By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHILADEPHIA - The Reds finally got some middle infield help Monday when Jermaine Clark was promoted from Triple-A Louisville.

He takes the roster spot of the right-hander Joe Valentine, who had pitched only twice since being brought up from Louisville May 30. Valentine was sent back to Louisville.

Clark was in the lineup Monday, batting second and playing second base.

"You don't want to come up here and sit," Clark said. "The mystique of being in the big leagues is over for me. I want to help the ballclub. Grind out good at-bats, play good defense."

Clark, 27, was hitting .272 with a .403 on-base percentage and had eight home runs, 32 RBI and 13 steals for Louisville.

Clark has good speed. Reds manager Dave Miley calls him "a left-hander Ryan Freel."

Clark can play outfield and infield. He started 20 games at second base and 35 in the outfield for the Bats.

Clark has a bit of big league experience. He played three games with Detroit in 2001. Last year, he played in 24 games for Texas, hitting .174 with six RBI and two steals.

Clark was a little surprised by the move because he wasn't on the 40-man roster.

"Pleasantly surprised," he said. "You know the situation. They've got guys at Double-A who are on the roster."

The Reds have played the last three days with 24 players because shortstop Barry Larkin is in Cincinnati getting treatment for strained abdominal muscle.

D'Angelo Jimenez, who strained an oblique muscle Sunday, was feeling better Monday. But he was not in the lineup.

So the Reds desperately need infield help.

Jimenez, a switch-hitter, said he could probably hit right-handed - if needed.

"It's better than I thought," Jimenez said.

VALENTINE OUT: Keeping Valentine on the roster was effectively wasting a roster spot.

He came up May 30 to start against the Expos, but he didn't get out of the second inning. In his only other appearance, he allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings against Oakland a week ago.

He was 0-1 with a 14.54 ERA.

LATE SCRATCH: Brandon Larson was a late scratch from Monday's lineup with back spasms. He was available to play. Tim Hummel started at third base in Larson's place.

The only healthy players on the bench Monday were Ken Griffey Jr., Jacob Cruz and Javier Valentin.

MAYBE TODAY: It's certain that Larkin will be with the Reds today. The club returns home, where Larkin's been getting treatment.

There's a chance he could even play tonight.

"He took groundballs, took (batting practice) and ran the bases (Monday)," Reds trainer Mark Mann said. "There's a very good chance he could play."

Larkin has not played since he injured himself last Tuesday.

KEARNS OK: Austin Kearns took batting practice for the first time in a week Monday. He had no problems with his sore right thumb.

Kearns is eligible to come off the disabled list Thursday.

MORE UPDATES: Juan Castro (strained rib cage muscle) and Aaron Harang (sore elbow) continue to progress.

Castro is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday.

Harang, eligible to come off Thursday, will throw for pitching coach Don Gullet today.

REDS FACT: The Reds were outscored 64-34 during their six-game losing streak, entering Monday night's game.

Reds statistics

(Through Sunday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.368	.416	239	48	88	23	1	11	44	19	20	1	0	4
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
Cruz	.263	.354	57	10	15	3	0	2	15	8	19	0	0	0
Pena	.259	.308	85	9	22	2	1	5	14	5	33	1	0	2
Griffey	.258	.364	221	40	57	14	0	18	49	35	49	1	0	0
Jimenez	.257	.374	226	32	58	12	2	3	21	42	35	7	5	4
Dunn	.255	.422	200	41	51	10	0	18	41	55	79	2	0	2
Freel	.243	.356	189	24	46	5	5	1	8	26	31	10	4	7
Larson	.227	.307	66	8	15	5	0	1	8	6	15	0	0	5
LaRue	.214	.325	131	15	28	8	0	3	16	13	38	0	2	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
Valentin	.151	.194	86	8	13	3	0	3	8	5	11	0	0	3
Lopez	.139	.162	36	1	5	2	0	0	4	1	16	0	0	3
Team Totals	.249	.342	2076	300	517	108	13	73	282	268	495	25	12	46

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Riedling	4	0	2.94	29	0	0	33.2	26	14	11	2	16	21
Wilson	7	0	3.18	12	12	0	76.1	77	30	27	8	21	43
Graves	1	3	3.67	35	0	26	34.1	36	19	14	9	4	22
Matthews	1	0	3.86	14	0	0	11.2	9	6	5	3	6	4
Jones	4	1	3.89	32	0	1	37.0	28	17	16	2	17	30
Van Poppel	2	2	4.62	13	7	0	50.2	55	26	26	4	10	31
Norton	0	2	4.70	27	0	0	23.0	25	15	12	2	14	15
Acevedo	3	5	5.09	12	12	0	70.2	76	41	40	13	15	59
Harang	4	2	5.43	11	11	0	59.2	79	37	36	7	22	44
Lidle	4	5	5.50	14	14	0	88.1	94	55	54	13	22	49
Reith	2	2	6.48	21	0	0	25.0	28	18	18	5	19	23
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	28	4.88	62	62	27	547.2	601	324	297	77	194	361