Daddy Devin:
“For the most part, I’m trying to hit the ball up the middle against a lefty,” said Gennett. “That’s my mindset. I saw it pretty early. It was just a slider he’s trying to throw for a strike to get ahead.”
“They had the matchup they wanted — lefty on lefty — and Scooter didn’t miss the first-pitch slider,” man- ager Bryan Price said. “Then we got the add-on runs. We always talk about the separation.”
Eugenio Suarez followed two pitches later with a long home run over the Reds bullpen in left-center field, Zack Cozart added a tworun homer in the eighth, and Votto made it two sets of back-to-back homers with a solo drive.
The Reds won three of the four games against the Padres and four of seven on the home stand.
Green’s strategy didn’t surprise Price, who’s done the same thing.
“As much as it’s outside the box, you can’t really blame him for it,” Price said. “He got the matchup he wanted. (Scooter) didn’t miss the one pitch he might’ve gotten (to hit).”
Votto has homered in four of his last six games while extending his team-high hit- ting streak to 15 games (22 for 46, .478).
Cincinnati starting righthander Luis Castillo allowed just two hits and one run, on Wil Myers’ opposite-field homer into the right-field seats in the fourth, over the first four innings before the Padres strung together four hits in a two-run fifth to take a 3-2 lead.
“He was phenomenal,” Price said about Castillo. “I like the way he competes. He gets after it. He got us there. Every guy came in and did a job.”
The Reds took a 2-0 lead with one out in the second when Suarez was hit by a pitch and went to second on a wild pitch. Misreading the ball, he stayed there on Patrick Kivlehan’s line-drive single to right, but hot-hit- ting Tucker Barnhart made sure the baserunning gaffe didn’t haunt the Reds.
Barnhart, hitting .348 with eight RBIs over his previous eight starts, lined a two-run double into the right-field corner. Kivlehan scored from first standing up.
After Votto walked to lead off the sixth inning, University of Dayton product Craig Stammen made his first appearance of the series. Stammen got Adam Duvall to hit into a double play but loaded the bases with a sin- gle, walk and hit batsman before getting Barnhart to ground out.
The closer the CINCINNATI — Reds get to their weekend series against the Brewers in Milwaukee, the more muddled their pitching “plans” become.
Right-hander Scott Feldman remained a possibility to start Saturday in place of right-hander Tim Adleman, depending on how Feldman’s right knee responds to ongoing workouts.
The soreness that sent Feldman to the disabled list July 18 doesn’t hamper his pitching, but the Reds want to make sure he’s reasonably mobile on the basepaths and agile while fielding before they activate him.
“By the end of the day (Thursday), we should know,” manager Bryan Price said before before the series finale against San Diego. “How he comes out of his workouts today will deter- mine whether he’s activated sometime during the road trip.”
Right-hander Robert Stephenson, who jammed his pitching shoulder trying to field a bunt in Pittsburgh on Aug. 2, is eligible to be activated Sunday, and Price floated the possibility that the rookie could start in place of right-hander Sal Romano.
“He’s healthy,” Price said. “He threw a bullpen session (Wednesday). It’s all fine.”
Pr ice is becoming too adept at juggling starting pitchers.
“We have a lot of moving pieces in the rotation,” he said. “I’m comfortable with that.”
Price admitted he would be equally as comfortable with situations such as 2012, when five pitchers — Bron- son Arroyo, Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos and Mike Leake — made all but one start for Cincinnati.
The other start came from Todd Redmond, who was recalled from Triple-A Lou- isville to start the second game of a day-night double- header against the Chicago Cubs created by a postpone- ment earlier that season.
Cincinnati activated catcher Devin Mesoraco fromthe three-day paternity list before Thursday’s game and placed righthanded pitcher Lisalverto Bonilla on the 10-day disabled list with inflammation in his right elbow.
“The MRI dictated he needed some time off,” Price said. “At this point, I don’t have any more concern other than he’s going to miss some time.”
Bonilla won’t throw until at least Monday, Price said.
Mesoraco’s wife, Kira, gave birth Sunday to their first child, a son, Luke Devin. Mesoraco was asked if he’d gotten much sleep during his three days off.
“Not really, but it’s OK,” he said. “I’ll get some sleep.”
After setting single-g a me career highs by allowing 10 runs and 10 earned runs Sunday against St. Louis, righthander Homer Bailey (3-6, 8.86 ERA) is Cincinnati’s scheduled starter today in the opener of the three-game series at Milwaukee.
It’s the beginning of a 10-game, 10-day road trip that includes stops in Chicago against the Cubs and also Atlanta.
Bailey is 5-9 with a 4.93 ERA in 23 c areer s tar ts against the Brewers, including 3-3 with a 4.36 ERA at Miller Park.
Milwaukee’s scheduled starter, right-hander Jimmy Nelson (9-5, 3,24), is 5-3 with a 4.41 ERA in 13 career games, including 11 starts, against the Reds.
Bounceback?