Reds manager Bob Boone announced that right-hander Jose Rijo will start Saturday's game against the Houston Astros, but Joey Hamilton, who has thrown four scoreless innings in his last two relief outings, wanted the job.

        Hamilton hasn't pinpointed why he has had a difficult time in recent outings on his second time through the opposition's batting order. He suspects it has to do with his off-speed pitches, but doesn't want to blame it on a bad pitch - or two or three.

        But minimizing those bad pitches, Hamilton said, is something he has to do.

        “I know one thing - I can't throw (the fastball) by guys anymore in the fifth inning like I used to be able to do,” Hamilton said. “Against Colorado (last week) I tried to throw it by (Todd) Helton up and in on his hands - get it by him, jam him, break his bat, whatever - and he (hit it out). I look up there (at the scoreboard's radar reading) and it was 89. That's not enough to do what I wanted to do.”

        Hamilton threw three changeups last Saturday against the San Diego Padres, one for a strikeout. Back when he was a hard thrower, he used to have a good changeup. He gripped it on his fingertips then, but now he puts it against his palm, as does San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman, a friend and former teammate. A key to a good changeup is ball speed; it must be sufficiently slower than the fastball so it throws off the hitter's timing.

        “Since I finally got healthy (going into this year), I'd just been throwing it too hard,” Hamilton said. “Trevor throws his about 72-74 mph, a lot slower than his fastball. That's something I"m trying to work on.”

D'Backs 6, Reds 1 Reds Box, Runs Baseball deal may be near Q&A about baseball's labor dispute Florence ready to play ball Rijo gets start Hamilton wanted Reds Notebook: Boone picked up tip on TV Gonzalez's streak jeopardized Cardinals 9, Pirates 5 Astros 5, Cubs 4 Angels 7, Tigers 6 Athletics 5, Blue Jays 4 Mariners 10, Red Sox 3

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