Lineup shuffle  no big surprise

Cincinnati Reds starter Aaron Harang pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 2, 2009, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

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Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero (26) looks to first after stepping on home to force out Cincinnati Reds' Ryan Hanigan in the fourth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 2, 2009, in Cincinnati. Willy Taveras was safe at first after grounding to third with the bases loaded. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

By Hal McCoy, Staff Writer Updated 8:40 PM Thursday, July 2, 2009

CINCINNATI — Manager Dusty Baker’s lineup card for the finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks included neither Jay Bruce nor Ramon Hernandez.

Somebody asked, “A couple of guys getting days off?”

Said Baker, “Yeah, but you could also say it is a couple of guys getting days on.”

He meant that Chris Dickerson got to play right field and Ryan Hanigan got to catch.

While Bruce was bouncing along at .212, Dickerson had his average up to .283, with a five-game hitting streak.

“Trying to do the best we can down this stretch to the All-Star break to win every game we can,” said Baker. “Dickerson is hot and hitting left-handers pretty good (he singled home the only run off left-hander Doug Davis in the fourth inning). With Bruce and Laynce Nix and others, I have quite a few options off the bench.

“You’re off, but you’re not really off,” Baker added. “You’re on standby and you are on call.”

A lineup shuffle shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody because, mostly out of necessity, Baker has used 60 different lineups/batting orders in the first 77 games.

And, as advertised, Hernandez pinch-hit in the eighth and singled, while Bruce entered the game as part of a double switch in the seventh and made a game-saving throw home to prevent a run in the 10th inning as the Reds won 3-2 with a run in the home half.

A productive debut

When Drew Sutton reported for duty Wednesday, Baker said he would use the next three or four days to check out what Sutton could do at different positions, working with coaches Chris Speier and Billy Hatcher.

Then came Thursday. Baker ran out of position players. It was Danny Richar’s turn to hit, but he was injured and couldn’t swing the bat. Sutton was all he had left — with runners on first and third with one out, the Reds down, 2-1.

Sutton swung at the first pitch and bounced it up the middle. The Diamondbacks got a force at second, but Jerry Hairston Jr. scored the tying run when Sutton was safe at first.

“Other than hitting a home run in your first major-league at-bat, which seldom happens, it is great to come to the plate and execute and contribute,” Sutton said. “A game-tying RBI is awesome. Dusty was down to one position player, me, so when we had runners on first and third, I thought, ‘Here I am.’ ”

Hernandez ‘OK’

Ramon Hernandez, not the swiftest of mankind anyway, looked a bit slower than usual running the bases Wednesday, but that isn’t the reason he was off Thursday.

“He doesn’t run good anyway, and he hasn’t been catching much, now he has to get used to bending down again, and he has a nagging knee and nagging wrist,” said Baker. “Ramon gives you all he’s got. May not look like it. But he is. I know he didn’t slide on his double, but sometimes it hurts to slide.”

Hernandez laughed and said, “I’m fine, man. I didn’t look good on the double because I almost tripped, funny stuff. I almost fell.”

Baker said he thought Hernandez might be hurting a bit “because he didn’t fight me when I said he was getting the day off and he usually says, ‘I’m all right, I’m OK.’ ”

Hernandez said, “I can’t complain about resting today. When you have another good catcher (Hanigan) who you know is going to do a good job, you don’t mind a day off.”

Quote of the day

—“No hitting, no playing.” — Jay Bruce, when asked by Laynce Nix why he wasn’t in Thursday’s lineup.

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