"The Reds have turned to Brandon Phillips in their search for a leadoff hitter.

Reds manager Dusty Baker flip-flopped Orlando Cabrera and Phillips in the lineup.

Is it temporary?

"Almost everything is temporary, except Joey Votto hitting third," Baker said.

Cabrera went into Friday's game against the Cleveland Indians hitless in his last 10 at-bats and 8-for-his-last-80 (.133).

"At-bats are piling up for Cabrera," Baker said. "Get him some non-at-bats, some sac bunts, hit and runs, to take some pressure off him."

"It's like when (Drew) Stubbs was struggling earlier in the year. You're 0-for-5 while everybody else is 0-for-4."

Cabrera was 7-for-18 off Cleveland's starter, Aaron Laffey, entering Friday.

"When you're not going good, track record doesn't mean anything," Baker said. "He had a good track record against guys on the road trip, too. When you're not going good, these things pile up quickly."

Cabrera's slump started when he sprained his ankle in early June.

"He says it's not affecting him much on the field," Baker said. "He refuses to say his ankle is affecting him at the plate. I can see it on some swings."

The Reds don't have a prototypical leadoff guy.

"You do what you can do," Baker said. "I've often said that's the toughest position to fill in baseball - a bona fide leadoff hitter."

". . . The Jimmy Rollins type. How many of those guys are around?"

Newly signed Gary Matthews Jr. has leadoff experience.

"He's got to get his act together first," Baker said. "How are you going to do that without getting your act together? Matthews is going to Triple-A to get his act together.

"If he had his act together, he'd be playing somewhere and probably leading off."

Phillips is hot. He's hitting .398 over his last 24 games. But he's too much of a free swinger for the leadoff spot.

"It's hard to make somebody something," Baker said. "As a manager, you're at the mercy of the personnel you have.""