Manager Bobby Valentine juggled the lineup Sunday by putting Todd Zeile in the second spot, Edgardo Alfonzo in the five-hole and then placed Mark Johnson, a recent call-up from Norfolk, in left field.

None of the changes showed up in the bos score as the Reds completed their sweep of the weekends with a 3-1 victory at Shea Stadium that left New York 4-8, looking up at the rest of the division from last place in the National League East.

It was the first time the Mets had been swept in a three-game series at home since the Reds turned the trick on May 31 to June 2, 1999.

The Mets scored only three runs in the series and left 29 runners on base, including 10 on Sunday.

They hit .148 (4-for-27) with runners in scoring position in the series and were just 2-for-12 in those situations on Sunday.

"We'll do all the traditional things, like extra batting practice, and some not so traditional things to try and break out of this slump," Valentine said. "Snake dancers, voodoo, all of those kind of non-traditional things. We're close to doing that.

"It's just not breaking for us," Valentine said. "That's the way things happen. I don't know if they're pressing. We got men in scoring position; we're just not cashing in. We've been playing pretty much the way we have since the first game of the season."

Valentine indicated he would likley make more lineup changes Monday when Montreal comes in for a three-game series.

April 13, 2001

Red-faced

The Cincinnati Reds didn't come anywhere near their overhyped expectations last season, but you wouldn't know it pouring over their box scores against the Mets in 2000.

The Reds took the season series 5-4 and outscored New York by an aggregate of 47-26.

Can the Mets stop the Reds' onslaught this season? Ken Griffey Jr. and Co. hit Shea for a three-game series starting Friday. Griffey, because of a hamstring injury, is still being used as a pinch-hitter. He's 0-for-7 in that role.

New York's Steve Traschel will start the opener, opposed by righty Osvaldo Fernandez. Al Leiter was slated to pitch against Reds' righty Chris Reitsma on Saturday, and Sunday's matchup features the Mets' Kevin Appier against righty Elmer Dessens.

New York's latest star -- Shinjo

Tsuyoshi Shinjo quietly signed with the New York Mets while Ichiro Suzuki got all of the attention this winter. But if Shinjo keeps hitting at his current clip -- .280 through the Mets' first eight games -- he'll reach cult-hero status soon enough.

Especially because there is so much material. Shinjo turned down a whopping $11 million from his former team in Japan, the Hanshin Tigers, to sign with the Mets for $700,000. And he was a career .249 hitter in Japan.

"I'm not sure I'd let him handle my personal finances, even though I respect his love for the game," Mets general manager Steve Phillips told reporters.

Shinjo also weighs just 170 pounds and has a 28-inch waist, leaving him at times looking more like a candidate for GQ than for the Mets' outfield. A star in Japan, Shinjo signed with the Mets because he was growing weary of the adulation in his home country. The way he's playing so far, it will find him soon enough.

Piazza delivers in home opener

Before Monday's home opener against the Braves at Shea Stadium, Mike Piazza had some advice for his teammates: Watch as the banner from last year's National League Championship gets raised, take pride in what the team accomplished, then, most importantly, move on. The year 2000 was over, and New York had played like they were still coasting off last season's credentials as they got swept in a three-game series at Montreal over the weekend.

Piazza then went out and led by example. He went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI on the day in the Mets' 9-4 win over Atlanta. Piazza broke the game open with a three-run shot in the fifth, then added a two-run blast in the seventh.

"Not to forget about it (2000), but be proud of it,'' Piazza said. "We worked hard. It's kind of a nice ending to last season to get the banner up. But it's good to come out and play good this year today.''

Perhaps more important in the grand scheme of things, the Mets (3-4) got the type of performance they were looking for out of Kevin Appier when they signed the 33-year old righty to a big free agent deal over the winter.

Appier scattered six hits and three runs over seven innings for the win.

"With a new team or not, the first win is big," said Appier (1-0, 3.46). "I'll tell you, the crowd was amazing. I know I've pitched in front of bigger crowds, but never this intense."

The performance halted the negative momentum from an atrocious weekend of starting pitching in the unexpected sweep at the hands of the Expos. New York opened the series with a 10-6 defeat on April 6. Glendon Rusch lasted just three innings in the defeat, giving up five earned runs on five hits.

Brian "I should be pitching batting practice" Rose then came in and allowed three home runs in 2 2/3 innings of work. Then came Steve Trachsel's meltdown on April 7. The Mets learned why he complied a record of 16-33 over the past two seasons as he allowed 10 earned runs and nine hits in five innings in a 10-0 loss. Then on Sunday, ace Al Leiter surprisingly had a weak start, as he allowed four runs on 10 hits in five innings in a 5-3 loss.

"I don't think any team in baseball likes coming in here and playing," said Leiter. "I think the Expos are going to be surprising an awful lot of people here this year, especially if they play the way they played this weekend."