By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Saturday's games

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - First came the losses - 8-7 and 9-5 - in the day-night doubleheader to the Montreal Expos Saturday at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Then came the reaction.

Out: Pitchers Jimmy Anderson and Josias Manzanillo, and third baseman Brandon Larson.

In: Pitchers Jeff Austin, Chris Reitsma and Brian Reith, and infielder Ryan Freel.

"You can't keep watching it," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "We had to make a bunch of moves to make a statement."

The moves sent a shockwave through the team, which has lost five in a row, seven of eight, and is off to its worst start (5-13) since 1986, putting it in last place in the NL Central.

Anderson and Manzanillo were designated for assignment. That means they have 10 days to be released, traded or outrighted to the minors. Larson, who has options, was sent to Triple-A Louisville.

"I think it's (expletive) ridiculous," said Anderson, who started and lost the second game Saturday. "Four starts, I gave up three runs in two of them, and they tell me I'm not doing my job."

Larson, hitting .083, was equally stunned.

"I mean, obviously, I'm not hitting," he said. "We're all scuffling. I guess I'm struggling worse than anybody else."

Austin and Reitsma will go into the rotation. Reith will be used in relief. Freel, 27, has played nine games in the majors and reports today. He was hitting .317 at Louisville and is a base-stealing threat.

Don't be surprised if he starts at second base with Aaron Boone going back to third.

The shakeup came after Saturday's losses, when it became clear the change in latitude wasn't sparking the team.

"We're fighting our way out of a rut," Sean Casey said after the first game. "When you're going good, you win that game. ... But at least we showed some life."

The problem was the Reds didn't show life in the second game until they trailed 9-0.

Anderson, the last Reds pitcher to win, gave up three runs on five hits in the first inning. With Montreal ace and Puerto Rican native Javier Vazquez on the mound, Cincinnati got no closer.

The Reds lost Saturday's first game when Scott Williamson, the only pitcher on the staff with a perfect ERA, gave up a home run to Brian Schneider in the 10th inning.

Ryan Dempster, coming off a disastrous 13-1 loss to Philadelphia, went six innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits. Four of the six runs scored with two outs. Fourteen of the 19 runs Dempster has allowed have scored with two outs.

It was a see-saw game. Austin Kearns hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the fourth inning, only to have Dempster give up four runs in the fifth. Kearns responded with an RBI single in the sixth, and Ruben Mateo hit a three-run homer in the eighth.

Schneider hit a homer off Gabe White to give the Expos a 7-6 lead in the eighth; the Reds tied it in the ninth on Casey's RBI single.

Enter Williamson, who struck out three of the first four batters he faced before Schneider hit a first-pitch fastball out to end the game.

"He hit a good pitch," Williamson said. "He beat me."

LaSalle's Zach Day started and went seven strong innings (three runs) for the Expos. He was the victim of Scott Stewart's blown save.

The second game was decidedly devoid of drama. Anderson (1-2) gave up hits to five of the first six hitters he faced. Just like that, the Reds trailed 3-0. He gave up three more runs in the fifth, including Fernando Tatis' homer. Manzanillo gave up a three-run homer to Guerrero in the sixth to make it 9-0. That put his ERA at 12.66.

Kearns tried to spark a late Reds rally with a two-run homer - his eighth - and RBI single, but it wasn't enough.

The Reds wrap up the seven-game road trip today at 1:05 p.m. They are off Monday.

When they return to play, Reitsma (1-2 with a 4.00 ERA at Louisville) and Austin (2-0 with a 2.25 ERA, going into Saturday) will be in the rotation.

First game

Expos 8, Reds 7

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
ABoone 2b	5	0	0	0	0	1	.214
FLopez ss	5	2	2	0	0	0	.222
Casey 1b	4	2	3	1	1	0	.359
Kearns cf	4	1	2	3	0	2	.286
Dunn lf	5	0	1	0	0	3	.214
Williamson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
RMateo rf	5	1	2	3	0	1	.250
Larson 3b	5	0	0	0	0	1	.083
Stinnett c	5	0	0	0	0	0	.313
Dempster p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Taylor ph	1	0	1	0	0	0	.207
GWhite p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Sullivan p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JGuillen ph-lf	1	1	1	0	0	0	.278
Totals	42	7	12	7	1	9

Montreal	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
EnChavez cf	4	1	3	0	0	0	.286
Vidro 2b	5	1	1	0	0	0	.333
VGuerrero rf	3	1	0	1	1	0	.236
OCabrera ss	4	0	2	2	1	1	.262
Calloway lf	5	1	1	1	0	0	.308
Tatis 3b	3	1	0	0	1	1	.259
Carroll 3b	1	0	0	0	0	1	.300
Liefer 1b	4	0	1	1	0	1	.229
ScStewart p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Biddle p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Eischen p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Ayala p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
HMateo ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.400
Schneider c	4	2	2	2	1	0	.240
Day p	2	1	0	0	1	0	.000
Wilkerson 1b	1	0	1	0	0	0	.260
Totals	37	8	11	7	5	5

Cincinnati	000	201	031	0	-7	12	2
Montreal	002	040	010	1	-8	11	1

One out when winning run scored.

E-Dunn (4), Larson (4), Carroll (1). LOB-Cincinnati 7, Montreal 8. 2B-Dunn (2), Vidro (9), Liefer (2). HR-Schneider 2 (3) off Williamson, GWhite; RMateo (1) off ScStewart; Kearns (7) off Day. RBIs-Casey (9), Kearns 3 (15), RMateo 3 (3), VGuerrero (8), OCabrera 2 (10), Calloway (5), Liefer (9), Schneider 2 (5). S-EnChavez. SF-VGuerrero. GIDP-Calloway. DP-Cincinnati 1.

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Dempster	6	8	6	5	5	1	103	6.39
GWhite	1 1/3	2	1	1	0	1	25	2.89
Sullivan	2/3	0	0	0	0	0	7	5.63
Williamson L, 2-1	1 1/3	1	1	1	0	3	19	1.13

Montreal	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Day	7	7	3	3	1	5	91	2.59
ScStewart	1	2	3	0	0	2	16	0.00
Biddle	2/3	2	1	1	0	1	13	6.30
Eischen	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0.00
Ayala W, 1-0	1 1/3	0	0	0	0	1	18	3.72

Eischen pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.

Inherited runners-scored-Sullivan 1-0, Eischen 2-1, Ayala 2-0.

IBB-off Dempster (Schneider) 1. HBP-by Ayala (Kearns). WP-Dempster. PB-Stinnett.

Umpires-Home, John Hirschbeck; First, Dan Iassogna; Second, Kerwin Danley; Third, Bill Welke.

T-3:00. A-10,296 (18,200).

Second game

Expos 9, Reds 5

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
ABoone 2b	4	0	0	0	0	2	.203
FLopez ss	4	0	0	0	0	2	.204
Casey 1b	4	2	2	0	0	0	.368
Kearns cf	4	1	2	3	0	1	.300
Dunn lf	3	0	1	0	0	2	.220
Heredia p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JGuillen ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.263
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
RMateo rf	4	0	0	0	0	2	.219
LaRue c	3	1	0	0	1	3	.191
JCastro 3b	4	1	3	2	0	0	.500
JAnderson p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
WPena ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.125
JManzanillo p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Taylor ph-lf	2	0	0	0	0	2	.194
Totals	35	5	8	5	1	15

Montreal	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Calloway lf	4	1	1	0	1	0	.300
Vidro 2b	4	3	2	0	0	0	.344
VGuerrero rf	3	3	3	5	1	0	.276
OCabrera ss	4	0	0	1	0	0	.246
Tatis 3b	4	1	2	3	0	0	.274
Wilkerson cf-1b	3	0	2	0	1	0	.283
Liefer 1b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.205
Eischen p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
DSmith p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Barrett c	4	0	0	0	0	1	.098
JVazquez p	3	1	1	0	0	0	.222
EnChavez cf	1	0	0	0	0	0	.281
Totals	34	9	11	9	3	1

Cincinnati	000	000	410	-5	8	0
Montreal	300	033	00x	-9	11	0

HR-JCastro (1) off JVazquez; Kearns (8) off JVazquez; VGuerrero (4) off JManzanillo; Tatis (1) off JAnderson. RBIs-Kearns 3 (18), JCastro 2 (2), VGuerrero 5 (13), OCabrera (11), Tatis 3 (8). SB-VGuerrero (2).

DP-Cincinnati 1 (Dunn and ABoone).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
JAnderson L, 1-2	5	9	6	6	2	1	86	8.27
JManzanillo	1	2	3	3	1	0	18	12.66
Heredia	1	0	0	0	0	0	6	1.69
Riedling	1	0	0	0	0	0	8	6.97

Montreal	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
JVazquez W, 2-1	7	5	4	4	1	11	110	3.16
Eischen	2/3	2	1	1	0	1	10	1.23
DSmith	1 1/3	1	0	0	0	3	24	3.48

PB-Barrett.

T-2:33. A-13,109 (18,200).

Reds moves

OUT

Jimmy Anderson, LHP, 1-2, 8.27 ERA

Josias Manzanillo, RHP, 0-2, 12.66 ERA

Brandon Larson, 3B, .083 batting average

Jimmy Haynes, RHP, 0-4, 12.74 (put on DL)

IN

Chris Reitsma, RHP, 1-2, 4.00 ERA at Louisville

Brian Reith, RHP, 1-1, 2.16 ERA at Louisville

Jeff Austin, RHP, 2-0, 2.25 ERA at Louisville

Ryan Freel, INF, .317 at Louisville