Aaron Boone throws down his bat in disgust after being called in the final out of the game Wednesday. | ZOOM |

        Sean Casey received a shorter, removable cast Wednesday from team physician Dr. Tim Kremchek, who will continue to examine the first baseman's broken right thumb daily for the rest of the homestand.

        Casey was injured when he was struck by a Will Clark smash in Saturday's exhibition game against Baltimore at Chattanooga, Tenn. He's expected to be sidelined for 2-3 weeks.

        Casey believed that the swelling around his thumb has subsided. “Every day I can move my thumb a little bit more,” he said.

        Eager for activity of any sort, Casey joined his teammates during batting practice, cast and all. He fielded some practice grounders from coach Harry Dunlop and took throws at second base from fellow first basemen D.T. Cromer, Hal Morris and Dmitri Young.

        “I'm driving myself crazy,” Casey said. “It's probably the toughest part, watching everyone play when you'd like to be out there yourself. But I need to stay patient and I know I'll be out there soon.”

Murray gone

        Left-hander Heath Murray, the Troy, Ohio, native who briefly contended for a spot on the pitching staff, has hooked on with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization after the Reds recently released him. Third baseman-outfielder Freddy Garcia, a March 13 acquisition from Atlanta, also was released.

        “I didn't think either one could help us, so there's no point in having them in Triple-A,” Reds General Manager Jim Bowden said.

        Bowden added that the organization's high opinion of Moeller High School's Mike Bell, along with the acquisition of former Los Angeles Dodger Juan Castro, enhanced the Reds' infield depth and made Garcia expendable.

        “With Castro, (Chris) Sexton and Bell, we thought that we had some pretty good backups if we had some injuries at the big-league level,” Bowden said.

Reds' pitcher Gabe White relieved Steve Parris in the top of the sixth inning. | ZOOM |

Great outdoors

        The Reds and Milwaukee Brewers took batting and fielding practice before Wednesday night's game. That shouldn't seem like a big deal, except for the fact that the weather had prevented them from working on the field all week.

        It's something that's often taken for granted, Reds manager Jack McKeon said.

        “There's something about hitting in the (indoor) cages. I don't know what it does, but you can't charge the guys up for some reason,” he said. “There's too much hanging around the clubhouse. But in this game, you can't control the elements, so you have to adjust.”

Pitching in

        Reds rookie Hector Mercado said he felt more nervous warming up in the bullpen than he did while making his major-league debut Tuesday night against Milwaukee.

        “As soon as I got out there, everything was fine,” said the left-hander, who allowed Jeromy Burnitz's second home run of the game while pitching the ninth inning of Cincinnati's 5-1 loss.

        Mercado said the cold weather, manifested in a 22-degree wind-chill, unsettled him more than anything. “You don't have a good feeling for the ball,” he said. As a result, Mercado tossed his first warmup pitch over the bullpen catcher's head.

Pure Pokey

        Reds second baseman Pokey Reese gave purists something to savor Tuesday night when he bunted for a hit with two strikes on him in the sixth inning.

        Reese downplayed his gem. “I was just trying to get the bunt down any way possible,” he said, referring to his efforts to advance Chris Stynes, who was on first base with nobody out.

        McKeon said Reese had the option to swing. “But I think there was a bit of pride involved,” McKeon said.

        Though the play faded into the background after the Reds failed to score, it reflected Reese's mastery of fundamentals.

        “He's in a situation where he has to move the runner over, and he ends up getting a base hit. It was great execution on his part,” first-base coach Dave Collins said.

Back in black

        The Reds wore red sleeves with their home vests for the rainy opener and a 5-1 loss to Milwaukee in the makeup game Tuesday.

        When they took the field for Wednesday's game, they wore black sleeves — the same look that they won with last season. They started off with the red sleeves at home in 1999, switched to black after a slow start and stayed with black as they kept winning.

        The sleeves weren't much luck at the outset Wednesday. Shortstop Barry Larkin threw in the dirt to first base for an error on Marquis Grissom's game-opening grounder.

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