By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HOUSTON - The Reds finally got a little good news on the injury front.

Austin Kearns saw Dr. Tim Kremchek Monday and had the cast on his left arm removed.

"He feels a lot better," Kremchek said. "If it had been swollen and sore, we would have put the cast back on."

"As these things go, that's favorable news," Reds general manager Dan O'Brien said.

Kearns, who has been on the disabled list since April 28 with a broken left forearm, will be examined again Wednesday. Kremchek expects to clear him to begin baseball activity at that time.

Kremchek fitted him with a removable soft cast on Monday. That allowed him to begin moving his wrist.

"I think he'll be able to start catching the ball and swinging the bat," Kremchek said.

Kremchek wouldn't put a timetable on Kearns' return. The best-case scenario when the injury occurred was four weeks. That would have him back for the May 24 game against Houston.

"A lot depends on what the Reds want to do," Kremchek said. "I would say it's a matter of weeks. But I don't know if they want to send him out for a rehab assignment."

ANOTHER DAY: Jacob Cruz started in right field Monday night.

Since Kearns was hurt, no one has started in right field two games in a row. Reds manager Dave Miley has used Cruz and Wily Mo Pena twice each, and Ryan Freel and Jason Romano once each.

"Since Kearnsie was hurt, we've gone with different guys out there to see who more or less takes it," Miley said.

No one has.

Going into Monday, the right fielders were a collective 2-for-23 (.087) with 13 strikeouts since Kearns was injured.

FREEL OUT: Freel, who started at second base Sunday, was not available Monday night. Freel injured his neck trying to catch a blooper off the bat of Craig Biggio in Sunday's game.

Freel suffered a whiplash effect when he hit the ground while diving for the ball.

"Did you see his hat and his sunglasses smashed against his face?" Ken Griffey Jr. said.

Freel will likely miss two to four more days with the injury.

"He's pretty sore," Miley said.

STAT OF THE DAY: Jason LaRue breaking his finger was the beginning of the Reds' slide.

Coincidence? The numbers say no.

The Reds are 10-6 when LaRue starts, 1-4 when Corky Miller starts and 1-2 (entering Monday) when Javier Valentin starts.

And the pitching staff pitches significantly better with LaRue in the game.

The ERA when he is catching is 4.67. It's 5.13 with Valentin catching and 7.29 with Miller catching.

FARM REPORT: Left-handers Mike Matthews and Jesus Sanchez combined to pitch three scoreless innings in Louisville' 6-3 win over Charlotte Sunday.

Sanchez and Matthews, two of the last cuts of the spring, are both pitching well.

Sanchez is 1-1 with a 1.84 ERA. He's allowed 10 hits and struck out 12 in 14 2/3 innings.

Matthews is 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA. He's allowed seven hits and struck out 12 in 11 2/3 innings.

Infielder Ray Olmedo extended his hitting streak to eight games Sunday. Olmedo is hitting .327 since he was optioned to Louisville.

Infielder Felipe Lopez also hit his fourth home run of the season in the game.

REDS FACT: Against Houston, the Reds lost their second consecutive series after having won four and split two of their first six series of the season.