Reds Fall Below .500 Call For The Cavalry

Reds owner Bob Castellini kept the press out of the clubhouse to talk to Dusty Baker after the Reds fell to 14-15 on the season after a 10-4 loss to the Houston Astros.

Mike Leake, who filled in for Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto, will be moving to long relief.  It was not because the Astros lit him up for seven runs, six of which scored in the fourth inning, because he pitched well most of his starts.

"It was our plan all along that he would be in long relief," Baker said. "This was the first time he's been hit around in a while.  He was 3-1.  He's performed well while the other guys were out."

Johnny Cueto was supposed to get another rehab start on Friday but instead will make his first start on Sunday in Chicago.

"I'm pretty happy," Cueto said.  "I feel good."

Cueto threw a lot of pitches in going 4 1/3 innings on Sunday for Louisville against Norfolk.  The report that Baker got was that he was spinning off the target.  Reds pitching coach Bryan Price said that a bullpen session would easily fix the problem.

Cueto is scheduled to throw a bullpen on Thursday rather than pitch in Dayton Friday night.

"The triple A hitters kept fouling the ball off," Cueto said, explaining the pitch count.

Leake had not been told that he was going to the bullpen but would probably not be surprised.

"I have no idea what the plan is," Leake said.

He did have an explanation for his rough outing.

"I left the ball over the plate.  I was falling behind and I wasn't aggressive," Leake said.

As for the meeting with Castellini, Baker said,"It was just about keeping your head up.  It's ok to get down, just don't stay there."

Leake agreed, "This is a funny game.  We could go out and reel off 10 straight wins, starting tomorrow."