By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

Luke Hudson threw 90 pitches Sunday. There was only one he really wanted back - the last one.

Hudson's 2-2 fastball to Miguel Ojeda hit Ojeda on the arm.

"That one pitch killed me," Hudson said.

The Padres' Phil Nevin made his first appearance at catcher since Aug. 9, 1999, when Miguel Ojeda was forced to leave the game in the middle of the sixth inning with a bruised left wrist after he was hit by a pitch. (Enquirer photo/MICHAEL E. KEATING)

The errant pitch to Ojeda did go a long way toward sealing the Reds' fate in their 7-2 loss to the San Diego Padres Sunday before a crowd of 31,447 at Great American Ball Park.

Hudson, a 27-year-old right-hander, was making his first start for the Reds. It was a 3-2 game in the sixth inning when he hit Ojeda.

The Padres had runners at first and second and one out.

"It was a big out," Hudson said. "It's the difference between first and second with two outs, and bases loaded one out."

After Hudson hit Ojeda, the Reds brought in reliever John Riedling. He gave up a two-run double to pitcher Adam Eaton. Riedling ended up walking three more batters in the inning and allowing another hit. The Padres had a four-run inning and were on their way to taking two of three in the series.

The Reds, back to a season-high five games under .500 at 56-61, went 2-4 on the homestand.

It doesn't get any easier. They flew to St. Louis Sunday night. They open a three-game series tonight with the world's best team, the Cardinals.

The Reds definitely have one eye toward the future, so Sunday was not an entirely bad day.

Hudson, despite his line - 5 1/3 innings, five earned runs on eight hits - threw well. So did Joe Valentine, another power arm the Reds called up from Triple-A Louisville.

"I was pleased with (Hudson) and Joe Valentine," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "Those were the two positives from the game."

The negatives? A complete lack of hitting in the clutch. The Reds were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and came away from prime scoring opportunities in the third and fifth with nothing.

More on that later.

Hudson is 16 months removed from shoulder surgery. He started slowly this year. But after making a mechanical adjustment in May, he has been lights out, first at Double-A Chattanooga, then at Triple-A Louisville. He was 8-2 with a 1.68 ERA in his past 10 starts.

Hudson made two appearances in relief for the Reds in 2002.

But Sunday's start was different.

"I felt like I earned it this time," he said. "I was starting, which is what I've done my whole life, so I was more comfortable."

Hudson allowed an unearned run in the first.

Sean Casey got the Reds going with his 18th home run - a two-run shot - in the bottom of the first.

Hudson gave up two more runs in the second and then settled in. He put up zeroes in the third, fourth and fifth.

The Reds blew chances to get the lead back.

In the third, D'Angelo Jimenez and Casey singled with one out. But Adam Dunn and Wily Mo Pena struck out.

The fifth was pretty much a carbon copy. Felipe Lopez singled to stretch his career-high hitting streak to nine. Jimenez was hit by a pitch, and Casey walked to load the bases with one out. But Dunn struck out swinging on the 12th pitch of his at-bat and Pena took a called third strike.

"The key was we had opportunities and couldn't get the big hit," Miley said.

Dunn leads the majors with 138 strikeouts. Pena strikes out at nearly the same rate. Dunn strikes out once every 2.95 at-bats; Pena once every 3.13 at-bats.

Dunn does not have a sacrifice fly this year. His RBI total (75) is the highest of any player with a sacrifice fly. Pena has the second-highest RBI total (56) of players without a sacrifice fly.

Because the Reds failed to do anything with fat chances in the third and fifth, the Padres' four-run sixth was too much to overcome.

Valentine was lit up in two appearances in June. His ERA entering the game was 14.54.

He pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.

"I like the way he threw the ball," Miley said.

San Diego	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
KGreene ss	5	0	1	2	0	0	.262
Loretta 2b	4	1	1	0	1	0	.340
BGiles rf	4	0	0	1	1	0	.269
Nevin 1b-c	5	0	3	2	0	0	.306
Klesko lf-1b	3	1	0	0	1	2	.271
Long cf-lf	4	0	1	0	0	3	.286
Burroughs 3b	4	1	2	0	0	0	.296
Ojeda c	2	2	0	0	0	0	.248
Payton cf	1	0	0	0	0	0	.239
Eaton p	2	2	2	2	0	0	.213
Linebrink p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Otsuka p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	35	7	10	7	3	6

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
FLopez ss	4	0	1	0	1	1	.267
DJimenez 2b	4	1	3	0	0	0	.263
Casey 1b	4	1	3	2	1	0	.341
Dunn lf	5	0	0	0	0	3	.279
WPena cf	4	0	1	0	0	2	.263
Valentine p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Bragg rf	4	0	0	0	0	2	.211
LaRue c	3	0	1	0	0	2	.245
JCastro 3b	4	0	2	0	0	0	.243
Hudson p	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Vander Wal ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.162
GWhite p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Freel cf	1	0	0	0	0	0	.281
Totals	36	2	11	2	2	11

San Diego	120	004	000	-7	10	0
Cincinnati	200	000	000	-2	11	1

E-Dunn (5). LOB-San Diego 6, Cincinnati 11. 2B-Loretta (37), Eaton 2 (5), Casey (38). HR-Casey (18), off Eaton. RBIs-KGreene 2 (48), BGiles (68), Nevin 2 (69), Eaton 2 (7), Casey 2 (73). S-Eaton. GIDP-Casey, JCastro.

DP-San Diego 2 (KGreene, Loretta and Nevin), (Burroughs, Loretta, Klesko and Loretta).

San Diego	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Eaton W, 8-10	6	8	2	2	1	8	111	4.90
Linebrink	2	2	0	0	0	2	34	1.96
Otsuka	1	1	0	0	1	1	19	1.99

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Hudson L, 0-1	5 1/3	8	6	5	1	3	90	8.44
Riedling	2/3	2	1	1	2	0	23	4.37
GWhite	1	0	0	0	0	2	16	7.00
Valentine	2	0	0	0	0	1	20	9.95

Inherited runners-scored-Riedling 3-3.

HBP-by Hudson (Ojeda), by Eaton (DJimenez), by Eaton (LaRue).

T-3:07. A-31,447 (42,271).