Don't blow up the blog, but . . .

Eric Milton gave up five home runs in six ininngs to the Single-A Pirates. He gave up 11 hits and threw 93 pitches. The wind was blowing out, but it was less than 100 mph.

Milton was none too happy.

How did it go?

"It went."

Were you just geting the ball up?

"I don't know. You can't pitch your game. You can't set anyone up."

But you felt OK?

"Yeah. I threw close to 100 pitches. I got my work in."

You can't put much stock in the spring stats, and Single-A players swing from the heels against a big leaguer, but Milton is becoming PR nightmare for the Reds. Matt Belisle has a 2.08 ERA; Bobby Livingston has a 1.23 ERA and one of them is going to start the year in Triple-A. Milton is 16-23 with 5.89 ERA in two years with the Reds and he's getting a spot on track record.

But $9 million is a lot of eat.