By John Erardi and Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Juan Castro has made his Reds reputation with his glove.

Sunday, he showed he can do a thing or two with a bat as well.

The day after he made the game-saving out with a diving stab at third base, Castro got three hits (including a double and an RBI) in a 7-0 win against the Houston Astros to raise his average to .278. It's the second time this season he has had three hits (May 9 vs. San Francisco). At this rate, somebody's going to figure out that this guy could be more than a spot starter.

"My goal is that every time I go in, do something to help the team," Castro said. "Sometimes it will be my glove, sometimes it can be my bat."

Castro is not lobbying. He knows his role, and it is precisely because of guys like him that the Reds are seven games above .500. For those pundits who can't figure out how the Reds can be winning so many games when their statistics would indicate that this team is at best a .500 ballclub, look at the guys who contribute almost every time they get an opportunity: among them, Castro and backup catcher Javier Valentin, who had a home run and a double Sunday.

"This is huge, especially because it is Houston," Castro said. "We've been scoring a lot of runs, and when you get the kind of pitching we got today, this is the kind of game you can put together."

ATTENDANCE CHECK: Sunday's game drew 29,693, pushing the Astros series total to 103,415 entering today's fourth and final game.

In 21 home games this season, the Reds have drawn 545,769 fans (25,989 per game). That is only 954 fewer than at this point last season.

ANOTHER RECORD: Days after becoming the Reds' all-time leader in career saves, closer Danny Graves earned another distinction.

He became the fastest major-league pitcher to reach 20 saves in a season, doing so in the Reds' 42nd game on Saturday.

That broke a record set by career saves leader Lee Smith, who saved 20 of the Orioles' first 46 games in 1994.

Thanks to Cory Lidle's complete-game shutout on Sunday, Graves got his first day off in four days.

KICKIN' BACK: There's a new, comfortable addition at Barry Larkin's clubhouse locker.

A cushioned red chair - far from the extravagant leather reclining massage chair at Barry Bonds' locker in San Francisco - recently was rolled over to the 40-year-old's locker.

"If (Ken Griffey) Jr. wanted to put one over here," Larkin said, "it better have a plug in it. It better have a shiatsu massager and something for my feet.

"All that good stuff."

LARSON UPDATE: Third baseman Brandon Larson began his rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Chattanooga on Sunday.

Larson went 2-for-5 with a double, home run and two strikeouts in a 15-8 win against Montgomery.

ODDS AND ENDS: Sunday's shutout was the first against the Astros this season . . . Reds catcher Jason LaRue and Larkin were given Sunday off. LaRue had started four consecutive games and Larkin five.

Reds notebook