Hairston has proven himself a worthwhile pickup down the stretch, batting .323 with a pair of homers and eight RBIs over his last nine games.

It's been a very chilly stretch for Hairston, who entered the contest batting just .176 through 17 at-bats this month after having posted an equally unsettling .188 mark in August. Still, the versatile veteran owns a stellar .326 clip in 71 games this season, so he's certainly capable of turning things around over the season's final two weeks.

Hairston normally isn't much of a home run threat -- this blast was his third -- but he's proven to be a fine contributor when healthy. With the way he's swung the bat all season, Hariston should deliver a few more big games before September is finished.

Hairston had been out since Aug. 20 with a strained right hamstring. But his saga with that injury goes back much further. In fact, the 32-year-old first pulled his hamstring on July 13 vs. the Brewers at Miller Park. He's had two trips to the DL for the same injury. Hairston was not in manager Dusty Baker's starting lineup on Monday vs. Milwaukee. "We'll try to break him in slow. He hasn't been on the field for a long time," Baker said. In 63 games for the Reds, Hairston entered Monday batting .338 with two homers, 22 RBIs and 15 steals.