By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

ST. LOUIS - When Darren Bragg signed with the Reds, he looked at it as an opportunity to get back to the big leagues.

Bragg was thinking his role would be as a bench player. But the way things have worked out, he's been playing nearly every day.

Bragg, making his fourth start in right field, went into Monday's game against the Cardinals 3-for-12 with the Reds with a home run.

"They've been giving me a chance," Bragg said. "That's what you want. It's a lot easier when you play every day."

Bragg took the roster spot of Ken Griffey Jr. when Griffey went on the 60-day disabled list Thursday.

Bragg is a better defensive option in right field than Jacob Cruz or John Vander Wal.

"Not to throw the other guys under the bus," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "But (Bragg) moves better out there."

The other option in right - Ryan Freel - is nursing a sore knee. Monday, Freel started at third base.

"It keeps Freel from having to run around in the outfield," Miley said.

Bragg started the year with the New York Yankees organization. He played 70 games with Triple-A Columbus before he was released July 2. The San Diego Padres signed him two days later. He played nine games with the Padres. He refused outright assignment to Triple-A Portland and elected free agency on July 20. The Reds signed him nine days later.

He played 13 games at Louisville before he got the call-up.

"I was ready to go," he said. "Anyone will tell you playing every day is what you play for. It's been nice."

GRIFFEY SURGERY: Ken Griffey Jr. underwent a two-hour procedure Monday to re-attach his torn right hamstring. Griffey will begin a four-month rehab program Thursday. He is expected to be ready for spring training. Medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek attached the tendon to the bone with three screws and cleaned up scar tissue around the injury.

MATTHEWS UPDATE: Left-hander Mike Matthews threw 25 pitches to a batter Monday.

"It went great," Matthews said. "Everything felt good."

Matthews, who had surgery on his elbow July 6, will do the same thing Friday in Arizona.

If all goes well, he'll begin a rehab assignment next week with Louisville.

Matthews was 2-1 with an 8.84 ERA before the surgery.

MOSS SIGNED: The Reds signed left-hander Damian Moss to a minor league contract and assigned him to Louisville.

Moss, 27, was once considered a top prospect. He was 12-6 with 3.42 ERA for Atlanta in 2002.

He was released on Aug. 14 by the Tampa Bay Devils Rays.

Moss began the year with the Rays. He was 0-1 with a 16.88 ERA. in five games. He was playing for Triple-A Durham at the time of his release. He was 5-9 with 5.87 ERA with the Bulls.

ARIZONA BOUND: The Reds have selected their participants in the Arizona Fall League.

They are: right-handers Dustin Moseley, Todd Coffey, Daylan Childress, infielder Kevin Howard, first baseman Jesse Gutierrez and catcher Brian Peterson.

KEARNS UPDATE: Austin Kearns was 1-for-4 with a two-run double in his return to his Louisville rehab.

FARM REPORT: Bobby Mosby hit his 14th home run for Billings in the Mustangs' 7-3 win over Missoula Sunday night.

Mosby, 21, was the 25th-round pick in the 2002 draft. He is hitting .280 with the 14 homers, good for the lead in the Pioneer League, with 44 RBI in 52 games.

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com

Reds statistics

(Not including Monday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.341	.396	405	77	138	38	2	18	73	34	24	1	0	6
Larkin	.308	.358	302	54	93	15	3	7	41	25	34	2	0	4
Freel	.281	.383	366	47	103	13	5	1	21	51	63	22	8	12
Dunn	.279	.406	408	80	114	22	0	36	75	82	138	4	1	5
Lopez	.267	.333	101	16	27	9	0	4	13	10	28	0	0	8
Pena	.263	.316	270	35	71	8	1	21	56	17	86	3	1	6
Jimenez	.263	.359	411	52	108	18	2	7	44	61	70	9	6	6
Griffey	.253	.351	300	49	76	18	0	20	60	44	67	1	0	1
LaRue	.245	.328	294	37	72	15	1	13	41	21	80	0	2	8
Castro	.243	.274	226	25	55	17	1	2	16	10	37	0	0	6
Cruz	.235	.313	115	18	27	5	0	3	22	10	33	0	0	0
Valentin	.219	.268	151	15	33	7	1	5	16	10	26	0	0	4
Larson	.212	.304	118	13	25	6	0	3	14	14	35	1	0	5
Bragg	.211	.318	19	4	4	1	0	1	1	3	5	0	0	0
Kearns	.195	.327	87	10	17	2	1	3	13	16	30	1	1	1
Vander Wal	.162	.184	37	2	6	2	0	2	4	1	14	0	0	0
Romano	.154	.214	26	3	4	0	0	1	3	2	10	0	0	0
Team Totals	.255	.336	3989	556	1019	206	17	148	529	435	921	46	19	80

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Graves	1	4	3.15	59	0	36	60.0	61	26	21	11	8	36
Norton	1	3	4.35	52	0	0	51.2	52	29	25	4	25	35
Riedling	4	3	4.37	53	0	0	59.2	63	37	29	5	32	32
Harang	7	4	4.49	19	19	0	108.1	120	55	54	11	39	87
Wilson	9	4	4.54	23	23	0	142.2	157	76	72	22	51	92
Wagner	2	1	5.67	33	0	0	33.1	44	25	21	4	20	21
Van Poppel	3	5	5.92	30	10	0	92.2	106	61	61	16	18	60
Acevedo	5	10	6.36	25	23	0	127.1	154	92	90	24	40	98
Claussen	1	3	6.93	5	5	0	24.2	26	22	19	5	15	13
White	1	1	7.00	25	0	0	27.0	28	21	21	11	4	22
Hancock	2	1	8.04	8	3	0	15.2	23	16	14	6	7	10
Hudson	0	1	8.44	1	1	0	5.1	8	6	5	0	1	3
Matthews	2	1	8.84	22	0	0	18.1	23	19	18	6	10	8
Valentine	0	1	9.95	3	1	0	6.1	7	7	7	2	7	4
Team Totals	56	61	5.33	117	117	37	1040.2	1169	666	616	167	388	697