Racist Mascots

1. Grady Sizemore cf
2. Jhonny Peralta ss
3. David Dellucci lf
4. Victor Martinez c
5. Ben Francisco rf
6. Ryan Garko 1b
7. Asdrubal Cabrera 2b
8. Casey Blake 3b
9. Jeremy Sowers p

Redlegs

1. Ryan Freel cf
2. Jerry Hairston Jr. ss
3. Ken Griffey Jr. rf
4. Brandon Phillips 2b
5. Joey Votto 1b
6. Edwin Encarnacion 3b
7. Adam Dunn lf
8. Paul Bako c
9. Johnny Cueto p

* For someone struggling like Adam Dunn is -- and as obviously frustrated as he is -- he's been very good talking about it. Seems like he's asked about it every day, yet he understands hy he is asked and doesn't jump down anyone's throat. He wants to do well, too.

"This game is frustrating," said Dunn.

He's said all year long he feels good and he's seeing the ball well. That's no consolation, however.

"When you're lockin in, every pitch is this big," Dunn said, holding his hands out to approximate the size of a basketball. "And they're all the same speed. Every pitch looks 80. I'm just not locked in."

Dusty Baker said he can tell both Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. are frustrated with the way they're swnging the bat.

"It seems like it bothers Dunn more than it bothers Griff," Baker said. "Griff doesn't show it much either way. ... It's eating Dunn up quite a bit. It's eating Junior up, he just has a differnet way of showing it."

Baker said he expects it to turn around. Griffey is hitting .250 and has gone 67 at-bats without a home run. Dunn's hitting .207. He hit a home run in Wednesday's game.

"You know they're not going to stay in this funk forever, I like to believe that any day they're that much closer to breaking out," Baker said. "It's hard to keep things doing what they usually do. There's a lot of guys struggling, so you know there are some guys who are going to get super hot."

Even with his struggles, other teams still respect Griffey. Of the Reds' 11 intentional walks, Griffey has seven -- no other Reds has been intentionally walked more than once.

"They respect him big time. They feel the same we feel," Baker said. "Is this the time they're going to pop somebody. The longer they go, the more somebody's in trouble. I believe that."

* Javier Valentin said he was getting his butt ready for tonight's game. Valentin, who has now gone a month without starting, was in the lineup at first base on Thursday, but the rainout nixed that playing time. Valentin has only 30 at-bats this season -- just five more than Norris Hopper, who has been on the disabled list since April 23.

Baker wanted to get Valentin some at-bats, but didn't want to repeat that lineup against on Friday.

"I didn't want Votto out a couple of days either," Baker said.

* Paul Janish wasn't in the starting lineup yesterday and isn't in the lineup today. Baker said he'll still get in on double switches. However, Hairston is 5-for-7 with four runs, two doubles, a triple, an RBI and two stolen bases in the last two games -- not exactly someone you want to sit.