By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

PHOENIX - Austin Kearns will be back on the roster and starting in right field when the Reds open a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday night.

"Barring any setbacks, yes," general manager Dan O'Brien said.

There have been setbacks around every corner for Kearns this season.

Early in the season, he was dealing with the effects of shoulder surgery. On April 27, he was hit by a pitch and suffered a broken forearm. Shortly after returning from the broken bone, Kearns developed a sore on his right thumb. That eventually led to surgery.

All his problems have limited him to 87 at-bats with the Reds. Thanks to all the rehab assignments, Kearns has nearly as many at-bats at Triple-A Louisville (83) as he does in the big leagues.

Kearns hasn't hit very well when he has been with the Reds (.195, three home runs, 13 RBI), but the club has played well with him. The Reds are 18-7 when he has started.

Kearns has hit well at Louisville (.338 with a .475 on-base percentage).

The Reds wanted Kearns to get 50 at-bats in this rehab stint to make sure he was healthy and to get his timing down. But the time on his rehab assignment runs out today. The collective bargaining agreement limits position players to 20 days on rehab assignments.

"Physically, he's fine," O'Brien said. "I think we all agree, including Austin, that it might take a little longer to get his timing down. But we're just excited and happy to have him back in a Reds uniform."

Kearns probably will get the bulk of the playing time in right field. Darren Bragg, who is hitting .205, has been playing nearly every day in right.

WAGS OUTING: Getting two outs in an 11-1 victory might not seem like a big deal. But the two outs Ryan Wagner got in the Reds' win over Arizona Sunday were key.

Wagner entered in the sixth inning with runners at first and second, one out and the score 4-1. He complicated matters by throwing a wild pitch to the first batter he faced, Shea Hillenbrand.

"A hit there and it's a 4-3 game," Reds manager Dave Miley said.

But Wagner got two straight groundballs to keep it at 4-1. The Reds scored four runs in the next inning to make it 8-1.

Wagner has found himself. He has a 1.72 ERA over his last 14 appearances.

"A lot of being a reliever is confidence," he said. "That's exactly what you need."

ACEVEDO'S FUTURE: When you mention Jose Acevedo's latest good relief outing, he laughs. He knows the implications.

Acevedo threw two perfect innings of relief Saturday night. Acevedo has pitched five innings of relief around his last start. Over five innings, he's allowed one hit, no walks and struck out four.

Acevedo is 5-10 with a 6.51 ERA as a starter.

So, with Paul Wilson due to come off the disabled list in a week, maybe the bullpen is the place for Acevedo.

"That's something we have to look at," Miley said.

Wilson probably will be back before Acevedo's turn comes up again. The other four starters are pitching well enough that Acevedo probably will be the odd man out.

He admits the time in the bullpen has helped.

"It's helped me and my team," he said.

SATURDAY REVISITED: Third base coach Mark Berry said he still would send Wily Mo Pena home on Ryan Freel's infield single in the seventh - as he did in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Arizona.

"That's one of those situations where you gamble," Berry said.

Pena was thrown out on the play. He might have been safe had he slid. One of the problems was the on-deck hitter, Felipe Lopez, wasn't up by the plate to coach Pena on what to do. But the old baseball rule is: When in doubt, slide.

UP NEXT: The Reds are off today. They open a three-game series with St. Louis Tuesday at Great American Ball Park. The series is the final time the teams meet this year.

REDS FACT: After pinch hitting Saturday, Barry Larkin is now third on the club's all-time games played list at 2,159.

Reds statistics

(Through Sunday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.340	.395	427	80	145	39	2	20	80	36	26	1	0	6
Larkin	.307	.356	309	54	95	15	3	7	42	25	35	2	0	4
Freel	.281	.383	384	52	108	15	5	1	22	54	66	25	8	12
Dunn	.274	.398	431	81	118	25	0	36	77	84	147	4	1	5
Lopez	.260	.324	123	19	32	11	0	4	16	11	36	0	0	9
Jimenez	.256	.354	434	55	111	19	2	8	47	65	76	10	6	6
LaRue	.256	.339	313	41	80	17	2	13	41	23	83	0	2	8
Pena	.254	.307	284	36	72	8	1	22	57	17	93	4	1	6
Griffey	.253	.351	300	49	76	18	0	20	60	44	67	1	0	1
Castro	.242	.274	240	28	58	18	2	3	19	11	41	1	0	7
Cruz	.235	.316	119	18	28	6	0	3	23	10	34	0	0	0
Valentin	.224	.286	152	15	34	7	1	5	16	13	26	0	0	4
Larson	.212	.304	118	13	25	6	0	3	14	14	35	1	0	5
Bragg	.205	.279	39	7	8	3	0	2	3	4	13	0	0	0
Kearns	.195	.327	87	10	17	2	1	3	13	16	30	1	1	1
Romano	.154	.214	26	3	4	0	0	1	3	2	10	0	0	0
Vander Wal	.154	.195	39	2	6	2	0	2	4	2	16	0	0	0
Team Totals	.254	.334	4190	582	1063	221	19	154	553	455	982	52	19	82

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Hudson	1	1	3.97	2	2	0	11.1	14	6	5	0	6	7
Graves	1	5	4.09	61	0	37	61.2	68	33	28	12	11	38
Norton	1	3	4.33	55	0	0	54.0	55	30	26	4	25	36
Riedling	4	3	4.35	55	0	0	62.0	64	38	30	6	32	33
Harang	7	6	4.45	21	21	0	119.1	132	61	59	11	42	95
Wilson	9	4	4.54	23	23	0	142.2	157	76	72	22	51	92
Wagner	2	1	5.06	37	0	0	37.1	45	25	21	4	22	23
Claussen	2	3	5.25	7	7	0	36.0	35	24	21	5	19	19
Van Poppel	3	5	6.15	31	10	0	93.2	110	65	64	16	20	60
Acevedo	5	10	6.26	26	23	0	129.1	154	92	90	24	40	99
Hancock	3	1	6.45	9	4	0	22.1	28	18	16	7	10	13
White	1	1	6.75	27	0	0	28.0	29	21	21	11	4	22
Matthews	2	1	8.84	22	0	0	18.1	23	19	18	6	10	8
Valentine	0	1	9.00	5	1	1	8.0	7	8	8	2	7	7
Team Totals	59	64	5.24	123	123	39	1091.2	1218	690	636	170	410	728