C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

Reds manager Bryan Price is sticking by J.J. Hoover.

The Reds reliever gave up three more runs in his two innings in Saturday's 11-2 loss to the Rockies. He gave up back-to-back homers to Corey Dickerson and Troy Tulowitzki in the sixth inning, but did bounce back to pitch a 1-2-3 seventh against the bottom of the Rockies' order.

Hoover now has a 10.03 ERA in 13 appearances, spanning 11 2/3 innings. He's given up 13 runs and 10 walks this season.

"The thing is, before these last two outings he was stellar for the previous three or four," Price said. "This game's tough mentally. ... You see how success can run in spurts at times. We stuck with him last year when we started off slowly and it paid dividends for us, because he ended up being one of our most reliable relief pitchers for the last five months of the season. I haven't lost faith in him. I certainly want to give him some of those opportunities to pitch and get into a groove and get back to being that reliable guy that he's been here since we've had him."

Hoover was the loser in the Reds' loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday, but had two scoreless appearances before that, including 1 1/3 innings against the Red Sox on Tuesday. He threw two scoreless against the Cubs before that.

Last season, Hoover had a 7.94 ERA through his first six games and after whittling that down in May and June, was at 5.40 through 28 games on June 9, culminating in allowing six runs in an extra-inning loss to the Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball. In his next putting, against the Cubs on June 13, he threw a scoreless inning, beginning a streak of 23 appearances and 26 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. His 23 straight games without allowing a run was a team record for a right-handed pitcher.

From June 13 to the end of the season, he appeared in 41 games and allowed just five runs, good for a 1.14 ERA over 39 1/3 innings.

Price said he's confident that Hoover can return.

"I know it's tough, it's tough for anyone when you struggle," Price said. "We think very highly of Hoov here and he'll get his opportunities to pitch."