CINCINNATI - Three games into his rookie season as the Mets manager, Willie Randolph already has something in common with the famous Casey Stengel.

They both started badly.

Aaron Harang allowed only one single in 6 1-3 innings Thursday, and D’Angelo Jimenez had a pinch two-run double off Kazuhisa Ishii that sent the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-1 victory and plunged New York into its worst start since 1964.

The Reds are 3-0 for the first time since 1990, when they won their first nine and swept Oakland in the World Series. The last time they swept the Mets at home was 1995, also a noteworthy year — the last time Cincinnati reached the playoffs.

Good omens all around.

“This is exactly how you want it to be,” said closer Danny Graves, who got his first save. “We did what we’re supposed to do. All three games, we did everything right.”

The Mets haven’t stumbled so badly at the start since they dropped their first four games in 1964, Stengel’s third year managing a fledgling club that redefined losing. The Mets dropped their first nine games in the inaugural 1962 season, on their way to a standard-setting 120 losses. They went 0-8 and lost 111 a year later. By those measures, their 0-4 start in 1964 was deemed an improvement.

This one is nothing but trouble.

“I don’t think anybody coming out of spring training expected this,” said Doug Mientkiewicz, who was 0-for-4. “We didn’t play well.”

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The Mets grabbed offseason headlines with their high-priced overhaul, committing $172 million to Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran. Their $105 million payroll is the NL’s largest and ranks third overall, trailing only the Yankees and Red Sox.

The bullpen blew a ninth-inning lead in the season opener, won by Joe Randa’s homer. Randa had a grand slam and six RBIs as Cincinnati won the second game as well.

Harang completed the sweep with one of the best performances of his career, allowing only three walks and Ramon Castro’s second-inning single before letting the bullpen take over.