"Edinson Volquez got tired during his first outing of the spring. Not his arm, that was fine. But it's amazing Volquez didn't nod off in the dugout after his recent schedule.

Volquez, the scheduled Opening Day starter, went 21/3 innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits in Thursday's 7-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants. He walked two and struck out two. He threw 60 pitches. It was his first outing of the spring because of visa problems that forced him to return to the Dominican Republic.

"I got a little tired," he said. "My arm felt strong. But my body got a little tired."

Volquez spent Wednesday traveling. He left the Dominican at 7:30 a.m., flew to New York, and then caught a flight to Phoenix that arrived at 10:30 p.m.

"I was happy to be on the mound again," he said.

In order to get on the mound. Volquez had to deal with a dose of government bureaucracy in his quest to obtain his work visa. He flew to the Dominican Sunday night for his appointment on Monday morning.

Monday, he went to the U.S. Consulate.

"They said my visa wasn't ready, so I left my passport," Volquez said.

Finally, the call came Wednesday that the visa was ready.

"I was worried bad," he said. "I was like, 'I can't wait anymore, I've got to get back to Arizona.' "

Volquez's visa was held up because he failed a drug test for performance-enhancing drugs and was suspended for 50 games last year. Volquez took and passed two drug tests - one by Major League Baseball, the other by the consulate - before leaving the Dominican the first time on Feb. 16. He's passed two more since arriving in camp.

Volquez will start a minor league game Tuesday, an off day for the Reds. He'll get two more starts leading into Opening Day after that."