Reds pitcher Cingrani back to DL for Bats

It's back to square one for Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tony Cingrani, who starred for the Louisville Bats before an unsuccessful outing in the majors last month.

Cingrani went to the seven-day disabled list on Sunday, retroactive to Thursday, for a right (non-throwing) shoulder strain. It's the same sort of injury that put the Reds hurler on the mend in June, then led to his rehab assignments with the Triple-A Bats.

The 26-year-old went nine shutout innings in three appearances with the Bats before his call up to the Reds as a starter for the first time this season. Capping a day-night doubleheader July 22 against the Chicago Cubs, however, he made it through just 2.2 innings while giving up five runs.

Previously expected to join the Reds' rotation following that start -- he came out of the bullpen to open the year -- Cingrani instead returned to Triple-A. The Reds promoted David Holmberg to take traded ace Johnny Cueto's spot in the majors, and another former Bat, Keyvius Sampson, pitched Sunday with Mike Leake traded.

Cignrani's 3-0 in his six starts with the Bats this season, sporting a 1.15 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 31.1 innings.

In other transactions news, the Reds on Monday promoted infielder Juan Perez and right-handed pitcher Josh Smith to Louisville from Double-A Pensacola. Perez is .26 in 93 games and Smith, who has played at Triple-A before, is 5-4 with a 3.05 ERA in nine games for the Blue Wahoos.