c	3	0	0	0	1	2	.240
Taguchi cf	2	0	0	0	0	0	.368
OPalmeiro ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.274
Eldred p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
Kline p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
Robinson ph-rf	0	0	0	0	1	0	.266
Hitchcock p	2	0	1	0	0	0	.333
Edmonds ph-cf	2	0	1	0	0	1	.285
Totals	34	5	8	5	4	5

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel cf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.274
Olmedo ss	4	0	1	0	0	1	.263
DJimenez 2b	3	0	1	0	1	0	.311
Branyan 1b	4	0	0	0	0	1	.213
Smitherman lf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.238
Hummel 3b	4	0	0	0	0	3	.267
LaRue c	3	0	1	0	1	0	.226
WPena rf	4	0	1	0	0	0	.156
Serafini p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235
Stenson ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	.297
Graves p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.113
Reith p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	31	0	4	0	3	7

St. Louis	000	002	030	-5	8	1
Cincinnati	000	000	000	-0	4	0

E-Renteria (16). LOB-St. Louis 6, Cincinnati 8. 2B-Cairo (15), LaRue (19). HR-Pujols 2 (37), off Graves, Serafini. RBIs-Pujols 5 (114). S-Serafini. GIDP-Taguchi.

Runners left in scoring position-St. Louis 2 (Cairo, Pujols); Cincinnati 4 (Freel 3, Smitherman).

DP-Cincinnati 1 (Olmedo and Branyan).

St. Louis	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Hitchcock W, 2-0	6	3	0	0	1	4	85	0.75
Eldred H, 8	1	1	0	0	1	1	27	4.39
Kline	1	0	0	0	0	1	12	4.17
Springer	1	0	0	0	1	1	16	6.08

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Serafini L, 0-2	6	4	2	2	3	3	115	4.91
Riedling	1	0	0	0	0	2	10	5.30
Graves	1	3	3	3	0	0	13	5.37
Reith	1	1	0	0	1	0	16	4.70

Umpires-Home, Jim Wolf; First, Scott Nelson; Second, Larry Young; Third, Mike Everitt.

T-2:47. A-29,272 (42,263).