CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- The New York Mets saw everything fall into place until Braden Looper trotted in for the ninth.

Adam Dunn 's two-run homer off Looper tied the game and Joe Randa followed with a game-winning shot as the Cincinnati Reds stunned the Mets, 7-6, in the season opener for both teams.

New York got huge efforts from its two key offseason acquisitions - Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran - and carried a 6-4 lead into the ninth. Concerned with how they would get the ball to Looper (0-1), New York had the luxury of a two-run lead when he took the mound.

Austin Kearns opened the inning with a bloop single to right and Dunn crushed a low fastball deep into the stands in right-center field to knot the contest. Randa, in his first game for the Reds, then touched off a wild celebration with a high fly ball over the left field wall.

"Games like that usually don't happen, if you don't have chemistry," Randa said. "For me being new here it is pretty special. We scratched and clawed. Dunn is the hero. He had two great at-bats. Everyone in the back of their mind knew what he was capable of."

"So, I wanted to be a manager," said Willie Randolph , who was managing his first game for the Mets. "I had fun. I had a great day."

Randolph was quick to support Looper.

"I couldn't tell where his pitches were. He's still my closer."

"I've been through it before but I'm not used to it," Looper said. "I just stunk. Two bad pitches. The pitch to Dunn was really bad. He made me pay. Randa's I thought was a popup. I thought I got the ball in on him."

Dunn was tied for second in the major leagues with 46 home runs in 2004.

"I knew from the first day I met him, I could tell (Randa) would fit in," Dunn said. "He can just rake. It's what he does. He reminds me so much of (former Red) Aaron Boone . They could be brothers."

Martinez and Beltran cited the positives.

"I slapped (Looper) on his back right away," Martinez said. "I told him tomorrow is another day. If we play like we did today day (we will be all right). He's a worker. He did what he had to do. He threw strikes. Give Dunn credit."

"The way we lost the game is tough," Beltran said. "We played the game the right way. We came back. You just have to take it. Those things are going to happen."

Cincinnati closer Danny Graves (1-0) picked up the victory with a scoreless ninth.

Martinez allowed a three-run homer to Dunn in the opening inning but regrouped to strike out 12 of the next 14 hitters. He departed after six innings, having retired 15 of the last 16 batters and recording his 100 career double-digit strikeout effort.

"I couldn't get my fastball down in the first inning," Martinez said.

"He was as advertised," Kearns said.

Ken Griffey Jr. got the first hit of his career off Martinez in the opening inning. Coming into the game 0-for-12 against the three-time Cy Young Award winner, Griffey sharply hit a ground ball through a shifted infield and Sean Casey singled to left. Dunn gave Cincinnati a a 3-1 lead by crushing a pitch 424 feet into the right-center field stands.

Kaz Matsui hit a solo homer off Cincinnati starter Paul Wilson in the first and Beltran knotted the contest with a two-run shot in the third.

Cliff Floyd put the Mets up 6-3 with an opposite field home run off Kent Mercker in the seventh.