By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOENIX - Ryan Freel doesn't think he said it that way, and he certainly didn't mean it that way.

But a quote from Freel in Thursday's Arizona Republic ticked off the last man baseball hitters want to tick off: Randy Johnson.

Freel hit his first career homer off Johnson in the Reds' 2-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday.

He was quoted as saying: "I don't know what it is, adrenaline taking over ... but it (Johnson's stuff) didn't look very hard."

Freel said something very close to that, but what he meant was in the heat of moment, Johnson's 97 mph fastball didn't seem that fast.

Freel was aware that he created a mini-controversy, but he wasn't sure how to diffuse it.

"I'm afraid to go to him now," Freel said. "I would never disrespect someone like him. He's one of the best pitchers ever."

Freel had riled Johnson in the first inning by trying to bunt, but Johnson was OK with the homer because he knew he made a bad pitch. But the quote was another matter.

Curt Schilling approached Reds radioman Marty Brennaman before the game and told him that Johnson was not happy with what Freel said. Schilling added that Johnson had a long memory.

Brennaman explained that the quote came out different than Freel had intended.

"Then there better be a retraction," Schilling said.

Freel was hoping the whole thing would go away.

"It's pretty embarrassing," he said. "I know what to say and what not to say. I would never say anything like that."

PENNANT FEVER: The Reds go to Houston to open a three-game series tonight. The game is the first of nine the Reds will play over the next 17 days against National League Central contenders Houston and St. Louis.

"It's kind of neat," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "You can talk about playing spoiler and all that. We've played pretty well against all these clubs."

The Reds have three games in Houston, followed by a four-game series at home against Milwaukee and a three-game set with St. Louis. The club is back on the road for three games at Milwaukee and three at St. Louis.

Miley thinks the Reds will stack up pretty well against the Astros and Cardinals.

"The pitching staff has been outstanding," he said, "and we're playing defense as well as we have since I took over."

STAT MAN: Miley had a request for assistant director of media relations Mike Vassallo before Thursday's game.

Miley wanted a printout of the Reds hitting stats over the last five- and 10-day periods.

"It's something I've done in the past," he said. "I can see who's hot and who's not."

FARM REPORT: Right-hander James Paduch, the 12th-round pick in this year's draft, improved his record to 6-1 in Billings' 11-3 win over Idaho Falls. Paduch, 20, has a 2.19 ERA in the last 12 starts.

Joe Valentine, the reliever obtained in the Jose Guillen trade with Oakland, threw two scoreless innings to get the win in Louisville's 3-1 victory over Toledo. It was Valentine's first win in the Reds organization.