Reds, Boone Bomb Mets

Turk Wendell second-guessed himself as soon as Aaron Boone's drive cleared the wall. He knew he shouldn't have thrown a fastball.

Boone's tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning was part of a four-RBI night that carried the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-4 victory Monday night over the New York Mets.

There was a little more one-upmanship between teams that traded tweaks in New York Reds manager Jack McKeon made reliever Pat Mahomes change out of his orange T-shirt before pitching, a move that annoyed Mets manager Bobby Valentine.

"I just play within the rules," McKeon responded.

But that was just a sidelight to a game that came down to the top two bullpens in the National League Cincinnati led with a 2.66 ERA, followed by New York at 3.16.

Greg McMichael (0-1) opened the sixth with a pair of walks, followed by a pair of strikeouts. Wendell relieved and Boone drove his second pitch an inside fastball over the wall in left for his third homer.

Boone expected Wendell to challenge him with a fastball.

"I know Turk. He'll come after you," Boone said. "He's aggressive. He's the kind of guy who will come after you. Sometimes you get him, sometimes he gets you."

Wendell figured that in a sense, he got himself.

"In a situation like that with the game on the line, I've got to be a little smarter there," Wendell said. "It was pretty stupid to throw a fastball. I guess that's the way you learn."

Boone also had an RBI double in the fourth as he matched his career high with four RBIs.

Scott Williamson (6-2) gave up a sacrifice fly to Rey Ordonez that tied it in the sixth, but went three innings to get the win. Danny Graves pitched the ninth, giving up an RBI groundout to Edgardo Alfonzo.

Starters Jason Isringhausen and Ron Villone each lasted five innings, leaving it to the relievers. The Mets got 10 walks, but only five hits off the three Cincinnati pitchers as they lost for the second time in eight games.

The Mets failed to take full advantag of the Reds' wildness, leaving the bases loaded twice and stranding eight runners.

The Mets' starting lineup was missing Mike Piazza and John Olerud, both of whom were given a day to rest. Piazza has a 17-game hitting streak and Olerud had started all but one of the Mets' 62 games. Olerud pinch hit and grounded into a double play in the eighth.

Villone, making his second major league start after 162 relief appearances, allowed only one hit but walked a career-high seven, the most by a Reds pitcher this season.

The left-hander couldn't find the strike zone in the first inning, when he walked four of the eight batters he faced. But the Mets couldn't get a hit to break it open.

Bobby Bonilla hit into a forceout with the bases loaded to score one run, and Roger Cedeno drew a bases-loaded walk to force in another. Shortstop Barry Larkin made a nice backhand stop on Ordonez's hard-hit grounder to prevent more runs and leave it 2-0.

Isringhausen gave up solo homers to Michael Tucker in the third and Larkin in the fourth. Boone's two-out RBI double put the Reds up 3-2 later in the fourth.

Ordonez's sacrifice fly off Williamson tied it in the top of the sixth, but Boone's homer put the Reds ahead again. They added a run in the seventh when Tucker doubled off Mahomes and tricked Benny Agbayani, acting like he wasn't tagging on Greg Vaughn's fly out. Tucker took off when the right fielder lobbed the ball in, then scored on Larkin's single.

Pokey Reese had a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

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