Second baseman Brandon Phillips readily admits that he isn't fond of batting cleanup, but he does it because he is asked to do it.
"I do it to the best of my ability," he said. But on the first two stops of a current three-city, 10-game trip, Phillips did not get a hit, going 0-for-17. Then he went 0-for-4 Tuesday in Chicago, stretching it to 0-for-21.
There is a belief that perhaps the stress of batting fourth is too much for the Gold Glove second baseman, but manager Dusty Baker doesn't believe that.
"I don't think the pressure is it," Baker said. "He is just not swinging good, and we don't have a lot of choices. When he's right, he is very good. The way I look at it is he had a bad series and Houston pitched him really tough."
Phillips batted cleanup 114 times last season, and the Reds were 51-63 in those games while he batted .261 with 21 homers and 78 RBIs.
CUBS 7, REDS 2: RHP Micah Owings threw a second straight clinker in his second start for the Reds, giving up five runs (two earned) and five hits in 4 2/3 innings. The Reds, who own the lowest team batting average in the NL, had only three hits in six innings against Cubs RHP Rich Harden.
