Reds swept again, lose more players

Team winless on six-game road trip

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Micah Owings delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs Sunday, July 26, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Associated Press photo by Charles Rex Arbogast Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Micah Owings delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs Sunday, July 26, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

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Cincinnati Reds right fielder Chris Dickerson, right, stands with center fielder Willy Taveras and tests his shoulder after he was injured trying to field a triple hit by Chicago Cubs' Koyie Hill during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 26, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Associated Press photo by Charles Rex Arbogast Cincinnati Reds right fielder Chris Dickerson, right, stands with center fielder Willy Taveras and tests his shoulder after he was injured trying to field a triple hit by Chicago Cubs' Koyie Hill during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 26, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

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Chicago Cubs catcher Koyie Hill, left, blocks home plate with his foot as he tags out Cincinnati Reds' Edwin Encarnacion during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 26, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Associated Press photo by Charles Rex Arbogast Chicago Cubs catcher Koyie Hill, left, blocks home plate with his foot as he tags out Cincinnati Reds' Edwin Encarnacion during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 26, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

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By Hal McCoy, Staff Writer Updated 7:59 PM Sunday, July 26, 2009

CHICAGO — The symbolism was impossible to ignore. As injured outfielder Chris Dickerson painfully put on a new shirt in the postgame clubhouse two buttons fell from the cuffs and clinked to the floor.

So now not only are the Cincinnati Reds losing games, they are losing their buttons. The Reds are a team falling apart, unraveling at the seams and becoming threadbare.

Not only did the Reds lose to the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field, 5-2, they lost three more players — pitcher Jared Burton, pitcher Micah Owings and Dickerson.

And they lost another close call at home plate in a tight situation.

It all added up to a 0-6 trip, 0-3 in Los Angeles and 0-3 in Chicago.

Burton went on the disabled list before the game with physical weakness and shortness of breath, Owings left after three innings with shoulder tightness and Dickerson left in the eighth inning with a shoulder injury while trying to make a diving catch. All will be examined in Cincinnati today.

By game's end, manager Dusty Baker was one position player injury away from having to use Bronson Arroyo at shortstop or Aaron Harang at first base or Johnny Cueto behind the plate.

Yes, it's that bad.

The Reds scored first, a two-out home run in the first inning by Joey Votto. That was it. Close the curtains. Lock the French doors. Exit, stage right.

The Reds did not get another hit until Laynce Nix delivered a pinch-hit in the eighth inning. But the Reds were still in it, only down 3-1. And they had the bases loaded with one out.

Pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston Jr. flied to shallow center and Edwin Encarnacion tagged at third. He appeared to slide safely home, but umpire Laz Diaz called him out, an inning-ending double play.

"I know he didn't get me," said Encarnacion. "I was safe. I beat the throw." Not only did he beat it, it appeared catcher Koyie Hill never tagged him.

"Dickerson looks like he is hurt pretty good, Micah's shoulder is barking and Edwin was safe at the plate," said manager Dusty Baker. "That's what I told him (Diaz), he never tagged him. I saw space. Every day there is a call against us, every day. A big play, a huge play."

The Cubs then scored two off Arthur Rhodes in the bottom of the eighth, one coming when Dickerson tried his diving catch on Hill that rolled to the wall for a run-scoring triple as Dickerson stayed down.

"I tore my rotator cuff in '06, diving just like that," said Dickerson. "I had similar pain, but not as severe. I'm not concerned about that. When the ball comes off your glove the way it did it is the worst feeling — a key play to keep us close."

Owings pitched three innings, giving up two runs and three hits while walking four before he said he could go no more.

"As the game went on, it got more fatigued and stiffer," said Owings. "It's the hardest thing I ever had to do to take myself out of the game. But I wasn't going to be helping the team if I stayed in."

When the Reds acquired Owings last year from Arizona in the Adam Dunn trade, he was recovering from shoulder problems. He says this is not the same.

"It doesn't feel the same," he said. "More than anything it just got fatigued. I did a quick strength test and it was good. I had general stiffness and as the game went on it got stiffer and stiffer and tighter."

After Votto's 15th homer gave the Reds a 1-0 lead in the first, Owings took that lead into the second. But he walked the leadoff batter, then issued a hit and two more walks for a run.

He gave up a two-out walk in the third and a run-scoring double by Alfonso Soriano and was finished.

"I was missing pitches a foot-and-a-half off the plate," he said. "I've done that here and there over the course of the year, but more and more lately. And today? That was just not me."

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