Jose Acevedo's quick demotion may not be the last. “It was a wakeup call for him and a wakeup call for our team,” Reds general manager Jim Bowden said.

        “We have pitchers in our bullpen who are candidates to start, and we have pitchers in Double-A and Triple-A who are candidates to start,” he said. “We'll do like we did in the outfield — say, "Hey, someone step up and take it.' We'll give you opportunities, but the opportunities aren't going to be endless.”

        Chris Reitsma, the other second-year pitcher in the rotation, is safe for now. He pitched six innings of two-run ball in the Reds' 5-4 victory Thursday.

        Acevedo's demotion caught his attention.

        “Bottom line is if you don't pitch well, you don't stay,” Reitsma said. “If you don't pitch well, you shouldn't stay. I'm not looking over my shoulder. But the challenge is to get better.”

        Said Bowden: “We gave some guys opportunities last year. We're not going to watch the same thing this year that we watched last year. You've got to be consistent.”

        CASEY BETTER: Sean Casey was able to pinch hit Thursday. He grounded into a fielder's choice.

        Casey has been out of the lineup since being hit in the head by a Robert Person fastball Saturday in Philadelphia.

        “I feel better,” he said. “I hit a little and took some ground balls. I was pretty encouraged.”

        But running still gives Casey a piercing pain behind his ear, and Jason LaRue pinch ran for him.

        REHAB UPDATE: Left-hander Lance Davis threw 45 pitches in his second session off the mound. Right-hander Jose Silva was supposed to do the same thing, but he had to shut it down after eight pitches because of neck pain.

        Silva's problem was unrelated to his elbow surgery.

        “I think I slept on it wrong,” Silva said.

Two rallies stave off sweep Reds box, runs Kremchek says Jr. improving quickly Reds have OFs to burn Sunday's start goes to Rijo Reds notes: Acevedo demotion a signal Reds at Chicago Cubs Baseball notes: 3-12 Milwaukee fires Lopes as manager AL: Lofton helps White Sox sweep Indians NL: Sexson gives Royster win in managerial debut

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