Tom Uhlman, Associated Press The Pirates' Humberto Cota pleads his case after he was called out at home on a ground ball by Chris Duffy against the Reds yesterday in Cincinnati. Click photo for larger image. Minor-league report Monday's results INDIANAPOLIS (29-20) beat Buffalo, 2-1. RHP John Van Benschoten (5-3, 2.56) pitched 62/3 shutout innings and allowed three hits. He struck out five and walked four. CF Rajai Davis (.314) went 2 for 4 with a triple and two RBIs. DH Yurendell DeCaster (.327) went 2 for 4. ALTOONA (21-26) won at Bowie, 7-6, in 10 innings. RHP Kip Bouknight (4-2, 3.60) allowed two runs in 7 1/3 innings. 3B Neil Walker (.288) hit his ninth home run -- his third in two games -- and went 3 for 4 with a double, a walk and two RBIs. CF Andrew McCutchen (.223) went 2 for 5 with a double. He had nine hits in the four-game series. LYNCHBURG (25-23) swept a doubleheader with Frederick, 6-3 and 8-1. In the first game, RHP Derek Hankins (6-2, 3.99) allowed three runs in seven innings. In the second game, RHP Jean Garavito (2-1, 2.68) allowed one run in seven innings. For the day, LF James Boone (.322) hit his eighth home run and went 2 for 7 with five RBIs. HICKORY (20-28) lost to Asheville, 15-3. RHP Jeff Sues (0-1, 24.30) the Pirates' fifth-round draft pick in 2005 making his professional debut after elbow surgery, allowed nine runs in 3 1/3 innings. SS Angel Gonzalez (.283) went 2 for 5.

CINCINNATI -- Former Pirate Dave Clark had an eerie sense of deja vu last night when he watched the replay of Ryan Freel's collision with Norris Hopper.

Clark, playing right field, and center fielder Jacob Brumfield collided violently in the fifth inning July 25, 1995, as Brumfield caught a drive hit by Atlanta's Jeff Blauser in right-center field at Three Rivers Stadium.

"I remember the crack when we hit," Clark said yesterday. "It sounded like a cannon."

It was much like the collision yesterday between Freel and Hopper. Freel snared a line drive hit by Humberto Cota in the third inning, hit Hopper and fell hard to the warning track at the wall.

Clark also hit the wall that day in Three Rivers but did not fall hard to the track.

"If I hadn't been sweating, I would have broken my neck," said Clark, who manages Class AA Corpus Christi in the Houston Astros' minor-league system. "My head hit the wall and, because I was wet, I just kind of slid down the wall. If I'd been dry, I would have hit the track hard."

Clark sustained a fractured clavicle, a deep contusion on his chin and a serious neck injury.

"I was knocked out. I remember waking up and [manager Jim] Leyland was looking down at me and [second baseman Carlos] Garcia was crying. I thought, 'This must have been ugly.'

"I saw a tape of it later -- and it was ugly."

Clark missed 7¹/₂ weeks.

Keeping the order

It seems manager Jim Tracy will stick with Jose Bautista and Chris Duffy -- in that order -- at the top of the lineup.

"There are a lot of things that would be very intriguing about Jose Bautista as a leadoff hitter if he had base-stealing speed," Tracy said. "He doesn't. But he certainly knows what a strike looks like and what a ball looks like. He gets on base [a .351 on-base percentage through Sunday]. That's very intriguing.

"The guy who's hitting second right now [Duffy] obviously profiles big-time as a leadoff hitter, [but] has flourished hitting second for whatever reason. Something's different. He seems to be much more at ease."

Doumit pinch-hits

Ryan Doumit, out since Friday night after being hit in the head by Ryan Freel's bat, pinch-hit yesterday -- popping to third in the eighth inning -- and likely will return to the lineup tomorrow night against San Diego right-hander Chris Young. He will be available to pinch-hit tonight when left-hander David Wells starts for the Padres.

Wells, owner of 232 lifetime victories, has yielded only 12 hits, two walks and two runs in 15 innings in his past two starts.

Reds make a move

The Reds made a roster move yesterday because they needed a fresh arm in their bullpen after the brief start Sunday by Kirk Saarloos. He didn't get an out in the first inning and was sent to Class AAA Louisville.

Left-hander Bobby Livingston, a starter who was 0-3 with a 3.88 earned run average in nine games, joined the Reds.

Buried treasure

The Pirates have signed right-handed pitcher Devin Copley, their 43rd-round pick in the amateur draft last June. Copley, 6 feet 3, 220 pounds, attended Gulf Coast Community College.

Freddy Sanchez is hitting .330 in his past 27 games and looking a lot like the guy who won the National League batting championship last season. "When he's right, you constantly see the barrel of the bat on the same plane as the ball," Tracy said. "Some guys wait for the ball to get on the same plane as the barrel of the bat. Freddy takes the barrel of the bat to the ball. That's a gift."

The Reds were outscored, 17-1, in the first innings of their seven-game homestand. They have been outscored, 50-23, in the first inning this season.

San Diego right fielder Brian Giles, the former Pirates outfielder, is on the disabled list because of a bruised right knee.

The Padres, who swept a three-game series against Milwaukee over the weekend, have won 10 of their past 13 games.