By Kevin Kelly
Enquirer staff writer

On another day, Josh Hancock might have a win to show for his work.

The Reds right-hander ran his streak of consecutive quality starts to three on Sunday at Great American Ball Park. But with Diamondbacks starter Edgar Gonzalez no-hitting the Reds through six innings, Hancock went home with a no decision.

The right-hander allowed one run over six innings, striking out six along the way, and left the game trailing 1-0.

Former Cincinnatian Scott Service (far left) and Brandon Webb play Cornhole with two other members of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Service, presently on the disabled list, was teaching the intricacies and nuance of the game to willing partners that even included slugger Luis Gonzalez, disabled with a broken arm. They played in the ball park tunnel outside the Diamondbacks clubhouse. (Enquirer photo/MICHAEL E. KEATING)

"I was fortunate to keep them to one run," Hancock said. "That's what I'm supposed to do."

The Diamondbacks got five two-out hits off Hancock through the first five innings.

It wasn't until the sixth inning that they turned a pair of two-out hits into a 1-0 lead. Arizona center fielder Luis Terrero doubled and scored on a broken-bat single by the next batter, Jerry Gil.

"He scattered the hits and made the pitches he had to," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "The run he gave up was a breaking ball, broken-bat base hit. He pitched well."

Sunday's outing was Hancock's third consecutive quality start (six innings, three runs or less). He is 1-0 with a 2.41 ERA, and suffered two blown saves, in those games.

THE STREAK CONTINUES: Hancock's effort also extended the Reds' streak of quality starts to six consecutive games and 10 in the past 11. The starters are 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA, and Cincinnati is 6-5 overall, in those 11 games.

The Reds are now 40-17 when a pitcher makes a quality start.

HURTS SO GOOD: Austin Kearns is sporting a softball-sized bruise on his left calf these days, a result of a recent foul tip.

"That's from my second game," the Reds right fielder said Sunday. "A welcome-back present."

That he's back in the lineup again was enough of a gift.

A broken left forearm and, later, right thumb surgery, caused Kearns to miss 84 games while on the DL twice this season.

On Sunday, Kearns started his sixth consecutive game since coming off the disabled list. It's his longest stretch of consecutive games played since the last week of May."You just appreciate how much you enjoy playing when you can't be out there," said Kearns, who is hitting .316 with three RBI since coming off the DL.

FINAL TUNE-UP: Set to come off the disabled list and pitch against the Astros on Wednesday, Paul Wilson threw his final bullpen session Sunday morning.

"Everything went fine," Wilson said. The right-hander went on the 15-day DL with lower back pain on Aug. 14. He was eligible to come off Sunday.

MINOR MATTERS: Triple-A Louisville designated hitter Rob Stratton hit his fourth home run in as many days Saturday. Stratton was 8-for-14 with four homers and eight RBI entering Sunday.

Double-A Chattanooga pitcher Richie Gardner has allowed five earned runs in his past four starts, lowering his ERA from 3.13 to 2.50.

Left-hander Jung Keun Bong, who is rehabbing with the Gulf Coast League Reds, pitched two scoreless innings Saturday.

ODDS AND ENDS: Reds relief pitcher John Riedling celebrated his 29th birthday Sunday.... Former front office executive Bob Howsam, retired Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Sr. and 19th century pitcher Will White were inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame during a pre-game ceremony. Ken Griffey Jr., who underwent season ending surgery to repair a torn right hamstring surgery Aug. 16, watched the ceremony from the dugout tunnel.

REDS FACT: They are now 6-1 in games that pitcher Josh Hancock has appeared. He's 3-0 with a 3.55 ERA since being acquired from Philadelphia.

Reds stats

Does not include Sunday's game

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.335	.392	445	83	149	40	2	21	82	38	28	1	0	6
Larkin	.302	.351	321	54	97	15	3	7	42	26	36	2	0	4
Dunn	.274	.401	446	85	122	26	0	38	80	90	150	4	1	5
Freel	.273	.376	400	53	109	16	5	1	23	56	70	28	8	12
Jimenez	.258	.354	453	58	117	20	2	10	50	66	78	11	7	6
Griffey	.253	.351	300	49	76	18	0	20	60	44	67	1	0	1
Pena	.251	.308	291	36	73	8	1	22	57	18	97	4	1	7
LaRue	.248	.333	326	41	81	18	2	13	42	24	88	0	2	8
Castro	.245	.276	245	29	60	19	2	3	19	11	41	1	0	8
Cruz	.240	.328	121	18	29	7	0	3	24	12	34	0	0	0
Lopez	.239	.303	138	19	33	11	0	4	17	12	43	0	0	9
Kearns	.223	.350	103	14	23	3	1	3	15	19	35	1	1	2
Valentin	.217	.277	157	15	34	7	1	5	16	13	27	0	0	4
Larson	.212	.304	118	13	25	6	0	3	14	14	35	1	0	5
Bragg	.191	.255	47	7	9	3	0	2	4	4	17	0	0	0
Romano	.154	.214	26	3	4	0	0	1	3	2	10	0	0	0
Vander Wal	.143	.182	42	2	6	2	0	2	4	2	17	0	0	0
Team Totals	.251	.333	4355	598	1094	229	19	159	569	475	1030	56	20	85

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Hudson	1	1	3.63	3	3	0	17.1	18	8	7	1	7	12
Graves	1	5	4.09	61	0	37	61.2	68	33	28	12	11	38
Harang	8	6	4.14	22	22	0	128.1	135	61	59	11	43	101
Riedling	4	3	4.50	57	0	0	66.0	70	41	33	7	32	35
Wilson	9	4	4.54	23	23	0	142.2	157	76	72	22	51	92
Wagner	2	1	4.57	39	0	0	41.1	45	25	21	4	25	26
Norton	1	4	5.00	57	0	0	54.0	59	34	30	4	26	36
Claussen	2	3	5.14	8	8	0	42.0	43	27	24	6	20	23
Hancock	3	1	5.72	10	5	0	28.1	36	20	18	9	11	15
Acevedo	5	10	6.07	28	24	0	136.1	161	95	92	24	40	103
Van Poppel	3	5	6.11	32	10	0	94.1	111	65	64	16	20	60
White	1	1	6.37	29	0	0	29.2	30	21	21	11	4	25
Valentine	1	3	7.71	8	1	1	11.2	11	10	10	2	12	8
Matthews	2	1	8.84	22	0	0	18.1	23	19	18	6	10	8
Team Totals	61	67	5.16	128	128	39	1139.2	1264	709	654	175	423	758