Dusty Baker Holds the Reds Together

The Reds played Sunday with three quarters of its infield, off the field. Joey Votto, Alex Gonzalez, the most recent DL inhabitant, and Edwin Encarnacion, who began a rehab assignment in Louisville, are missing.

Brandon Phillips is the only opening day infielder left and he is nursing a broken thumb on his right hand.

Yet the Reds are just three games out of first place in the National League Central.

"I tell them to stay together," Baker said of his charges. "I asked Bill Russel (the former Boston Celtic) about staying together as a team. He said, 'be kind and generous to each other. The same to your family. To lead is to serve."

Baker was asked about how the Reds, who are also in an extended team slump manages to stay above the .500 mark. They haven't had a winning season since 2000, yet 67 games into the season they are above that break-even point. He was asked if he thought that the Reds would continue to hold their own.

"I don't know if it can keep going or not. You don't think about not going on. A champion surfer once told me when you're riding a wave, you just continue to ride it. If you think about falling off, you're going to fall off. We are just riding the wave. We're getting good pitching, pretty good defense, some timely hitting, our belief, positive thinking and everybody in our organization. Everybody we brought up has done something. Like last night (Wilkin) Castillo got a big hit. I told everybody in Spring Training. If we're going to win this thing, everybody is going to play. Stay ready."

"It works in every job in life. You pull for each other, no envy or jealousy. If you have a problem you get it over with right away."

After another frustrating, 4-1 loss in which Aaron Harang, "pitched well enough to win," according to Baker, the Reds manager fought frustration.

"There is an approach to driving in runs with men on base," said Baker, who admits hatred for losing. "It's June now and we're still doing the same things we've been doing in April. We have to find a way to drive in runs."

"I am not going to disagree with that," said Jerry Hairston Jr. a third generation major leaguer. "Whether you're a rookie or a 10-year veteran, you fight frustration and sometimes you try to do too much. All you can do is play hard and forget about the day before, no matter what happened. Everything is magnified when you lose. Last night the White Sox made three errors but they won and it is forgotten. Had they lost those errors would have been the reason."

Aaron Harang was not hit hard but the White Sox first three batters reached base. A.J. Pierzynski drove in a run with the third of those hits and a double-play allowed the second run to score. That run was enough to win because the Reds squandered the few scoring chances they had.

"I didn't feel I made bad pitches," Harang said. "They just hit it where we weren't. Last year I worried about that. I put way to much pressure on myself. Once I let the ball go its out of my control. I have to find a way to give us a chance to win."