By John Fay and Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Monday's game

The Reds' top baseball people - assistant general manager Leland Maddox, special assistants Larry Barton Jr., Johnny Almaraz and Gene Bennett - were in town Monday to scout the Reds.

"We're going to figure out what we need," one said.

It isn't hard to spot the Reds' No. 1 need: starting pitching.

The Reds' starters went into Monday's game with an 18-46 record and a 6.35 ERA - worst in the National League.

Maddox, Barton, Almaraz and Bennett have been out trying to find pitching, looking for pitchers who could help this year.

That search ended when the Reds fell out of the race for the NL Central title. Their efforts are concentrated on young pitchers that the Reds can control for at least three or four years.

But even those type of pitchers are hard to find.

"Nobody wants to give up pitching," one scout said. "They don't even want to give up Single-A guys."

WHITE TEST: Left-hander Gabe White will throw a bullpen session today. That's a major step in his attempt to come back from a strained left groin.

"I'll throw a nice and easy bullpen," said White, who has been on the disabled list since June 25. "It's felt pretty good the last couple of days. I haven't had any setbacks."

If all goes well in today's session, White will go to Triple-A Louisville to throw an inning in a rehab stint.

White suffered a setback when he threw a rehab inning for Louisville about 10 days ago, so he's a bit cautious.

"I was feeling good before that, too," he said.

KEARNS UPDATE: Austin Kearns is eligible to come off the DL Thursday, though it is unlikely he will.

"He feels better," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "He hit a little bit, but there's still a tender spot. We want to get that out of there."

Kearns has been dealing with an inflamed right rotator cuff since May 21.

"The thing that scares me is what Sean Casey went through last year," Boone said.

Casey played with a similar problem last year. When he finally had surgery on Sept. 12, it revealed much more damage than three MRIs had revealed.

COMING SOON? Former first-round pick Dustin Moseley went 7 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, in Louisville's 3-1 loss to Ottawa.

Moseley has a 2.51 ERA in two Triple-A starts after being promoted from Double-A Chattanooga.

PINCH POWER: It isn't the ideal situation, being a pinch-hitter and spot-starter, but Russell Branyan is trying to make the most of it.

Since coming off the disabled list in late May after rehabilitating from off-season shoulder surgery, the utility player has started just nine games.

He had 50 at-bats, and was hitless in his past 10, before hitting a pinch-hit grand slam homer in the seventh inning Monday.

"I can live off that for a while," Branyan said.

It was his third career grand slam but first as a pinch hitter.

Left fielder Adam Dunn hit the only other pinch-hit grand slam for the Reds this season, doing so on May 26 against the Braves.

BALL MAGNET: Reds catcher Jason LaRue missed 12 of the last 13 games leading into the All-Star break after getting hit in the back with a pitch June 29.

Already one of the National League's leaders in getting hit, LaRue was hit for the 12th time this season with the bases loaded in the seventh Monday.

He finished 2-for-4 with a triple and 2 RBI.