Ike Davis couldn't fault Terry Collins for pinch-hitting for him with two outs in the eighth inning on Sunday.

With the Mets trailing 3-1, Collins elected to send up southpaw-masher Scott Hairston -- instead of Davis -- against Reds left-hander Sean Marshall with runners on first and second.

Hairston came into the at-bat hitting .342 with seven homers off lefties this season, but fell behind in the count 0-2 and eventually grounded into a fielder's choice, ending the threat. The Mets lost 3-1.

"I want to be up there, no doubt," said Davis, who went 1-for-3, raising his batting average to .194. "But I can’t really blame TC for putting in Scottie. How many times has he come through for us in those situations? You gotta play the odds, I guess, you know?"

Collins was irked when asked about his decision after the game.

"Well, I hope I don't have to address this very much because when you have a guy like Scott Hairston -- that does nothing but hit home runs, especially against left-handed pitching, with the go-ahead run at the plate -- and he's sitting on the bench, that would be the question at the end of the game: Why he wasn’t up there?"

Davis extended his hitting streak to eight games with a second-inning single. He's hitting .478 over that span.

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A squirrel delayed the start of the ninth when it ran across the field. Pigeons were frequent visitors as well.

"It was like a petting zoo out there," David Wright joked.

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Chris Young thought his 2-2 slider to Zack Cozart with two outs in the fifth was a strike. Home plate umpire Vic Carapazza disagreed.

Cozart hit Young's next pitch for a double -- one of three two-out hits the Reds amassed during the three-run frame.

Young (1-1) ended up taking the loss -- his first since June 14, 2009, while with San Diego at Los Angeles (AL) -- despite giving up just two earned runs (three total) over a season-high seven innings.

While he wasn't satisfied with the result, Young felt good about the fact that he threw more than 100 pitches for a second consecutive start. Not bad 13 months after undergoing shoulder surgery.

"It's been a good test for my shoulder," Young said. "I feel good."

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After scoring 29 runs during their three-game sweep of Tampa Bay, the Mets mustered five during their three-game sweep at the hands of Cincinnati. They also went 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position during the series -- including 1-for-5 on Sunday.

"It's gonna be a long week if we continue to struggle offensively," Wright said.

The Mets face the Orioles and Yankees at Citi Field this week.

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Wright spoke with Eli Manning before the Giants quarterback threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Father's Day while holding his 14-month-old daughter, Ava.

"We weren’t talking about quantum physics," Wright said, adding that he asked Manning what his daughter's name was in a brief conversation.

A reporter joked that Manning was smarter than Wright.

"Well he went to college. I didn't," Wright replied.

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The Reds hadn't completed a three-game sweep of the Mets in New York since April 13-15, 2001. ... The Mets were swept for the third time this season -- and second time in their last three series. ... Like Davis, Wright also has an eight-game hitting streak. ... Joey Votto had three hits, upping his average to .366 and his on-base percentage to .489. "Nobody gets Joey Votto out," Collins said. ... The first 25,000 fans in attendance Sunday received a Keith Hernandez bobblehead.