Second baseman Brandon Phillips batted cleanup in the team's first 13 games, but an 0-for-21 skid was enough to get him switched.
For Wednesday's game against the Cubs, Phillips was dropped to sixth, and he was replaced in the cleanup spot by third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, whose numbers were not much better than Phillips'. While Phillips was hitting .143 with one homer and five RBIs, Encarnacion was hitting .175 with one homer and six RBIs.
"We'll try this for a couple of days and I told Brandon when he starts stinging the ball again, we'll get him back up there," manager Dusty Baker said. "No matter who you are or what your name is, we've all been there."
Phillips last batted sixth in 2007, when he did it once. He batted cleanup 114 times last season, and the team was 51-63.
Phillips slipped to 0-for-22 before getting two hits in his last three at-bats Wednesday, while Encarnacion went 0-for-4.
REDS 3, CUBS 0: RHP Johnny Cueto held the Cubs to four hits over seven innings to outpitch LHP Ted Lilly (seven innings, one unearned run). The Reds scored runs on a Willy Taveras flyball, a Joey Votto double and Jay Bruce's third homer.
