After almost two weeks of not playing because of a strained oblique and flu-like symptoms, Cincinnati Reds outfielder Drew Stubbs was finally placed on the disabled list.

I can only imagine that this happened after Walt Jocketty woke up from a week-long nap and wondered why Stubbs wasn’t playing. I mean, the only other explanation would involve assuming that the Reds management staff doesn’t fully understand how the disabled list works.

Whatever the reason, Stubbs was finally put on the disabled list, giving him some time to rest and recover. In his place, the Reds recalled Willie Harris.

Despite Harris’ awfulness earlier in the year, the move does make sense. In addition to Stubbs hurting, Chris Heisey strained his groin, making him unavailable for at least a couple games. The outfield depth is thin, and Harris might be able to help there. I’d love for him to improve on that .086 batting average.

Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker has responded to what Derek Lowe said last night.

“He had some words for me. I really didn’t want to make a public thing or a public spectacle. He’s the one who brought it up. He had some choice words for me. I really don’t care if he respects me. It doesn’t matter.

“No. 1, you’ve got to ask him why he hit Joey Votto in the back two years ago. Yesterday, he took exception to a ball inside that didn’t hit him, then hit Brandon Phillips after that.

“I’m not denying nothing. I didn’t order anyone to hit him. I told (Mat Latos) to buzz him and make him uncomfortable. That’s what happened. Nobody hit him. Then he hit our guy.

“What he was talking about was something that he said and did a few years. You got to ask him what that was. You got a lot people involved in the situation that didn’t need to be involved in the situation. It didn’t come from there.

“Go ask him since he made it public. Understand what I’m saying. I’ll let it rest at that since he’s such a big man running his mouth talking about himself.”

Apparently, a reporter pressed Baker on the issue a little more, and Baker found a little more to say.

“Man, I don’t care,” Baker said. A lot of people don’t respect me. He don’t respect himself. The word was whatever he did and said probably there was a good chance he was drinking at the ballpark and he don’t remember what he said or what he did. OK.

“When he said I shook my finger at him to say I didn’t have nothing to do with it. It wasn’t to say I didn’t have anything to do with it. It was to say: Don’t mess with me or my team. That’s what that means. He better learn sign language. OK.”

All right. Lowe hates Baker and will throw at his players. And the feeling is mutual from Dusty. Also, Baker accused someone–maybe Lowe–of being drunk while at work. Everything is clear as mud.

It’s interesting to see Baker fired up like this. Usually, he’s a very laid-back, cool guy. Something happened that royally pissed him off, though, and he can apparently hold a grudge.

After last night’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians, Indians starter Derek Lowe shared his feelings on Reds’ manager Dusty Baker.

Lowe exploded with an expletive-laden rant about a pitch that Mat Latos threw to him when batting in the fifth that was up and in.

“Dusty will deny it. It has everything to do with him,” Lowe said. “You can go ask him. He’ll deny it like he has no idea. They’ve been trying to do this [stuff] for years. I’d always come up with men on base. To say it didn’t come from Dusty, Mat Latos was with the San Diego Padres the last four years. He has no idea what’s going on. Again, you can ask him and he’ll say he doesn’t know [anything] about it like he always does. This goes back to my last year with the Dodgers [in 2008]. He made up some [bogus] story. A lot of people got involved. People almost got fired over it. You can go ask him right now and he’ll say he has no idea what you’re talking about. But just watch the game. Mat Latos has nothing to do with anything that has gone on. How would he know? Why in the [world] would you throw a 96 mph fastball, first pitch, inside to a pitcher? Ask him.

Feel free to replace “[stuff]”, [anything]”, and “[bogus]” in the quote with the likely swear words uttered by Lowe. I’m feeling “shit” was the likely word of choice.

Sure, Tony LaRussa and Baker never got along, but this is the first time something between the Dodgers, Lowe, and Baker has been made public.

“A lot of people knew about it,” Lowe said. “I have zero respect for the guy — not that it matters. I imagine he’d say the same about me. But the [stuff] that was being said and the denials that he ended up ultimately doing was pretty sad. I’ll just leave it at that.”

I have no idea what to think of this. But it’s clear that Lowe is not “trusty in Dusty.” If nothing else, it’ll make for some interesting questions to be asked of Baker before today’s afternoon game begins.

The news is breaking that the Cincinnati Reds have signed their first round draft pick of the 2012 draft, Nick Travieso.

The Florida high school right-hander, who was ranked No. 32 on MLB.com’s Draft Top 100 prior to the Draft, will sign for $2 million. That is below the assigned value for the pick, $2.375 million.

The news comes from the MLB Pro Blog: Big, Bald, and Beautiful. If the information is as reputable as the blog title’s description of the author, then tomorrow, we can expect an official announcement about Travieso’s signing.

Boxscore

It was a game I expected the Cincinnati Reds to lose, but then ended up feeling disappointed when they did so.

The Detroit Tigers sent the reigning AL MVP and Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander to the mound last night, and everybody knew it was going to be tough for the Reds to win. Sure Verlander had a personal 3-game losing streak, but he’s about the best pitcher in the majors and no one on the Reds had much, if any, experience against him.

But then the Reds eschewed manager Dusty Baker’s “Swing at everything so the umpire doesn’t have to sort it out” mantra and were making incredible at-bat after incredible at-bat. It’s like everyone paid attention to the plate approaches of Joey Votto and Ryan Hanigan. More often than not, the count was going full, and Verlander was throwing 6 or more pitches per batter.

After 5 innings, the patience had worked. Verlander had thrown 113 pitches and the game was tied at 2-2. Verlander pitched one more inning, leaving the game after 127 pitches, and the game was still tied.

Bronson Arroyo had been far more pitch-efficient and had kept the game close. Over 7 innings, he threw 87 pitches and allowed just 2 runs–both solo home runs–while allowing 5 hits, no walks, and striking out 4. But the bullpen couldn’t keep the potent Tigers’ offense scoreless. Sean Marshall allowed an RBI single to Prince Fielder that scored Detroit’s 3rd run. And the Reds were never able to score against the Tigers’ bullpen.

The Reds tied the game in the 4th, thanks to a 2-RBI single from Todd Frazier. Chris Heisey and Joey Votto–of course–scored on his hit. Votto extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

The Reds played great, and I hope to see more of that patient plate approach in the future. I know they have it in them now.

The win by the Tigers evened the series at 1 game apiece. Homer Bailey tries to win the series for the Reds tonight, while the Tigers counter with Drew Smyly. The first pitch will be at 8:00 pm EDT, and it will be televised on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.