NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The Reds were defeated 7-3 by the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon. Brandon Phillips (hamstring) and Scott Rolen (scheduled off-day) were both missing from the Reds' lineup as the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke struck out twelve batters and pitched a complete game for the Royals. Joey Votto hit two solo home runs, but the Reds' offense only assembled three runs on five hits against Greinke. Sam LeCure threw 120 pitches effectively (6.2IP, 6H, 4ER, 4K), but received his third loss of the season.

Prior to Sunday's game against the Royals, Dusty Baker scratched second baseman Brandon Phillips from the Reds' lineup. Phillips currently owns a 15-game hitting streak and until Sunday, was the only Red to start in every game this season. According to Dusty Baker, Phillips has been aching for some time:

 ”I don’t know if you’ve been noticing how he’s been stretching and limping for about the last 10 days to two weeks. Finally today, it’s really bothering him, especially with all the running he has been doing. If you’re not hitting, you just run to first base, turn right, then go sit down. This guy has been running, stealing, going first-to-third, second-to-home, first-to-home.”

It seems that Phillips' NL leading 48 runs scored are catching up to him. During his 15-game streak Phillips is batting .463 with 31 hits and has scored 14 times.

 “Certainly you can’t afford to lose Brandon for 10 days to two weeks,” Dusty Baker said. “Hopefully having an off-day helps, too.”

Phillips will have a MRI on Monday to determine the damage, if any.



Injury is also sidelining the return of Homer Bailey. During a rehab start for Louisville on Tuesday, Bailey experienced new soreness in his pitching arm.

“We’ll probably keep him from throwing for maybe a week,” Walt Jocketty said. “Then it might take two of three weeks before he’s ready to pitch for us. There’s really no timetable.”

Luckily, the Reds have ample depth when it comes to starting pitching. Rookie Sam LeCure has pitched well during Bailey's absence despite his record hardly showing it (1-3, 3.75). The Reds have lost during LeCure's last three starts, but in his defense, LeCure faced three studs (Chris Carpenter, Matt Cain, and Zack Greinke) in those games.

The Reds also have Travis Wood (4-4, 3.77), Matt Maloney (5-3, 3.10), and Aroldis Chapman (5-4, 4.22) at their disposal in AAA Louisville. There will be no sense of urgency surrounding Bailey's return.

"Being frustrated and upset is not going to help it heal any faster," Bailey said. "Luckily the team is still doing well, so that kind of helps out a lot. Knowing that we have a good enough team that even though I’m not able to help, that we can still continue to play well."

After pitching three scoreless innings for Lynchburg on Saturday, the time-table for All-Star Edinson Volquez is becoming more clear. He is on a 30-day plan that will include two starts at each level of the Reds' farm system. After his second start for Lynchburg on Thursday, Volquez will start twice for Carolina and twice for Louisville barring any setbacks. Volquez's fastball was clocked at 96mph on Saturday and he was hitting 92-95mph consistently. Volquez's 50-day suspension ends Monday.

“Right now it’s a matter of getting his pitch count up toward 100,” Walt Jocketty said. “We want him to do that two or three times before he comes back up here.”

LHP Bill Bray is also rehabbing in Lynchburg. Bray has tossed 4.1 scoreless innings for the Hillcats allowing one hit while striking out nine.

Catcher Ryan Hanigan's fractured left thumb is improving. Hanigan was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 29.

"Now it's just getting my swing back together," Hanigan said. "I'll start playing light catch next week and see how it feels and then make an evaluation mid-week about if I can start catching pitchers or not."

The Reds will begin a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday followed by their first West Coast road trip of the season against the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics.

“The off day is coming at a good time,” Baker said.

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