CINCINNATI -- The Reds recalled shortstop José Peraza from Triple-A Louisville prior to Saturday's 11-1 win over the Dodgers at Great American Ball Park and the move paid immediate dividends.
Peraza was immediately placed in the starting lineup, batting second, as Zack Cozart remained out with an Achilles injury. The shortstop went 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored in the Reds' fifth straight win.
Peraza singled and scored in the first, drove in a run with a single in the second and hit a two-run homer in the fourth to back up the one-hit pitching of Brandon Finnegan and do damage against his former organization.
 
"I feel happy. I thank God for this day and I feel real happy to be back and I feel really happy to contribute to the team win," Peraza said through an interpreter. "I feel real happy now knowing that I'm going to have a little more time to play until it stops. I'm just going to do my job and do the best that I can do in order to help the team to win, in order to be better every day."
Right-handed pitcher Keyvius Sampson was optioned to Louisville to make room for Peraza. Cozart has not played since Wednesday against the Marlins.

"I'm not going to want to put [Cozart] on the field for a couple of days with the swelling and soreness," said manager Bryan Price. "I'm not comfortable with what would constitute a three-man bench, so we made the decision to bring up Peraza. When he's here, he's going to get some starts, starts at short. We can obviously move him around to different positions while he's here. He's just here to give us a boost."
This is Peraza's third stint with the Reds this season. The 22-year-old, acquired from the Dodgers last offseason as part of the three-team deal that sent Todd Frazier to the White Sox, has played in 34 games for Cincinnati this season and is hitting .269 with two home runs, 11 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

Sending Sampson down leaves Price with a seven-man bullpen.
"Right now, we're relatively fresh in the bullpen," said Price. "The starting pitching has been a bit more reliable. I don't really feel like we're taking a chance. If we have to make a move to counteract the circumstances, we'll do that."
Worth noting
Left fielder Adam Duvall returned to the starting lineup Saturday night and hit his 28th home run as part of a four-RBI night. He had missed the previous four games after fouling a pitch off his left foot Monday against the Marlins. Duvall leads all MLB left fielders in home runs, RBIs (80) and extra-base hits (54).

"It's good to get whole again, but the thing that everyone is overlooking is the fact that when we plug in [Tony] Renda, [Tyler] Holt, [Ivan] De Jesus, [Ramon] Cabrera they're doing the job," said Price about his bench players. "All of them have been big contributors to a team that's been winning at a higher rate here recently. It's important. It's important to be able to plug in those players and not feel like you're skipping a beat."