CINCINNATI (AP)—Left-hander Dontrelle Willis(notes) of the Cincinnati Reds has
been scratched from his start against the Milwaukee Brewers because of back
spasms.

Lefty Matt Maloney(notes) was moved up in the rotation to take Willis’ spot on
Sunday. Maloney had been scheduled to start Monday against Houston.

Willis (0-6), the 2003 NL Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star, has
made 12 starts since being called from Triple-A Louisville on July 10. He’d been
the victim of three blown saves and had allowed three runs or fewer in nine of
his starts.

Maloney opened the season with the Reds and was 0-2 with a 6.88 ERA in six
appearances before going on the disabled on May 26 with a cracked rib that kept
him out until Aug. 16.

Published 1:56am Friday, September 2, 2011

CINCINNATI (AP) — Chris Heisey and the Cincinnati Reds finally got a couple of big hits against the Philadelphia Phillies. And it was too late to stop an embarrassing four-game sweep.

Heisey came off the disabled list and hit a three-run homer, but Ryan Howard went deep to lead Philadelphia to a 6-4 victory Thursday.

“There is a big-time small margin for error against them,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “If you don’t take advantage of chances which are rare, you don’t have much of a chance. They rarely help you out with a walk. They pound the strike zone and throw quality strikes.”

Mike Leake (11-9) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings for Cincinnati, which had won six of seven coming into the series. Leake struck out six and walked one.

“Leake threw the ball pretty good,” Baker said. “They got a some bloops and infield hits.”

Philadelphia got to Leake for three runs in the second inning. Brian Schneider, pitcher Vance Worley and Shane Victorino each had an RBI single.

“I was falling behind,” Leake said. “I wasn’t attacking like I did the rest of the game.”

It could have been worse for the Reds but center fielder Drew Stubbs cut down Schneider when he tried to score on Worley’s bouncer up the middle.

The Reds snapped their streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 21 in the bottom half. Brandon Phillips doubled to left, advanced to third on Edgar Renteria’s groundout to shortstop and scored on Joey Votto’s sacrifice fly to center.

Worley (10-1) allowed four runs and eight hits, struck out seven and walked one. The first six of his Ks came on called third strikes, most of them on sinkers, he said.

The Phillies improved to 15-2 in Worley’s 17 starts this season and have won each of his last 13, their longest streak since they won a club-record 15 consecutive Steve Carlton starts in 1972.

Worley was cruising before the Reds opened their seventh with three consecutive hits. Stubbs doubled and Ryan Hanigan singled before pinch-hitter Heisey hit an opposite-field drive to right to get Cincinnati within two.

Heisey was activated from the disabled list before the game. He had been out since Aug. 7 with a strained left oblique.

Michael Martinez hit a two-run homer to help the Phillies (87-46) move 41 games over .500 for the first time since Aug. 26, 1976, when they improved to 83-42 with a win at Cincinnati. It was Philadelphia’s first four-game sweep at Cincinnati since May 13-16, 1916.

Martinez’s third homer landed in the fourth row of right-field seats in the seventh, giving the Phillies a 6-1 lead. It came against Jared Burton, who was making his first appearance of the year.

“What really hurt was the home run by Martinez,” Baker said. “Heisey hit that big home run to make it close. We missed Heisey, big time.”

Philadelphia won seven of eight games against the Reds this season to improve to 30-12 against them over the last six seasons.

Howard hit a solo shot to left-center on a 3-1 pitch from Leake in the sixth, giving Philadelphia a 4-1 lead and extending his streak of consecutive seasons with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs to six.

NOTES: The Reds promoted INFs Juan Francisco and Chris Valaika, RHPs Jared Burton and Carlos Fisher, LHPs Jeremy Horst and Matt Maloney and C Devin Mesoraco from Triple-A Louisville before the game. OF Fred Lewis cleared waivers and was outrighted to Louisville. … The Reds left after the game for their second consecutive 10-day, nine-game road trip, starting with three in St. Louis. NL ERA-leader Johnny Cueto, coming off a career-high 11-strikeout performance on Sunday, is Cincinnati’s scheduled starter on Friday. … The Phillies headed to Florida for a three-game series with the Marlins. RHP Roy Oswalt, a 6-5 loser to Florida last Friday, is scheduled to start for Philadelphia.

CINCINNATI —

Chris Heisey and the Cincinnati Reds finally got a couple of big hits against the Philadelphia Phillies. And it was too late to stop an embarrassing four-game sweep.

Heisey came off the disabled list and hit a three-run homer, but Ryan Howard went deep to lead Philadelphia to a 6-4 victory Thursday.

“There is a big-time small margin for error against them,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “If you don’t take advantage of chances which are rare, you don’t have much of a chance. They rarely help you out with a walk. They pound the strike zone and throw quality strikes.”

Mike Leake (11-9) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings for Cincinnati, which had won six of seven coming into the series. Leake struck out six and walked one.

“Leake threw the ball pretty good,” Baker said. “They got a some bloops and infield hits.”

Philadelphia got to Leake for three runs in the second inning. Brian Schneider, pitcher Vance Worley and Shane Victorino each had an RBI single.

“I was falling behind,” Leake said. “I wasn’t attacking like I did the rest of the game.”

It could have been worse for the Reds but center fielder Drew Stubbs cut down Schneider when he tried to score on Worley’s bouncer up the middle.

The Reds snapped their streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 21 in the bottom half. Brandon Phillips doubled to left, advanced to third on Edgar Renteria’s groundout to shortstop and scored on Joey Votto’s sacrifice fly to center.

Worley (10-1) allowed four runs and eight hits, struck out seven and walked one. The first six of his Ks came on called third strikes, most of them on sinkers, he said.

The Phillies improved to 15-2 in Worley’s 17 starts this season and have won each of his last 13, their longest streak since they won a club-record 15 consecutive Steve Carlton starts in 1972.

Worley was cruising before the Reds opened their seventh with three consecutive hits. Stubbs doubled and Ryan Hanigan singled before pinch-hitter Heisey hit an opposite-field drive to right to get Cincinnati within two.

Heisey was activated from the disabled list before the game. He had been out since Aug. 7 with a strained left oblique.

Michael Martinez hit a two-run homer to help the Phillies (87-46) move 41 games over .500 for the first time since Aug. 26, 1976, when they improved to 83-42 with a win at Cincinnati. It was Philadelphia’s first four-game sweep at Cincinnati since May 13-16, 1916.

Martinez’s third homer landed in the fourth row of right-field seats in the seventh, giving the Phillies a 6-1 lead. It came against Jared Burton, who was making his first appearance of the year.

“What really hurt was the home run by Martinez,” Baker said. “Heisey hit that big home run to make it close. We missed Heisey, big time.”

Philadelphia won seven of eight games against the Reds this season to improve to 30-12 against them over the last six seasons.

Howard hit a solo shot to left-center on a 3-1 pitch from Leake in the sixth, giving Philadelphia a 4-1 lead and extending his streak of consecutive seasons with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs to six.

NOTES: The Reds promoted INFs Juan Francisco and Chris Valaika, RHPs Jared Burton and Carlos Fisher, LHPs Jeremy Horst and Matt Maloney and C Devin Mesoraco from Triple-A Louisville before the game. OF Fred Lewis cleared waivers and was outrighted to Louisville. … The Reds left after the game for their second consecutive 10-day, nine-game road trip, starting with three in St. Louis. NL ERA-leader Johnny Cueto, coming off a career-high 11-strikeout performance on Sunday, is Cincinnati’s scheduled starter on Friday. … The Phillies headed to Florida for a three-game series with the Marlins. RHP Roy Oswalt, a 6-5 loser to Florida last Friday, is scheduled to start for Philadelphia.

CINCINNATI — One player’s misfortune is another player’s fortune. Scott Rolen has been added to the roster for Tuesday’s All-Star game after another player was injured.Rolen will replace Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, who was placed on the disabled list before Saturday’s game because of a torn meniscus in his right knee.Rolen joins Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce on the All-Star team.This will be Rolen’s seventh All-Star berth of his major league career. He is batting .245 with 30 runs scored, five home runs and 35 RBIs in 60 games this season.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds have called up left-hander Jeremy Horst from Triple-A Louisville before Saturday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves.

The 25-year-old Horst had a 1.73 ERA in 12 relief appearances for Louisville. He has never pitched in the major leagues.

Horst is the second Louisville pitcher to join the Reds in two days. Mike Leake was recalled and earned the win on Friday night.

Right-hander Homer Bailey was placed on the disabled list with a sprained right shoulder, retroactive to Friday. Right-hander Daryl Thompson, who gave up five runs in three innings in his only appearance with Cincinnati, was optioned to Double-A Carolina.

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