Osvaldo Fernandez (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        • The arms: Six pitchers held Cleveland to three hits, which was a lot more impressive than limiting Rollins College to three hits Wednesday.

        Osvaldo Fernandez launched his bid for a spot in the starting rotation by facing the minimum nine hitters in three innings (catcher Jason LaRue threw out Omar Vizquel on an attempted steal of second base to end the first).

        Though Jared Fernandez yielded Russell Branyan's two-run homer in the fifth inning, manager Bob Boone spoke kindly of the rookie knuckleballer: “He's real interesting.”

Ken Griffey Jr. after his homer | ZOOM |

        • The bats: Barry Larkin opened the game by lining a 1-0 pitch off Dave Burba. One out later, Ken Griffey Jr. launched a 1-2 pitch over the center-field wall.

        But the Reds scored only one run in the second inning despite loading the bases with nobody out. They mustered only three hits afterward.

        • The rest: Because both teams have split-squad games today, they decided to refrain from playing extra innings to save their pitching staffs.

        Second baseman Pokey Reese made a couple of typically slick plays but left in the fourth inning after fouling a pitch off his left foot. Assistant trainer Mark Mann said Reese suffered a bruise, still did his postgame running and needed no ice treatments.

        • Up next: Pete Harnisch will start against Cleveland's Willie Blair at 1:05 p.m. in Sarasota. Dennys Reyes opposes Minnesota's Matt Kinney at 7:05 p.m. at Fort Myers.

 CINCINNATI      AB  R  H BI  CLEVELAND       AB  R  H BI
 B LARKIN SS      3  1  1  1  LOFTON CF        2  0  1  0
 J CASTRO SS      1  0  0  0  LOWERY CF        2  0  0  0
 D YOUNG LF       3  0  0  0  VIZQUEL SS       2  0  0  0
 B CLARK LF       1  0  0  0  JO MCDONALD SS   2  0  0  0
 GRIFFEY JR CF    2  1  1  1  R ALOMAR 2B      2  0  0  0
 M TUCKER CF      2  0  0  0  JOLBERT CABRER 2B2  0  0  0
 OCHOA RF         3  0  0  0  J GONZALEZ RF    2  0  0  0
 COLEMAN RF       1  0  0  0  K GARCIA RF      1  0  0  0
 S CASEY 1B       3  0  0  0  THOME 1B         1  0  0  0
 DT CROMER 1B     1  0  0  0  PEOPLES 1B       2  0  0  0
 BR LARSON 3B     3  1  1  0  E BURKS DH       2  0  0  0
 SEXTON 3B        1  0  0  0  M CORDOVA DH     1  1  0  0
 REESE 2B         1  0  1  0  FRYMAN 3B        1  0  0  0
 SADLER 2B        2  0  1  0  HARDTKE 3B       2  1  0  0
 J LARUE C        2  0  2  0  HUSKEY PH        1  0  0  0
 STINNETT C       1  0  1  0  R BRANYAN DH     2  1  1  2
 GUERRERO DH      2  0  0  1  W CORDERO DH     1  0  0  0
 GREENWELL PH     1  0  0  0  E DIAZ C         1  0  0  0
                              TAUBENSEE C      1  0  1  1
                              O SANTANA PR     0  0  0  0
                              LAKER C          0  0  0  0
 TOTALS          33  3  8  3  TOTALS          30  3  3  3
 CINCINNATI              210 000 000-- 3
 CLEVELAND               000 020 100-- 3
 E--J CASTRO (1). DP--CLEVELAND 1. LOB--CINCINNATI 6, 
 CLEVELAND 4. 2B--TAUBENSEE. HR--B LARKIN (OFF D BURBA), 
 GRIFFEY JR (OFF D BURBA), R BRANYAN (OFF J FERNANDEZ). 
 SB--VIZQUEL, M CORDOVA, SADLER. CS--VIZQUEL. SF--GUERRERO.
                                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR
  CINCINNATI
 O FERNANDEZ                       3   1   0   0   0   1   0
 J FERNANDEZ                       2   1   2   2   2   1   1
 MERCADO                           1   0   0   0   1   1   0
 B REITH                           1   1   1   1   0   0   0
 GRAVES                            1   0   0   0   0   0   0
 ATCHLEY                           1   0   0   0   0   0   0
  CLEVELAND
 D BURBA                           2   5   3   3   0   2   2
 SABATHIA                          2   1   0   0   1   0   0
 SPEIER                            2   0   0   0   0   2   0
 RINCON                            1   1   0   0   0   0   0
 S REED                            1   0   0   0   0   0   0
 SHUEY                             1   1   0   0   1   0   0
 BALK--MERCADO. HBP--M CORDOVA BY B REITH.
 SO--CIN: D YOUNG 2, OCHOA, BR LARSON. CLE: LOWERY, R 
 ALOMAR, JOLBERT CABRERA.
 BB--CIN: REESE, STINNETT. CLE: K GARCIA, THOME, TAUBENSEE.
 T--2:30. A--5,034.
  

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