By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Austin Kearns began a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Louisville Wednesday.

Kearns, who has been on the disabled list with a sore thumb, went 2-for-3 with a double. No matter how well he hits, he won't join the Reds until June 22 when they open a three-game series in New York against the Mets.

"We've told Austin he'll be with the Louisville club through Monday," Reds general manager Dan O'Brien said. "The only asterisk would be if Austin tells us he's not ready."

That's not likely. Kearns wasn't happy when his previous rehab assignment lasted eight games. Kearns was coming back from a broken left forearm that time.

In that case, he was taking batting practice and working out well before he was eligible.

This time, the thumb injury, which was the result of an open sore, kept him from swinging a bat until three days ago.

Kearns is one of three Reds on the DL. Juan Castro was eligible to return Wednesday. Aaron Harang, like Kearns, was eligible to come off today.

Harang, who has a sore tendon in his elbow, will make a rehab start Friday for Louisville.

"If all goes well, he'll meet us in St. Louis and throw a side on Sunday," Manager Dave Miley said.

Harang probably will be back in the rotation after the rehab start.

"It will be up to Miles and (pitching coach) Don Gullett to slot him into the rotation at that point," O'Brien said.

Harang doesn't anticipate a problem.

"I've had no pain, no problems," he said.

Castro, out with a strained rib cage muscle, went through a pretty strenuous session Wednesday.

The Reds will wait to see how Castro feels today before deciding on a rehab assignment for him.

LaRUE LaSMOKING: Jason LaRue finally has found his hitting stroke. LaRue entered Wednesday on a five-game hitting streak. He was 9-for-22 with three home runs and seven RBI over the streak.

"I've relaxed my back arm a little," LaRue said. "That's really helped."

LaRue went into Wednesday hitting .349 in June, raising his average from .188 to .237.

The power has picked up lately. He had three homers in five games.

"When I'm making good, solid contact, the home runs are going to come," he said.

HE TRIED: John Allen, the Reds' chief operating officer, was afraid the Reds might encounter just the kind of problems they did with Monday's makeup game in Philadelphia. Because of the three rain delays, the game didn't end until 2:06 a.m. Tuesday.

That would not have happened if the game had been a day game rather than a 7:05 p.m. start.

"I protested quite loudly," Allen said.

The Phillies didn't want to play a night game because the makeup was for an April 14 game - the first night game in Citizens Bank Park.

It could have been worse: If the game had been rained out Monday, the Reds would have had to go back to Philly again this coming Monday to try to get it in.

CASEY RESTS: Sean Casey was out of the starting lineup Wednesday night.

"I told him three or four days ago that I was going to give him a day," Miley said. "The last few days, his bat has been a little slow."

Casey went 0-for-5 Monday.

Miley started Tim Hummel at first base. It was his first big-league start at first, but he had played there once this year as a substitute.

"I've played it enough that I'm comfortable with it," he said. "It's like third, except the field's flipped, and if you knock it down, you still get the guy."

Hummel started the previous two games at third base and went 3-for-7 with a double and two sacrifice bunts.

FARM REPORT: Shortstop Ray Olmedo is off the disabled list at Triple-A Louisville. Olmedo, who had a sore elbow, has hits in each of the two games he has played since returning.

The Bats lost 12-4 to Buffalo Wednesday. Bubba Nelson allowed seven runs in two innings to fall to 1-10. Nelson, a right-hander obtained in the Chris Reitsma trade, has an ERA of 7.09.

The Potomac Cannons put five players on the Carolina League All-Star team: second baseman Kevin Howard, outfielder Chris Denorfia, first baseman Tony Blanco, infielder Mark Schramek and pitcher Richie Gardner.

UP NEXT: The Reds close the three-game series with the Rangers with a 12:35 p.m. game. Right-hander Todd Van Poppel (2-2, 4.62 ERA) faces right-hander Ryan Drese (3-3, 3.72). The game is on ESPN2.