Wilson's good day; Reds win 5-2

Paul Wilson was as good Saturay as he was bad in his last outing. He pitched three hitless innings in the Reds' 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians Saturday at Winter Haven.

Wilson's line: 3 innings, no hits, one walk, one strikeout.

Obviously, Wilson looked a lot better than he did in the previous start. He gave up five runs in 2 2/3 innings Monday against Philadelphia. His command was much better. He only walked the one and he struck out one. He walked three and gave up seven hits in that previous outing.

He's back in the race for the fifth starter and very pleased with his day.

“Much better control as far as tempo and my aggressiveness,” Wilson said, “that fine line we talked about last week. You try to run that ball up there and be so aggressive. It kind of worked against me.

“This week I harnessed it a lot better.”

Wilson is trying to make the team after spending nearly two years rehabbing from shoulder surgery. That makes every outing critical.

“Having the team made looses you up a little,” Wilson said in so many words.

Jared Burton, the Rule 5 guy, followed Wilson and allowed a run in the fourth. Kirk Saarloos allowed another in the fifth. Saarloos went three innings and allowed just the one run.

The Reds came back with three in the sixth and two in the seventh. Juan Castro drove in two with a double and Bubba Crosby followed with an RBI single in the sixth. Anderson Machado and Chad Moeller doubled in a runs in the seventh.

Wanted to give a blog shout out to Rick Stowe and boys back in the clubhouse in Sarasota. Tim Hellmann, the clubbie who made the long trip, did a fine job of scouting before the game.