Leake's awful start for Reds continues

Mike Leake continues to struggle mightily.

He fell to 0-5 on the year, and his ERA rose to 7.71 in the Reds' 7-3 loss to the Washington Nationals on Friday night. He went only three innings and allowed six runs on seven hits, including two home runs.

"We're all concerned," manager Dusty Baker said. "We've been concerned. As far as we know, he's healthy. He's just not getting ahead of anybody."

Leake has only two quality starts in six outings. He showed signs of coming around in his previous start, going seven innings and allowing three runs on four hits in a 3-2 loss in the Pittsburgh.

But Friday was a disaster from the start. He gave up three runs in the first before recording an out.

"I'm just not getting the job done," Leake said. "I'm missing spots. I've got to figure it out."

The Reds have a stretch of 20 games in 20 days, so skipping Leake is not an option. The Reds have veteran Jeff Francis at Triple-A. He's 2-4 with 4.15 ERA for Louisville.