Phillies Notes: Asche finally gets busy in left

During Cody Asche's first weekend as a major-league leftfielder, the Colorado Rockies hit only three line drives and fly balls his way.

Several other hits flew well over his head and into the Citizens Bank Park seats.

But on Tuesday night the Cincinnati Reds kept Asche plenty busy at his new position. The converted third baseman appeared comfortable while hauling in five balls hit toward him in the Phillies' 5-4 win, none more important than a Brandon Phillips fly out at the wall to end the sixth inning, stranding two runners in scoring position.

Save for one miscommunication with centerfielder Odubel Herrera on a fly ball to left-center, it's so far, so good for Asche in the outfield.

"I think every game's a test right now for me. Every play. Every ball. That's kind of the way I approach it," he said. "Just go out there and play hard every inning, stay focused, know what you need to do before the pitch is thrown, stuff like that."

While continuing to adjust to left field, Asche has been swinging a solid bat. He entered Wednesday night's game having tallied five hits in his first 15 at-bats since rejoining the Phillies.

"I'm feeling comfortable," he said. "I went through a bad stretch there at the end of April, early May. [I was] just kind of out of whack. I think going down there [to triple A] for sure helped a little bit swing-wise, just to be back to being comfortable, slowing myself down a little bit."

The Sean O'Sullivan change-up that fractured Marlon Byrd's right wrist in the sixth inning Tuesday night landed the former Phillies outfielder on the disabled list. Byrd was hitting just .212 in his first 47 games with Cincinnati but had hit 10 home runs and driven in 25 runs.

Byrd's replacement for the Reds goes by a name familiar to Phillies fans. Cincinnati promoted 28-year-old infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr. from triple-A Louisville. His father, of course, is the same Ivan De Jesus the Phillies acquired in the infamous 1982 trade that sent Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg to the Chicago Cubs.

"Nah, I don't think about that at all," De Jesus said of the connection. "But it's funny, it's not the first time that I've come here. Actually, it's my third time that I've come here [as a player]. It's fun. I know Larry Bowa from a couple years ago when I played with the Dodgers."

With the slumping Freddy Galvis dropping to seventh in the lineup Wednesday, Jeff Francoeur batted second for just the third time in his 11-year major-league career. Odubel Herrera led off after 14 consecutive starts batting seventh.

- Jake Kaplan