By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

NEW YORK - Dave Miley didn't give Tim Hummel a start Wednesday night against the New York Mets just to appease the 40 friends and family members for whom Hummel left tickets.

"I was going to start him anyway," Miley said.

What Miley didn't say, but was probably thinking, is: We have to get more production out of the third baseman.

Brandon Larson started the last three games at third. He had a hit in each of them, but he continues to struggle in crucial at-bats.

He struck out in the third inning of Tuesday's 7-4 loss to the Mets with runners at second and third and one out. A hit would have made it a 6-1 game. A flyout or a groundball probably would have made it 5-1.

Larson is hitting .185 with runners in scoring position. Entering Wednesday, he was hitting .186 overall with three RBI since returning from the disabled list June 4.

But injuries spread the Reds so thin that Larson started 12 of the first 15 games since he came off the DL.

The Reds are 21-8 when Ryan Freel starts at third. (They're 8-14 when Larson starts). But Freel has been needed to play second lately because of injuries to D'Angelo Jimenez, Barry Larkin and Juan Castro.

The Reds finally turned to Hummel. He responded with a four-game hitting streak during which he hit .643.

Miley went back to Larson after Hummel went 0-for-4 against St. Louis Friday night.

TOP 40: Hummel, who is from nearby Goshen, N.Y., left 40 tickets for Tuesday's game.

"They're coming out of the woodwork," he said. "A lot of them still live in Queens, Rosedale, Valley Stream, which are 10 minutes away."

Hummel got into Monday's game to pinch hit. He was hit a by a pitch.

"It's nice starting," he said. "They don't have to wait all night for me to get in."

REITH CLEARS: Right-hander Brian Reith, designated for assignment Friday to make room on the roster for Gabe White, cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Louisville.

BUBBA TO CHATTANOOGA: Right-hander Bubba Nelson will be sent from Triple-A Louisville to Double-A Chattanooga to make room for Jung Keun Bong.

Bong and Nelson were obtained in the trade with Atlanta for Chris Reitsma.

Nelson struggled in nearly every start for the Bats. He was 1-10 with a 7.09 ERA in 12 starts.

BACK TO SECOND: Jimenez started at second base Tuesday night after making three straight starts at shortstop.

Jimenez was having trouble making the pivot at second because of a sore oblique muscle on his left side.

Jimenez, a switch hitter, continues to hit only from the left side because of the strain.

"I want to hit righty," he said. "But I'm not quite ready."

SHORT CAMEO: There were some disappointed people in Pittsburgh Tuesday night. They would have liked to have seen Sean Casey get a little more airtime on Late Show with Dave Letterman.

"My mom called," Casey said. "She said, 'I called everyone I know, and you were on for like a second.' "

Casey walked on and glared at Ken Griffey Jr. after Griffey read, "What a coincidence - it's the 500th time I took a leak in Sean Casey's locker" as part of the Top 10 list.

GIVE HIM A RIM SHOT: Phil Norton asked someone in the clubhouse Tuesday if he knew what a Norton game-used hat was worth.

"No, how much?"

"Twelve bucks less than a new one."

UP NEXT: The Reds wrap up the three-game series with the Mets with a 1:10 p.m. game today. Right-hander Cory Lidle (2-5, 5.29 ERA) faces left-hander Tom Glavine (7-3, 2.07).

The Reds return home Friday to start a nine-game, 10-day homestand with Pittsburgh, the Mets and Cleveland.

REDS FACT: The team has lost 10 of its last 14 games and had the lead in each of the last seven losses.

Reds statistics

(Through Tuesday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.351	.400	268	52	94	26	1	13	50	21	20	1	0	4
Larkin	.303	.351	208	38	63	9	2	4	29	17	25	2	0	1
Castro	.294	.333	85	11	25	6	1	1	9	5	17	0	0	4
Hummel	.286	.328	56	6	16	4	0	1	5	3	9	1	0	3
Cruz	.266	.347	64	10	17	4	0	2	16	8	20	0	0	0
Pena	.265	.312	102	10	27	3	1	5	15	6	39	2	0	2
Dunn	.263	.416	232	47	61	12	0	20	45	58	89	2	0	2
Griffey	.259	.360	247	43	64	15	0	19	54	38	54	1	0	0
Jimenez	.254	.368	236	34	60	12	2	3	21	42	39	7	5	4
Freel	.250	.365	216	28	54	7	5	1	11	32	37	12	4	7
LaRue	.236	.333	161	21	38	9	0	7	25	13	43	0	2	6
Larson	.228	.319	79	8	18	6	0	1	8	9	23	1	0	5
Kearns	.195	.327	87	10	17	2	1	3	13	16	30	1	1	1
Lopez	.156	.174	45	3	7	2	0	0	5	1	18	0	0	3
Valentin	.156	.196	90	8	14	4	0	3	8	5	12	0	0	3
Clark	.136	.240	22	3	3	1	0	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
Team Totals	.252	.342	2347	338	591	125	13	83	320	293	560	30	12	47

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
White	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	1.1	1	0	0	0	0	1
Graves	1	3	3.43	39	0	27	39.1	41	20	15	9	5	24
Jones	5	1	3.51	36	0	1	41.0	30	17	16	2	19	30
Wilson	7	1	3.54	14	14	0	89.0	93	38	35	10	25	57
Matthews	1	1	3.68	17	0	0	14.2	10	7	6	4	6	6
Riedling	4	1	4.06	33	0	0	37.2	33	20	17	3	18	23
Van Poppel	3	2	4.53	14	8	0	57.2	61	29	29	6	11	34
Lidle	4	5	5.29	15	15	0	95.1	100	57	56	13	24	56
Acevedo	3	6	5.31	14	14	0	79.2	90	48	47	17	17	64
Harang	4	2	5.43	11	11	0	59.2	79	37	36	7	22	44
Norton	1	2	5.79	31	0	0	28.0	32	21	18	3	17	17
Team Totals	38	32	4.92	70	70	28	618.2	676	365	338	90	218	411