By Kevin Kelly
Enquirer staff writer

The Reds starting outfield - Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr. and Austin Kearns - gathered around the batting cage for early hitting work Monday afternoon.

"All three of them on the field," Reds head trainer Mark Mann said, "is absolutely very encouraging."

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Monday's game

Because of injuries to Griffey and Kearns, the trio has not started a game together since May 28.

For Kearns, Monday's workout at Great American Ball Park was an encouraging step.

It marked the first time since undergoing surgery July 2 to remove a bone spur, scar tissue and a lesion from the base of his right thumb that the right fielder had taken live batting practice.

"I'm just happy to get out there and swing," he said. "I still felt a little tentative. I think it's just part of getting used to getting that feeling back."

Kearns, who is on the 60-day disabled list, wore the batting gloves designed to protect his thumb and reported little discomfort.

"That's the thing I was happy about," Kearns said. "It wasn't painful, like the throbbing feeling that I had before the surgery. I think now it's just soreness from the surgery and getting used to activity again."

ROMANO DONE: Jason Romano was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday, and will undergo season-ending surgery today.

The outfielder suffered a torn right hamstring while running after a fly ball during Sunday's game against the Pirates.

Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek will re-attach the hamstring to the bone during the morning procedure at Beacon Orthopaedic Center.

GOING DEEP: Dunn is one long ball away from making this a career year from a power standpoint.

The 24-year-old left fielder tied a career high with his 27th home run of the season Monday.

The home run also was the 99th of his 439-game major-league career. Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is the only active player 25 or younger with at least 100 career home runs.

Dunn's 59 RBI in 99 games this season are two more than he had in 116 games last year.

THE CAPTAIN: The Reds recalled infielder Felipe Lopez from Triple-A Louisville to fill Romano's spot on the roster.

Lopez gives the Reds added depth in the infield as Barry Larkin deals with a strained left oblique muscle. Larkin was not in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game Monday, but could resume swinging a bat today.

Lopez entered Monday's game as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning.

The Cardinals sent five ground balls at Lopez in the next three innings. He fielded the first four cleanly before being charged with a throwing error in the 10th inning.

ODDS AND ENDS: Third baseman Brandon Larson (strained left hamstring) also worked out before the game. He is eligible to come off the disabled list Monday and would like to begin a rehabilitation assignment later this week. ... The six combined home runs hit Monday tied a Great American Ball Park single-game record. ... Reds starting pitcher Paul Wilson allowed three home runs for the first time since April 18 against the Cubs. ... The Reds are 8-6 in extra-inning games.

REDS FACT: The pitching staff entered Monday's game against the Cardinals with a 6.08 ERA over the team's past 43 games, over which the Reds were 16-27.

Reds statistics

(Not including Monday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.342	.397	330	62	113	30	1	16	61	27	22	1	0	4
Larkin	.300	.352	290	52	87	13	3	6	36	25	34	2	0	4
Pena	.286	.343	196	23	56	5	1	15	39	14	61	3	1	3
Freel	.272	.368	312	39	85	11	5	1	16	38	53	19	7	9
Dunn	.265	.402	336	60	89	19	0	26	58	73	120	4	0	3
Jimenez	.264	.366	341	47	90	16	2	6	35	55	55	9	6	4
Castro	.262	.294	168	21	44	15	1	1	11	8	28	0	0	6
LaRue	.255	.340	247	32	63	13	1	12	35	18	64	0	2	7
Griffey	.251	.350	295	48	74	17	0	20	60	44	65	1	0	1
Vander Wal	.250	.308	12	1	3	1	0	1	2	1	4	0	0	0
Hummel	.242	.283	99	9	24	4	0	1	7	5	16	1	0	3
Cruz	.231	.298	104	15	24	5	0	2	19	8	31	0	0	0
Larson	.212	.304	118	13	25	6	0	3	14	14	35	1	0	5
Kearns	.195	.327	87	10	17	2	1	3	13	16	30	1	1	1
Valentin	.190	.246	126	13	24	5	0	5	13	9	19	0	0	4
Romano	.154	.214	26	3	4	0	0	1	3	2	10	0	0	0
Team Totals	.254	.336	3351	461	850	169	15	119	436	375	776	43	17	60

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Graves	1	4	3.40	52	0	34	53.0	56	25	20	10	5	31
Wilson	9	2	3.71	19	19	0	121.1	125	53	50	15	40	81
Jones	8	2	3.88	50	0	1	55.2	47	25	24	4	25	37
Riedling	4	2	4.13	47	0	0	52.1	50	29	24	4	23	30
White	0	1	4.24	16	0	0	17.0	14	8	8	5	2	14
Harang	6	3	4.62	16	16	0	89.2	107	47	46	8	33	73
Norton	1	2	5.03	42	0	0	39.1	39	25	22	3	20	26
Lidle	6	8	5.18	21	21	0	132.0	142	78	76	17	36	84
Claussen	1	0	5.23	2	2	0	10.1	12	7	6	2	2	5
Van Poppel	3	5	5.45	23	10	0	79.1	90	48	48	12	14	51
Acevedo	4	9	6.09	20	20	0	109.1	128	75	74	21	31	85
Wagner	2	1	7.04	24	0	0	23.0	36	22	18	4	15	13
Matthews	2	1	8.84	22	0	0	18.1	23	19	18	6	10	8
Team Totals	50	49	5.11	99	99	35	875.2	967	531	497	128	308	592