By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CLEVELAND - The Reds played another game without shortstop Barry Larkin, who remained in Cincinnati getting treatment for an abdominal strain on his left side.

Is there a possibility Larkin will join the Reds before they return home Tuesday for a three-game series with Texas?

"There's a chance," Reds general manager Dan O'Brien. "We'll see how he feels. He's day-to-day."

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Saturday's game

Felipe Lopez started at shortstop again Saturday. Lopez, who went into Saturday hitting .172, has started seven of the last nine games.

In addition to Larkin being out, Juan Castro is a on the 15-day disabled list with a rib cage muscle strain. He is eligible to come off the DL on Wednesday.

Castro also is rehabbing in Cincinnati. Saturday, he swung the bat for the first time since his injury.

"He had no problems," trainer Mark Mann said. "No pain. If he has no residual effects (today), he'll hit off a tee and do some soft toss."

MORE UPDATES: Aaron Harang threw a 10-minute bullpen session Saturday.

Mann said the sore elbow tendon that landed Harang on the DL did not bother him.

Harang is eligible to come off the DL on Thursday.

"He's getting very close to being able to make a rehab start," Mann said.

Austin Kearns (sore right thumb) is also eligible to come off the DL on Thursday. The plan is for him to take practice swings today.

DROP DOWN: Jason LaRue was in the ninth spot in the order Saturday after hitting second Friday.

Reds manager Dave Miley's reasoning for hitting LaRue there was LaRue was hitting .290 off left-handers entering Friday. It didn't work out, as LaRue was 0-for-3. But the Reds catcher had better luck Saturday, belting a three-run homer in the fourth inning. LaRue also singled in the sixth.

WHAT ABOUT WAGNER? Reliever Ryan Wagner was sent to Triple-A Louisville to get back throwing the way he did last year.

He has done a good job, appearing in five games with a 0.00 ERA. He has allowed two hits and two walks and fanned seven in 5 1/3 innings.

"He's making progress," O'Brien said. "I don't know if he's quite at the point we want him to be. I wouldn't say he's on the cusp of returning."

OTHER HELP? The bullpen is a little beat up. Going into Saturday, the relief corps had thrown 19 innings, allowing 27 hits and 15 runs (7.11 ERA) in the last four games.

The Reds would seem to have some roster flexibility to add a reliever. Tim Hummel has 11 at-bats and one hit since May 18. Joe Valentine has pitched only once in the last 13 days.

But O'Brien doesn't expect to add an arm any time soon.

"Everyone is healthy," O'Brien said. "It's a matter of performance."

The Reds have been at 11 pitchers since June 4.

SS VENEZUELA: The Indians gave away a dual bobblehead with Dave Concepcion and Omar Vizquel on it. Concepcion was at Jacobs Field for the occasion. Vizquel grew up admiring Concepcion. Both are from Venezuela.

FARM REPORT: Dustin Moseley bounced nicely from his rough start. Moseley went seven innings, allowing only one run on seven hits, in Double-A Chattanooga's 1-0 loss to Jacksonville.

UP NEXT: The Reds wrap up the three-game series with a 1:05 p.m. game today. Right-hander Cory Lidle (4-5, 5.20 ERA) faces left-hander Cliff Lee (5-1, 3.25).

Lidle is trying to bounce back from a 3 2/3-inning, nine-run disaster in his last start.

REDS FACT: Entering Saturday, Adam Dunn led the Reds with 77 strikeouts - 30 more than the next closest player.

Reds statistics

(Through Friday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.371	.413	232	45	86	21	1	11	43	16	20	1	0	2
Castro	.298	.337	84	11	25	6	1	1	9	5	17	0	0	4
Larkin	.292	.333	195	35	57	8	2	4	23	13	25	2	0	1
Griffey	.262	.363	214	37	56	14	0	17	48	32	47	1	0	0
Cruz	.260	.362	50	10	13	3	0	2	12	8	17	0	0	0
Pena	.256	.307	82	8	21	2	1	4	10	5	33	1	0	2
Dunn	.251	.426	191	40	48	9	0	18	40	55	77	2	0	2
Jimenez	.251	.361	223	30	56	11	2	3	21	38	34	6	5	4
Freel	.240	.344	183	22	44	5	5	1	8	22	31	8	4	7
Larson	.237	.303	59	7	14	4	0	1	7	5	14	0	0	5
LaRue	.203	.322	123	14	25	7	0	2	13	13	37	0	1	6
Kearns	.195	.327	87	10	17	2	1	3	13	16	30	1	1	1
Hummel	.184	.220	38	2	7	2	0	0	4	2	5	0	0	2
Lopez	.172	.172	29	1	5	2	0	0	4	0	13	0	0	3
Valentin	.146	.191	82	7	12	3	0	3	8	5	11	0	0	3
Team Totals	.249	.339	2008	285	499	102	13	70	268	252	483	22	11	44

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Riedling	4	0	3.03	28	0	0	32.2	26	14	11	2	13	21
Graves	1	3	3.18	34	0	26	34.0	34	17	12	9	4	22
Wilson	7	0	3.18	12	12	0	76.1	77	30	27	8	21	43
Matthews	1	0	3.38	12	0	0	10.2	8	5	4	2	6	3
Jones	4	1	3.79	31	0	1	35.2	28	16	15	2	16	29
Norton	0	1	4.30	26	0	0	23.0	25	14	11	2	13	15
Van Poppel	2	2	4.43	12	6	0	44.2	48	22	22	3	9	28
Acevedo	3	5	5.09	12	12	0	70.2	76	41	40	13	15	59
Lidle	4	5	5.20	13	13	0	83.0	87	49	48	12	18	47
Harang	4	2	5.43	11	11	0	59.2	79	37	36	7	22	44
Reith	2	1	5.63	20	0	0	24.0	26	15	15	4	16	22
Bong	0	1	10.80	1	1	0	3.1	9	9	4	1	3	0
Valentine	0	1	14.54	2	1	0	4.1	7	7	7	2	7	3
Team Totals	34	26	4.72	60	60	27	531.2	582	306	279	73	181	353

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com