Vaughn, Reds Overwhelm Mets

Greg Vaughn figures he'll hit more when he relaxes.

"I think I'm too hard on myself. I'm making it more difficult than it is," said the struggling slugger, hitless in his past 11 at-bats before homering Wednesday night in the Cincinnati Reds' 7-4 victory over the New York Mets.

Vaughn, who was supposed to bring a power infusion to the Reds, is batting just .191 with three homers.

Vaughn's two-run homer and Mike Cameron's two-run double keyed a six-run fourth inning. The rally took Denny Neagle off the hook in his first start for the Reds and matched Cincinnati's biggest inning of the year, against San Francisco on opening day.

"When you're down 4-0, it's always nice to have a guy like him who's capable of getting you close," said Reds manager Jack McKeon. "When he does that, you can say you're back in the ballgame. We didn't stop there, but even if they hold us to two or three runs, we're still close."

Masato Yoshii (1-2) pitched three scoreless innings before getting rocked in the fourth.

Sean Casey led off with a single, and Vaughn homered. Yoshii walked the next three batters, Pokey Reese drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and, one out later, Cameron doubled in two more. Barry Larkin ended the scoring with an RBI single.

Mets manager Bobby Valentine said he stayed with Yoshii because he was still throwing well, even while walking three successive batters.

"I don't know how they didn't swing at those," Valentine said. "They were quality pitches, a lot of them."

Scott Sullivan (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings for the win, and Danny Graves worked 1 1-3 innings for his second save.

Eddie Taubensee added a solo homer in the fifth for the Reds, who broke a three-game losing strak and won for just the second time in eight home games.

Neagle, obtained in an offseason trade with Atlanta for second baseman Bret Boone, went on the disabled list in spring training with weakness in his left shoulder. His return was unimpressive.

"He was trying to cram three starts into one. That's human nature," said pitching coach Don Gullett.

Neagle said he was "probably pumped too much" early, but felt he was settling into a groove later.

"I felt great physically," Neagle said. "I just got a little bit too excited. The guys picked me up, and that's what it's all about. I've got nothing to hang my head about."

Neagle retired the first two batters on groundballs but then walked John Olerud, and Bobby Bonilla followed with his second home run in two days. Bonilla has 34 career homers against the Reds, more than against any other team.

Todd Pratt homered in the second, and Roger Cedeno led off the third with a double. Neagle hit the next two batters to load the bases, and Cedeno scored on Robin Ventura's groundout to make it 4-0.

Neagle got out of the inning with a strikeout and two groundballs, and retired the side in the fourth on three flyouts before leaving for a pinch hitter.

"If I was coach, I would have made the same move," Neagle said.

The Reds' bullpen didn't allow a hit the rest of the way.

Notes: The Reds, who bought the contract of right-hander Ricky Greene from Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday, optioned Greene back to Indy to make room on the roster for Neagle. ... Casey was 2-for-4 to raise his NL-leading average to .458. ... Olerud, who had reached base safely with a hit or walk in the Mets' first 14 games, added an HBP to his stats. Neagle hit Edgardo Alfonzo and Olerud in the third.

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