MARYVALE, Ariz. -- When it comes to control, Edinson Volquez was completely out of control Sunday afternoon in Maryvale Baseball Park.
Facing the Milwaukee Brewers, the team he is scheduled to face on Opening Day, the 27-year-old right-hander took a walk in the park Sunday. Well, actually, it was the Brewers taking the walks -- 11 of them.
Volquez, scheduled to throw 80 pitches, was removed with one out in the bottom of the third after he gave up a single and walked four batters during Milwaukee's five-run inning in a game the Reds eventually won 9-8.
Volquez walked both Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder on 3-2 counts with the bases loaded to force in two runs after he had been given a 4-0 lead.
His pitching line looked as if it had been whipped with an ugly stick -- 2-1/3 innings, five runs (all earned), five walks and three strikeouts.
If the Brewers had anything to fear on March 31, they don't have it now based on what Volquez did on a gray, overcast day. But all the ugliness was in the third inning.
"It was no big deal, it was my mechanics in the third inning," Volquez said. "I was good the first two innings, but I was jumping off the rubber, rushing too much, in that third inning. Nothing big. I talked to (pitching coach) Bryan Price before I went to the bullpen after I threw. It was nothing but mechanics."
That was to alleviate any concerns about pain or physical problems.
Volquez went to the bullpen to throw an additional 15 pitches to get to the 80 he was scheduled to throw.
Manager Dusty Baker agreed with Volquez' assessment he had two good innings and one horrible one.
"Just one inning," Baker said. "Everything was great, and then he got behind on Craig Counsell and walked him (to fill the bases) and then you know he is in trouble with those next guys (Braun, Fielder).
"We wanted him to get to his 80-pitch count, but he had 35 pitches in the third inning and we didn't want to get them all in that one inning," said Baker.
Baker was asked before the game how Volquez might be affected facing a team Sunday he must try to get out on Opening Day.
"He ain't no secret," Baker said. "It is not like he is some secret weapon they don't know anything about. It is not like we have some trick football plays that we are going to save for the fourth quarter -- end-around flea flicker with the quarterback going deep.
"What do you do? You have to get him ready. It was his turn to pitch today. You face who you face."
Baker quickly turned it around -- and it makes sense.
"There is a possibility it goes both ways," he said. "He is learning who is swinging good and who is not on the Brewers, too. He'll pick up some things, too."
Despite his wobbly third inning, Volquez smiled when asked about facing the Brewers and said, "It was good for me. I have a better idea now of what they are looking for. That'll be good."
It isn't often a team gives up 11 walks and wins. But the Reds did.
The Reds trailed when Todd Frazier hit a three-run homer in the fourth to give them a 7-5 lead.
But Dontrelle Willis walked two, then George Kottaras hit a three-run home run in the fifth for an 8-7 Milwaukee advantage.
"Willis made that one bad pitch (to Kottaras) on a breaking ball. But, again, what got him in trouble were the walks. That shows that when you are facing a good offensive lineup you want them to earn their way on, not get on with walks."
Chris Heisey tied it in the seventh with his fourth homer of the spring, a solo shot. And he came to bat in the ninth needing only a double to hit for the cycle, an extremely rare event in spring training because players don't usually bat four times. On a 3-2 count, he took a called third strike.
Catcher Devin Mesoraco's eighth-inning single broke the tie and gave the Reds the victory.
Pitcher Aroldis Chapman, who never batted while playing in Cuba or in the minors, was scheduled to bat after he pitched one inning.
Baker asked him, "Do you want to bat?" Chapman said he didn't, but Baker sent him up anyway and he banged an opposite-field single.
CUETO DOUBTFUL: It is extremely unlikely that pain-ridden pitcher Johnny Cueto will be able to make his first turn in the rotation once the season begins.
Time is ticking and about to run out. Cueto is back in Cincinnati to have his sore biceps examined by team physician Tim Kremchek.
The extent of his problem is unknown for now, but the team says there is no problem in his elbow or shoulder, so Tommy John surgery and rotator cuff surgery are not being discussed.
"We don't know and we won't know until he sees the doctor back in Cincinnati," said Baker. "Johnny says his elbow feels good, his shoulder feels good. It is just a spot in the muscle, in the biceps."
Cueto left for Cincinnati and an appointment with Kremchek on Sunday morning. Baker said, "I saw him before he left and we just pray he's OK, that's all. It will set him back some, of course. At this point, you don't want a setback, but you'll take a setback vs. something worse.
"Fortunately for us, you know your pitching depth is going to come to the forefront sooner or later. You don't want it to come this soon.We are fortunate to have a Mike Leake and Matt Maloney and Dontrelle Willis and Sam LeCure."
Baker said it is unlikely Cueto can be ready for his first turn through the rotation after Opening Day, "but Bobby Welch won (211) games in his career and we left him back in camp about five years in a row. He always had some bone chips and we had to leave him in camp every year."
