by By Hal McCoy Staff Writer , Dayton Daily News

The Mendoza Line is .200, named after former infielder Mario Mendoza, whose lifetime average was .215. Maybe they should rename it the Brandon Larson Line. In four years with the Reds , the No. 1 draft pick hit .179.

"I feel right and I feel great," Encarnacion said. "The first two games back from rehab in Louisville I had my timing back but I tried to do too much, which is why I didn't come through. I was too excited.

"Then I slowed it down and tried to be patient and not try to do too much," he added. "That's what I've been doing. When you try to do too much, it is not good for the team and it is not good for you."

Asked about the Mendoza Line, he laughed and said, "I know I'm going to be over it. I know good things are going to come to me and the team, too."

Said Reds manager Dusty Baker, "He's getting there. The wrist injury was worse than a lot of people thought. It will still bother him from time to time. He tried to play through it early, which is difficult to do. Let's hope he can make progress and not reinjure it sliding or checking his swing."

Encarnacion had four hits Friday, including a home run, raising his average to .227. The four hits tied his career high.

The toughest job

Baker hates doing it, but telling players they are going back to the minors is part of his job. It was a message he conveyed to pitcher Josh Roenicke on Friday as the club made room for recalled infielder Drew Sutton.

"Tough sending him back," Baker said. "We want him to get some backto-back game action. We had a (plan for) him to go every other day because he was new to pitching every day. It is disappointing to have to send him back, but he'll be back because he has the stuff.

"It is not easy to send anybody down, especially young players," Baker added. "My son (Darren) saw me today and said, 'What's wrong, dad?' He knew I was sad."

Surgery for Lincoln

Relief pitcher Mike Lincoln most likely is done for the season. He is scheduled for disc-replacement surgery Monday in St. Louis. He has been on the disabled list since June 17 with a bulging disc in his neck. "His troubles, too, were more serious than people thought," Baker said. "As much as he's been on the DL (out three seasons) the last thing he wanted was to go on the DL. They found it, and I'm glad we can take care of it and have him ready next year."

Gonzalez close

After hearing about the way disabled shortstop Alex Gonzalez fielded ground balls and threw them across the diamond, then took batting practice, Baker said, "Looked good today. He might be ready to go out and play (on rehab) pretty soon, which is pretty awesome."

Cameron clipped

Milwaukee's Mike Cameron slid head-first into second base Thursday night and wishes he hadn't. It cost him a cut lip and chipped tooth.

"I've pretty much quit sliding head-first, but I did it this time and paid," he said. "Brandon Phillips made a sweep tag and hit me flush in the face, missed my helmet completely."

Cameron played for the Reds one year, 1999 - their last good season when they lost a playoff game to the New York Mets for the National League wild card.

Quote of the day

"Everybody is going to have injuries and everybody does. But you never believe you are going to have them at this magnitude. You just have to keep pushing and keep playing." - Baker on his team's injuries.

Copyright 2009 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.