By Mark Sheldon

Brandon Phillips won the game for the Reds, with a seventh-inning solo homer in a 7–6 win over the Padres. But it wasn’t all good news for Phillips, who left the game with a strained left calf — the same one that cramped up on him in Colorado Sunday. The club announced it was a mild strain, but Phillips revealed it was more serious

“The calf is no bueno right now,” Phillips said. “I tried to play [Monday] because the win streak was gorgeous and I wanted to keep it going, so I tried to man up and go out there and play. I hurt it [Monday] just playing, period. The thing is, when I hit, I’m always on my toe and it tightens the calf up a little bit. It just wasn’t feeling good. I hurt it in the first inning. [Marquis] threw me an inside pitch, and I turned and and my front foot didn’t turn all the way. It’s kind of hard for me to pivot on my front left leg when it comes to hitting. The next thing you know, I aggravated it again on the double play.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not going to be playing for a while. Dr. [Kremchek, Medical Director] looked at it and he said it was worse than what they expected. I didn’t know. I just knew it felt bad. I just feel like I let people down, especially because we’re in first place and the race is real close. You already have one person out, so I don’t want to be the person coming out. It just really [stinks].”

Coupled with the loss of Joey Votto, this is a very big blow. The Reds have played great without Votto. Can they keep it up without Votto and Phillips?

Click here for more on Phillips and Devin Mesoraco, who left the game with dizziness.

Click here for the game story on MLB.com.

The Three Stars:

№3 stars: Sam LeCure/Sean Marshall… LeCure: 2 1/3 ip, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K…Marshall 2 ip, 2 K. After Homer Bailey blew a 6–0 lead in the fourth, it was LeCure who stopped the San Diego momentum. It was huge as was Marshall, who got the win with two perfect innings in the seventh and eighth.

“It’s what you don’t want two days in a row and an already depleted bullpen,” Dusty Baker said of using his already taxed bullpen again. “I called on some guys to overextend some but you’ve got to do that to win. Sam LeCure did a great job. He got us through those innings.”

№2 star: Ryan Ludwick — 2-for-3, HR, 4 RBIs. Ludwick hit a two-out RBI single in the first inning and a three-run home run in the third inning. He is batting .356 with five homers and 16 RBIs in his last 14 games.

“He’s got that swag back. He’s feeling it,” Baker said. “He’s swinging the bat great for us. You have to have somebody hot in there, hopefully in the middle of the lineup.”

№1 star: Brandon Phillips — 2-for-4, game-winning HR.

“It was funny, because Dusty was like, ‘Hey B, if they keeps turning out the way it is, I’m going to take you out early,” Phillips said. “Next thing you know he’s like, ‘Hey B, just go out there and hit a home run, you don’t have to worry about running the bases. I’m going to take you out if you hit a double or a single.’ I said, ‘Alright, I’ll see what I can do.’ Next thing you know I end up hitting a home run and I just looked at him and just smiled. I think that’s the first time I smiled all day. I’m just glad I could go out there and tough it out and try to be a hero.”