By HAL McCOY
It was a rare night game in the desert for the Cincinnati Reds and while starting pitcher Cody Reed wasn’t exactly lights out, he rocked the Colorado Rockies in the second and third innings at Goodyear Ballpark.
Reed, one of the three lefthanded pitchers the Reds obtained from Kansas City in exchange for Johnny Cueto, is in the hunt for one of the wide-open rotation spots.
He gave up two runs, two hits and a walk in the first inning, but he struck out the side in the second. He struck out the first batter in the third, too, and pitched a runless, hitless inning.
Reed, who was 0-and-7 last season, gave up two runs, two hits, walked one and struck out four.
It was his third appearance of the spring. He pitched two perfect innings in his first appearance against Arizona and gave up two runs and four hits while walking one and striking out four in 2 1/3 innings against Kansas City.
THE REDS, THOUGH, LOST for the third straight time, back on the losing highway. They lost their first six, won their next five and now have lost three straight, this time by 5-4 to the Colorado Rockies.
Thanks to three errors in the first two innings by the Rockies, the Reds led, 4-2, after two innings.
But that was it for their suddenly dormant bats. After getting three hits in the first two innings they collected only three more in the final seven.
IT WAS MOSTLY AN illegitimate lineup for the Reds — no Billy Hamilton, no Zack Cozart, no Joey Votto, no Adam Duvall, no Tucker Barnhart (out with a stiff shoulder).
The one regular who did play, Jose Peraza, continued his torrid spring with two hits in three at-bats with two runs scored, pushing his average to .423.
And Patrick Kivlehan, trying hard to earn a roster spot, is even more scorching — two hits in two trips and is batting .522.
Raisel Iglesias followed Reed’s three innings with two innings and gave up a run, two hits, walked one and struck out two.
Lisalverto Bonilla was charged with a blown save and a defeat when he gave up two runs and four hits in his two innings — back-to-back run-scoring doubles to Ramiel Tapia and Dustin Garneau that turned a 4-3 lead into a 5-4 deficit in the sixth.
PERAZA IS REPLACING traded Brandon Phillips at second base and for those who wonder, Phillips was 2 for 2 for the Atlanta Braves Friday in a 5-2 win over the New York Mets and DatDude is hitting .389 for the Braves this spring.
And Jumbo Diaz, who was placed on waivers early his week, was claimed by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Diaz was removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Christian Walker, picked up on waivers from the Braves.
Walker was 0 for 2 Friday and is still looking for his first hit in a Reds uniform. He came to bat in the eighth with two runners on and two outs and flied to right field. The Reds were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position.