"The Reds roll of the dice with Scott Rolen worked out. The third baseman was in the lineup Monday, five days sooner than he would have been if he had gone on the disabled list.

Playing with a 24-man roster really didn't hurt the Reds over the nine games Rolen missed. They were 5-4 in that stretch.

"There were a couple of times but not really," manager Dusty Baker said.

Rolen thought he would wind up on the DL at one point. He was concerned last Thursday after working his hamstring hard on Wednesday. If he had to make a decision at that point, he would have gone on the DL

"I wasn't real optimistic," he said. "I laid off it Thursday. The first day in Houston (Friday) it was better."

Baker and general manager Walt Jocketty gave him the time he needed.

"Dusty and Walt were patient," Rolen said. "If I had made the decision Thursday, I probably would have made the wrong one."

Rolen let everyone know Monday afternoon that he was ready to go.

"He sent word really early," Baker said. "He knows himself better than anybody. The trainer said he's good, moving well. We still have to play it a little safe and cautious. It's good to have him back in there."

"We all agreed that today was the day," Rolen said.

Is the hamstring 100 percent?

"It's almost August," he said. "You could be talking about my shoulder, my hip, my ankle. That's true with anybody in the room."

Rolen said he will have to keep working on the hamstring.

"I have to do some maintenance and pay attention to it a little," he said, "and pay attention to the other one."

Rolen wasn't sure what he was dealing with.

"I hadn't strained it so to speak," he said. "Actually I'm happy. The first couple days I wasn't sure where I was going to be.""