DaytonDailyNews.com

DENVER — Homer Bailey didn't know it when he walked to the pitching mound Saturday night in Durham, N.C., but he was auditioning for a start this week for the Cincinnati Reds against the Cleveland Indians.

The Reds have a "vacancy" sign hanging on their rotation — they need somebody to start Saturday at Great American Ball Park, and manager Jerry Narron all but anointed Bailey.

Before Saturday's game in Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies, before Bailey's Class AAA Louisville Bats game against the Durham Bulls, Narron said, "Bailey pitches tonight, and if he has a good game, he has a shot at it (starting Saturday). It is up to him."

General Manager Wayne Krivsky said, "He is one of the guys on our list, and we'll see how he does (Saturday night) and what our people there say."

Bailey won his sixth game Saturday, giving up four runs and seven hits in six innings, walking three and striking out nine.

Narron said, "You guys (beat writers) better check your boards and see who will be well-rested for next Saturday." After his Saturday start, Bailey will have six days of rest before the Indians game.

And it was just little more than a week ago when Narron told the Dayton Daily News, "Bailey will be here shortly."

The just-turned-21 right-hander and the Reds' No. 1 draft pick in 2004 began Saturday's game with a 5-1 record and a 1.89 earned-run average in nine starts with 21 walks and 43 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings.

On Saturday, he gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the first and let another run score on a wild pitch after Bats outfielder Josh Hamilton gave his team the lead with a two-run homer in the top of the first. It was Hamilton's fourth home run this week, this one coming near his Raleigh hometown in front of a standing-room only crowd.

Bailey went into the Durham game on a four-game winning streak. He had won his previous start at Charlotte, holding the Knights to one run and five hits with no walks and nine strikeouts in seven innings.