By John Fay and Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ryan Wagner has been a Red since July 19.

So he has gotten a taste of the big leagues, but he found out that Opening Day is a difference creature.

PHOTO GALLERIES

• At the ballpark • Opening Day Parade

"I can't describe how it felt," Wagner said. "Your first time at Opening Day, 42,000 fans ... it's indescribable."

Wagner, a 21-year-old right-hander, was in the middle of one key sequence in Monday's 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Wagner entered the game in the eighth with the score 5-4 Cubs.

"I got out there and I had to regroup," Wagner said. "You can get ahead of yourself."

He didn't. He struck out the first two batters he faced - Moises Alou and Aramis Ramirez - Ramirez on three pitches.

But he lost Derrek Lee on a 3-2 pitch. The fans booed, but Wagner had no problem with the call.

"It was a ball," he said. "I wasn't worried about the walk. I had two outs."

He should have gotten out of the inning on Alex Gonzalez's fly to left, but Adam Dunn dropped the ball.

The error led to two unearned runs.

QUICK TRIP: Jimmy Haynes has a big day ahead of him today.

Haynes traveled to Cincinnati with the Reds and participated in the Opening Day festivities.

But he's going back to Sarasota, Fla., to pitch in a minor-league game today.

That means catching an 8:50 a.m. flight. It gets him to Sarasota at 11:15 a.m. or so.

The game in which he's pitching starts at 1 p.m.

"I'll be cutting it close," he said.

Haynes is scheduled to make his first start for the Reds on Sunday against Pittsburgh.

"They want to keep me on a schedule," he said.

PLAY OF THE DAY: The Cubs were denied one, and possibly two runs, in the ninth inning.

With runners on first base and third base, Chicago's Alou hit a single to center field.

Reds center fielder Ryan Freel caught the ball on the bounce and threw perfectly to catcher Jason LaRue at home plate.

The throw beat Mark Grudzielanek, who was tagged out by LaRue as he ran over the catcher.

LaRue then got up and threw off-balance to third base, where Juan Castro tagged out Corey Patterson to complete the inning-ending double play.

"Freel did a great job and came up with the ball and threw it home," LaRue said. "Just because you get run over, you don't lay and wallow around on the ground. You've got to bounce back up, get your eyes on the field and see what's happening. I just got up as fast as I could and threw the ball to third."

TRIBUTES: The Reds remembered outfielder Dernell Stenson and former club president and chief executive officer Marge Schott, who died March 2, with video tributes before the game.

Stenson's tribute included highlights from some of the 37 games he played with the Reds last season. He was killed Nov. 6, 2003 in Chandler, Ariz.

Schott's tribute was accompanied by this quote: "Opening Day is history, honey, and you've got to keep history going."

LARSON UPDATE: Third baseman Brandon Larson (turf toe) attended Monday's game.

He is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville on Thursday and is eligible to come off the disabled list Saturday.

Firsts

First pitch: 2:12 p.m. Game-time temperature is 45 degrees.

First hit, first run: 2:14 p.m. Corey Patterson, the game's second batter, homers to right field.

First booing of umpire: 2:50 p.m. Moises Alou takes Ball 3, but the fans think it could have been a called third strike to end the third inning.

First boos of Reds: 2:51 p.m. Alou doubles to left, driving in three runs to make the score 4-0.

First stolen base: 3:01 p.m. Ryan Freel steals second.

First Reds run: 3:05 p.m. D'Angelo Jimenez drives in Freel.

First nice catch: 3:37 p.m. Austin Kearns catches Alou's ball against the fence in the fifth inning.

Best play: 4:51 p.m. A rare 8-2-5 double play on an Alou single.

Last pitch: 5:02 p.m. Barry Larkin whiffs on a Joe Borowski 2-2 pitch.

QUICK HITS: No jinx

Kerry Wood, who appears on the cover of the current Sports Illustrated, won to improve his career record against the Reds to 11-2.

Trouble spot

Cory Lidle allowed five earned runs in five innings Monday. His 123 earned runs last season tied Tigers 21-game loser Mike Maroth for most in the majors.

Not closing the door

Five of the runs the Reds allowed came after they retired the first two batters of an inning.

Welcome back

Austin Kearns had his first hit since early July, a fourth-inning single.

Quotable

"It went all right, but it's not exactly what I wanted. ... In the third inning, I fell behind (hitters), and that's what really killed us." Pitcher Cory Lidle on his first Reds start

"Any time you've got a stud like that, you want him in the lineup. But it's a long season. We'll have him in there." Barry Larkin, on Ken Griffey Jr. being injured

"Opening Day's a big deal, and it's easy to overanalyze a loss. But guys got good at-bats against some of the best pitchers in the game. That's encouraging." Outfielder Austin Kearns

"We all played hard. We had some tough plays, but we never gave up." Outfielder Ryan Freel

NATIONAL ANTHEM

Cincinnati native Nick Lachey had a whirlwind, 12-hour visit to his hometown Monday. He took a red-eye flight that landed at 6:20 a.m. in Cincinnati, sang the national anthem, then had to leave before the game's conclusion.

Yet ...

"It was awesome," he said. "It's a beautiful day, a great crowd. This is a big thrill for me."

Lachey, a Reds fan, sang the national anthem on Opening Day in 2000 as part of the band 98 Degrees.

Lachey wore a replica 1970s Johnny Bench jersey Monday. He bought it after Bench, one of his idols, appeared on The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour, a variety show Lachey and wife Jessica Simpson taped that will air at 9 p.m. Sunday on ABC (Ch. 9 and 2). Bench gives Lachey a hitting lesson on the show.

Lachey, who stars with his wife in the MTV reality show Newlyweds, said the variety show is a one-time special. "But depending on how it's received, there might be more," he said.

As for the Reds: "If the pitching comes through, we can make a run. But it's really tough being in (the same division) with the Cubs and the Astros."

---Neil Schmidt