CINCINNATI - When it came time to pick a replacement foroutfielder Alex Ochoa, the Cincinnati Reds went with a proven firstbaseman. D.T. Cromer, the club's biggest surprise in April, wasrecalled from Class AAA Louisville on Thursday to fill in whileOchoa recuperates from an appendectomy.
Cromer got his first chance to play in the majors when firstbaseman Sean Casey broke his thumb in the final spring traininggame. Cromer made a lasting impression by hitting .429 through April19.
When the Reds sent him down and activated Casey, they told Cromerthat he'd be back. He took them at their word.
"I was just trying to stay sharp in case the opportunity came upagain," Cromer said.
He did just that. Cromer was batting .303 with 10 homers forLouisville when Ochoa had to go to the hospital Wednesday evening tohave his appendix removed, sidelining him for two or three weeks.
Cromer, 29, had never made it to the Majors before last April.Having success in his first call-up made it easier for him to goback down.
"You know you've finally made it here," he said. "I took theapproach to keep working hard. I had success here, but it was for ashort period of time."
That success was one of the reasons the Reds decided to bring himback up, even though he has limited experience in the outfield thelast two years.
"He gives us a little sock off the bench, which is what we needright now," McKeon said.
Cromer pinch hit and flew out in the sixth inning of a 9-7 lossto Montreal on Thursday night.
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