By John Erardi
Enquirer staff writer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photo gallery from game.

There were 6,253 walk-ups in the crowd of 34,002 at Great American Ball Park on Sunday, and most were on their feet and cheering when the count went to 3-2 on D'Angelo Jimenez in the bottom of the ninth inning with two on, one out and the Reds trailing 7-5.

Of course, the Reds lost to the Houston Astros by that same score when Jimenez grounded into a double play.

But it was how the game started that potentially bodes well for this team's future, not how it ended.

Reds starter Paul Wilson pitched masterfully again, keeping his team in it, but again was victimized by a bullpen that couldn't hold a lead.

"Works fast, throws strikes, bulldog mentality," said the Reds' Sean Casey of Wilson. "Hopefully, what they (the Reds front office) are thinking is: Keep this guy. It'd be a shame to let him walk. You don't come across pitchers like him very often. And you don't get better people than Paul Wilson."

The non-waiver trading deadline passed Saturday with the 31-year-old Wilson (9-2, 3.84 ERA) still slated to make his Sunday start here.

Wilson said he accepts the policy of Reds general manager Dan O'Brien not to negotiate any contracts during the season.

But Wilson could be lost to the team via free agency after season's end, although he seems to want to stay.

"As long as the team continues to want to make improvements and go forward, (I) want to be here," Wilson said. "Every great ballclub starts with a couple of key individuals, and we have them. Given the right moves in the right direction there's no reason this club can't get to the top."

It's likely some teams would have offered a king's ransom for Wilson. What's a quality start worth almost every time out when your team is in the hunt?

With so many other phases of the Reds' game in the desert, Wilson remains an oasis.

"I'm glad we didn't trade him away," Reds closer Danny Graves said. "Nobody's gonna compete more than this guy. He's the kind of guy these (young starters) need to follow. Not just the way he pitches, but his work ethic. He's great in the clubhouse. He's 9-2, and he should be 15-2."

Said Wilson: "I believe that with a piece or two of the puzzle, we can do things in this organization. These guys are winners in here, and I believe it."

The Reds' bullpen has blown six saves when Wilson has started.

This time, it was set-up man John Riedling, who couldn't hold a 5-3 lead in the eighth inning because of an uncharacteristic fielding miscue by third baseman Juan Castro.

Riedling, pitching in the role that normally would have been filled by Todd Jones - except that Jones was traded to the Phillies on Friday - gave up a leadoff single to Mike Lamb, but then got Jeff Kent to hit a grounder to Castro.

Castro got caught between hops, and the ball bounced off his glove and everyone was safe. It was ruled a hit, but Castro makes that play 99 times out of 100.

"Getting a groundball is a big part of my game, but I wouldn't want anybody out there at third base besides him," Riedling said.

Naturally, the sky fell in after that, as the merry-go-round antics commenced: sacrifice fly (Reds lead cut to 5-4), walk, single, walk (5-5). Cue the carousel music.

Riedling was pulled by Reds manager Dave Miley and then ejected by the home-plate umpire for what Riedling described as "a few choice words."

Adam Everett dropped a sweet suicide squeeze past reliever Todd Van Poppel, scoring Jeff Bagwell (6-5).

Morgan Ensberg hit an RBI double off Reds reliever Phil Norton in the ninth to give the Astros the winning margin.

"I feel bad for Paul," Riedling said. "He'd have every right (to go off) on (the bullpen), but he doesn't."

Houston	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Biggio lf	3	0	0	1	2	0	.299
DMiceli p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
Lidge p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
AEverett ss	5	1	2	1	0	0	.272
CBeltran cf	5	0	0	0	0	1	.252
Berkman rf	3	1	1	0	2	1	.296
Lamb 1b	5	1	2	1	0	2	.315
JKent 2b	4	3	2	0	1	1	.289
Ensberg 3b	4	0	3	3	0	0	.272
RChavez c	3	0	1	1	0	0	.198
b-Bagwell ph	0	1	0	0	1	0	.270
Lane lf	0	0	0	0	0	0	.218
Oswalt p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.130
c-JVizcaino ph	1	0	1	0	0	0	.287
Ausmus c	0	0	0	0	0	0	.240
Totals	35	7	12	7	6	6

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel 3b-rf	2	0	1	0	3	1	.275
DJimenez 2b	5	0	1	0	0	1	.255
Casey 1b	4	1	2	0	0	0	.332
Dunn lf	4	1	2	0	0	1	.276
WPena cf	4	1	1	2	0	2	.267
JaCruz rf	2	1	1	2	0	0	.234
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Van Poppel p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
d-Vander Wal ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.174
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
LaRue c	4	0	0	0	0	2	.245
FLopez ss	4	1	3	0	0	0	.222
PWilson p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.143
a-JCastro ph-3b	1	0	0	0	0	1	.241
e-Valentin ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.194
Totals	33	5	11	4	3	9

Houston	020	010	031	-7	12	1
Cincinnati	001	400	000	-5	11	0

E-Biggio (5). LOB-Houston 9, Cincinnati 6. 2B-Ensberg (15), Casey (33), Dunn (20), WPena (7), FLopez (5). HR-JaCruz (3), off Oswalt. RBIs-Biggio (41), AEverett (29), Lamb (36), Ensberg 3 (46), RChavez (12), WPena 2 (43), JaCruz 2 (21). S-Oswalt, PWilson. SF-Ensberg. GIDP-CBeltran, DJimenez 2, LaRue.

DP-Houston 3 (Ensberg, JKent and Lamb), (AEverett, JKent and Lamb), (JKent, AEverett and Lamb); Cincinnati 1 (DJimenez, FLopez and Casey).

Houston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Oswalt W, 11-8	7	10	5	4	2	8	110	3.80
DMiceli H, 16	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	3.92
Lidge S, 11	1	1	0	0	1	1	21	2.25

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
PWilson	7	6	3	3	4	4	121	3.84
Riedling L, 4-3	BS, 5 1/3	3	3	3	2	0	18	4.37
Van Poppel	2/3	1	0	0	0	0	4	5.33
PNorton	1	2	1	1	0	2	16	4.70

Inherited runners-scored-Van Poppel 3-1.

HBP-by Oswalt (JaCruz).

T-2:55. A-34,002 (42,271).