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SAN FRANCISCO — Adam Dunn might not play Tuesday in Los Angeles. Might not. Maybe. Maybe not. Cincinnati Reds manager Jerry Narron knows Dunn's numbers against pitcher Brad Penny are atrociously ugly, but to Narron, Dunn is in the eye of the beholder.

Narron looks at the numbers — 1 for 19 with 12 strikeouts and thinks, "Monday might be a good day to rest Dunn."

But will he? Maybe. Maybe not.

"I told Dunn I would give him one more day off before the end of the season," said Narron. "But then I think, 'I don't care how bad his numbers are, he might bump into something and he does that a lot when we need it. You never know with him."

Dunn likes days off like a shark likes a harpoon. In 2004, he played 161 games, missing one. In 2005, he played 160 games, missing two. So far this year he has played 128 of 130.

"I hate days off," he said. "Hey, my numbers aren't good against a lot of people. They aren't very good against Matt Morris (0 for 3 with two strikeouts in Friday's 4-1 loss). There are pitchers you think I should hit and I don't. And there are other pitchers who you'd think I wouldn't hit and I do, like Roger Clemens. I have no business hitting him the way I do."

When told that Narron dislikes benching him even when his numbers are bad against certain pitchers, because the manager feels comfortable having him out there. Dunn said, "I agree. I might run into something. But I am 99 percent sure we are going to play bonus baseball (the playoffs) this year. Before this year, we were out of it by now and I didn't need to rest up for anything."

Dunn smiled about Narron's quote that he might bump into a pitch and hit a home run and said, "I wish I knew when I was going to do something and when I wasn't. There would be days when I would just sit on the couch."

Guardado perplexed

Disabled closer Eddie Guardado played a little bit of catch Saturday morning and wasn't smiling when he finished.

"First time I threw the ball, I felt something in my elbow — same ol' stuff," said Guardado. "I stopped and talked with (trainer) Mark Mann and (pitching coach) Tom Hume for about five minutes, then I started throwing again and it felt better."

Better, but not good.

"I didn't even play long toss," he said. "I just threw lightly at about 90 feet."

Guardado has never experience elbow pain, so it is strange territory.

"I guess I have to take little baby steps," he said. "That's all I can do. If it was just a little achy, I'd still be throwing out there. I don't know how to describe it. A stabbing pain, achy. It's like when you pull a hamstring and you pull up lame because it grabs at you."

Short hops

• Weekend Warriors? Not the Reds. During weekdays this year, the Reds are 51-38. On Saturdays and Sundays they are 16-25.

• The Reds are 4-1 in their last five series, but need a win today to gain a split in this four-game series with the Giants.

• Is the bullpen better? By leaps and mounds. The bullpen ERA the first half was 5.16. Since the All-Star break it is 3.66.