By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos from Wednesday's game

A TV reporter asked Reds manager Dave Miley how tough it is when nearly everyone in your bullpen is struggling.

Miley's response?

"Have a nice day, guys."

Miley doesn't rip his players publicly, so he dodged the question and ended the interview.

But everyone knows that these are tough times in the Reds dugout, especially when game is on the line and Miley has to make a call to the bullpen.

For the third straight game Wednesday, things quickly got out of hand once Miley turned it over to the relief corps, and the Houston Astros coasted to 9-3 victory over the Reds before a crowd of the 17,270 at Great American Ball Park.

The Astros completed a three-game sweep of the Reds with the win. The Reds were outscored 28-6 in the series. The Reds closed the nine-game homestand by losing five of the last six games.

The bullpen gave up 17 runs in 16 innings in the series.

"It seems like it's the sixth or seventh inning," Miley said. "We're right there, and the bullpen lets it slip out of hand."

It was the seventh Wednesday. The Astros scored five runs against three relievers. The big blow was Jeff Kent's grand slam off Ryan Wagner, the one effective reliever the Reds have had over the last month or so.

The bullpen's ERA is up to 5.20. But Wagner said a defeatist attitude has not taken over.

"Every one of those guys have been through tough times before," Wagner said. "They know if they couldn't do it they wouldn't be here. You've got to get out of your mind and be ready to pitch the next day."

Wednesday marked the return of the Paul Wilson, the club's No. 1 start who had been on the disabled list since Aug. 14 with a strained back.

Wilson was OK—five innings, allowing four runs on six hits. Three of four runs were scored in the second inning. Two walks played a big role in the inning.

"Physically, I was fine," Wilson said. "I felt great. But I felt a little herky-jerky, out of control."

"Other than the second, I thought he didn't pitch that badly," Miley said. "He gave us a chance."

The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the first. Ryan Freel singled, went to second on center fielder Carlos Beltran's error. Freel eventually scored on Sean Casey's RBI groundout.

Wilson gave up the three runs in the second to make it 3-1.

The Reds tied it in the third. Freel homered to lead off. It was his first home run in 373 at-bats.

Darren Bragg drove the second run home with a two-out single.

Lance Berkman gave the Astros lead with his 25th home run of the year. It was his fourth in the three-game series.

Wilson was on 90-pitch count, so he was lifted after the fifth.

"It's frustrating," Wilson said. "I was hoping for a little better outing."

Todd Van Poppel took over for Wilson and pitched a scoreless sixth.

Van Poppel was pulled after the first three hitters reached in the seventh. Phil Norton was brought on and walked Berkman on four pitches to load the bases.

Wagner came into face Kent. Kent promptly hit a 2-0 pitch out for a grand slam. It was the third grand slam Wagner has allowed this year.

"If had throw strike one, the outcome might have been different," Wagner said. "When you fall behind (the Astros) and make a mistake, they're not going to miss it."

Norton has not retired a batter in three of his last four appearances. In that span, he has a 36.00 ERA. Van Poppel has allowed runs in six of his last seven appearances. He has a 12.75 ERA over that span.

Houston	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Biggio lf	4	1	2	1	0	0	.287
JVizcaino 2b	0	0	0	0	0	0	.287
CBeltran cf	3	1	0	0	1	2	.257
1-OPalmeiro pr-lf	0	0	0	0	0	0	.246
Bagwell 1b	5	1	1	1	0	0	.265
Berkman rf	3	3	3	1	2	0	.312
JKent 2b	4	2	1	4	1	1	.287
Springer p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Lidge p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Lamb 3b	5	1	1	0	0	0	.295
Bruntlett ss	4	0	2	1	0	1	.250
RChavez c	4	0	1	0	1	1	.192
Oswalt p	2	0	1	1	0	0	.155
Harville p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a-Lane ph-cf	2	0	0	0	0	2	.233
Totals	36	9	12	9	5	7

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel 3b-cf	5	2	2	1	0	1	.271
JCastro 2b-3b	3	0	0	0	1	1	.243
Casey 1b	4	0	1	1	0	0	.334
Dunn lf	2	1	1	0	2	0	.272
Kearns rf	4	0	1	0	0	1	.222
Bragg cf	3	0	1	1	0	0	.196
RWagner p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
b-Vander Wal ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	.136
GWhite p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
FLopez ss	4	0	1	0	0	1	.245
Valentin c	3	0	0	0	1	2	.210
PWilson p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.128
Van Poppel p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
DJimenez 2b	2	0	0	0	0	1	.255
Totals	32	3	7	3	5	9

Houston	030	010	500	-9	12	1
Cincinnati	102	000	000	-3	7	1

a-struck out for Harville in the 8th. b-walked for Wagner in the 8th.

1-ran for Beltran in the 8th.

E-CBeltran (2), Van Poppel (1). LOB-Houston 9, Cincinnati 8. 2B-Biggio (39), Dunn (27). HR-JKent (20), off RWagner; Berkman (25), off PWilson; Freel (2), off Oswalt. RBIs-Biggio (50), Bagwell (66), Berkman (86), JKent 4 (85), Bruntlett (7), Oswalt (6), Freel (25), Casey (83), Bragg (5). S-CBeltran, Oswalt, JCastro. SF-Biggio, Bruntlett. GIDP-Dunn.

Runners left in scoring position-Houston 4 (Biggio, CBeltran, JKent 2); Cincinnati 2 (FLopez, Valentin).

Runners moved up-Casey, Kearns.

DP-Houston 1 (JKent, Bruntlett and Bagwell).

Houston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Oswalt W, 16-9	6	6	3	2	3	4	102	3.54
Harville	1	0	0	0	1	0	16	5.44
Springer	1	1	0	0	1	2	27	0.00
Lidge	1	0	0	0	0	3	15	2.00

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
PWilson L, 9-5	5	6	4	4	2	2	81	4.63
Van Poppel	1	3	3	2	0	0	27	6.22
PNorton	0	0	1	1	1	0	4	5.46
RWagner	2	2	1	1	2	4	37	4.47
GWhite	1	1	0	0	0	1	13	5.79

Van Poppel pitched to 3 batters in the 7th, PNorton pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

Inherited runners-scored-RWagner 3-3, PNorton 2-0.

WP-RWagner.

T-2:58. A-17,270 (42,271).