Dusty's watching

Dusty Baker strolled up behind the batting cage Thursday morning and said: “Let’s see how many hits you can get. If you can’t get a hit in practice, you ain’t going to get any in the game."

Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Juan Castro and Paul Bako were in the group hitting. The intensity of the session picked up. It was Baker’s way of saying: I’m watching.

For the record, Bruce went 3-for-5, Votto and Castro 2-for-5 and Bako 0-for-5. Baker was arbiter. Bruce last hit was home run that just missed the foul pole.

Bako, by the way, asked hitting coach Brook Jacoby to work with him in cage after BP.