It was in a mid-March Grapefruit League game that the 24-year-old righthander stymied the team's hitters for five innings, holding them scoreless and allowing just three hits in five innings. That performance, along with several others throughout the course of the spring, helped convince the Reds to give Volquez a spot in their rotation.

Three weeks later, the Phillies still hadn't figured out a solution.

"It's basically the same thing," manager Charlie Manuel said after Volquez held the Phillies to one run on five hits in 5 1/3 innings while striking out eight en route to an 8-2 victory. "He's got a good changeup for a young guy that can throw the ball 96, 97 miles an hour."

With Bronson Arroyo on the mound today and 22-year-old Johnny Cueto's dominant debut earlier last week, the city of Cincinnati was buzzing about the potential of a suddenly top-heavy rotation.

The Phillies, meanwhile, were left to ponder their pitching predicament. Righthander Brett Myers failed to get beyond the fifth inning for the second straight start, allowing four runs on eight hits in five innings

The Reds then put the game away in the sixth, scoring four runs on four hits off reliever Clay Condrey.

"It kind of snowballed on us there," Manuel said.

After Ken Griffey, Jr. gave the Reds a 2-0 lead on a monstrous home run in the bottom of the first inning, Volquez struck out four of the next six Phillies batters, including Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino in the third inning.

Victorino had a particularly frustrating day, striking out twice before an apparent eighth-inning infield single was nullified because home plate umpire Mike Winters ruled he interfered with the throw from pitcher Mike Lincoln by running inside the baseline.

"I haven't seen that call that much, really," Manuel said.

Victorino finished 0-for-4 to fall to 3-for-23 for the season. After the loss, he spent some time taking extra batting practice.

"It's definitely frustrating," Victorino said. "You seem like you can get an easy one and then not get it. There's a few things that I feel like I'm not there yet. You go out there and you just keep battling. You stick with it and try to stay positive."

By the time the Phillies scored their first run on an RBI groundout by Rollins in the fifth, the Reds already had scored four. Cincinnati shortstop Jeff Keppinger hit a solo home run in the third, and Corey Patterson drove in Paul Bako with a double in the fourth.

Still, the Phillies were only down 4-1 when Manuel replaced Myers with Condrey to start the sixth. Myers, who had worked his way out of a one-out, bases loaded jam in the fifth, wanted to stay in for one more inning, and said he was frustrated he wasn't given the opportunity. But Manuel went with Condrey, who allowed the first six batters he faced to reach base.

Even if Myers had remained in the game, Volquez and the Reds' bullpen were dominant enough to win by themselves. Six Phillies starters struck out at least once. Victorino, Ryan Howard, Geoff Jenkins and Pedro Feliz all struck out twice. With men on first and second in the fourth, Volquez struck out Feliz to end the inning. The young righthander recorded two strikeouts each in the second, third and fourth innings.

"The kid's got good stuff," Jenkins said.

Chase Utley and Pat Burrell, both hitting over .400, combined for four of the Phillies' seven hits. Utley hit a double in the eighth and was eventually driven in on a single by Burrell for the team's second run.

But when new closer Brad Lidge saw his first regular-season action with the Phillies, pitching a perfect eighth, the team was nowhere near a save situation.

Now, the Phillies will hope to salvage a series split today before heading to New York for three games with the Mets.

"We definitely want to get a split, get that win tomorrow and take a good feeling into New York," Jenkins said. *

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.