By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Brewers catcher Eddie Perez tags out Wily Mo Pena at home in the third inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

MILWAUKEE - The Reds lost a game and probably two more players Tuesday night.

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Reds 4-3 before 8,703 at Miller Park, the smallest crowd in ballpark history.

It was announced during the game that Ryan Freel, who strained his right hamstring scoring a run, would return to Cincinnati to be examined by Dr. Tim Kremchek. It was announced after the game that starting pitcher Paul Wilson also was being sent back to be examined by Kremchek because of shoulder pain.

The Reds already have 11 players on the disabled list.

"It's rough," manager Dave Miley said. "When it rains, it pours. I've never seen anything like it. I don't know what else could go wrong."

Wilson has been pitching with pain in front of his shoulder for four weeks, yet his ERA has been under 3.00 in that time.

"We thought it was in his best interest and the best interest of the organization to get it checked out," trainer Mark Mann said. "He's a big piece of the puzzle for next year."

Danny Graves took the loss, despite a solid outing: three innings, one run, two hits, two strikeouts.

The run Graves allowed came on Eddie Perez's double in the eighth.

The Reds had tied it in the seventh on Wily Mo Pena's second home run in as many days - a two-run shot.

Freel strained his hamstring in a collision at the plate with Perez. Freel was on the disabled list after straining his left hamstring May 29.

"I don't think it's as bad as that one," Freel said. "But it's significant."

Wilson put the Reds in a 3-0 hole with his usual difficulties in the first. Scott Podsednik led off with a single, and Keith Ginter followed with his 11th home run. Wilson would face seven more batters in the inning, but he allowed only one more run.

It was the seventh time in 28 starts that Wilson has allowed at least three runs. Wilson's ERA in the first is 11.66. After the first, it's 3.28.

The shoulder may explain that.

"He was having trouble getting loose," Mann said. "His velocity at the beginning of games is down."

The Reds had only one base runner through three innings. Pena was hit by a pitch in the second, which led to a base-running adventure. Pena stole second and went to third on Perez's errant throw. He tried to go home when Podsednik's throw got away from third baseman Wes Helms, but he was out when pitcher Wes Obermueller threw to Perez.

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel cf	2	1	1	0	0	0	.275
Smitherman lf	1	0	0	0	1	1	.192
JCastro ss	3	0	0	0	1	0	.254
DJimenez 2b	4	0	1	1	0	1	.308
Branyan 1b	4	0	1	0	0	1	.216
Hummel 3b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.261
Stenson lf-rf	2	1	0	0	2	1	.282
LaRue c	3	0	0	0	0	0	.224
WPena rf-cf	2	1	1	2	0	1	.183
PWilson p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.115
Graves p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.111
Totals	28	3	4	3	4	8

Milwaukee	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Podsednik cf	4	1	2	0	0	0	.317
KGinter 2b	3	1	1	2	1	1	.265
BClark lf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.302
Sexson 1b	3	1	0	0	1	0	.263
Vander Wal rf	1	0	0	0	0	0	.260
Conti rf	3	0	0	0	0	2	.250
Helms 3b	3	1	3	0	1	0	.257
EddPerez c	4	0	3	2	0	0	.273
Clayton ss	3	0	0	0	1	1	.220
Obermueller p	3	0	0	0	0	1	.133
LVizcaino p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
MSmith ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.304
Kolb p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	32	4	9	4	4	7

Cincinnati	000	100	200	-3	4	0
Milwaukee	300	000	01x	-4	9	1

E-EddPerez (6). LOB-Cincinnati 3, Milwaukee 8. 2B-EddPerez (13). HR-WPena (2), off Obermueller; KGinter (11), off PWilson. RBIs-DJimenez (18), WPena 2 (7), KGinter 2 (34), EddPerez 2 (42). SB-Freel (8), WPena (2), Podsednik (35). GIDP-DJimenez.

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
PWilson	5	7	3	3	4	5	103	4.64
Graves L, 4-15	3	2	1	1	0	2	43	5.33

Milwaukee	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Obermueller	7	4	3	3	4	5	108	4.57
LVizcaino W, 4-3	1	0	0	0	0	2	15	6.79
Kolb S, 15	1	0	0	0	0	1	11	1.91

T-2:25. A-8,703 (41,900).