from the Louisville Courier-Journal...

Homer Bailey gave fans 15 reasons to believe he's busted his early-season slump.

Bailey tied a team mark with 15 strikeouts in the Louisville Bats' 10-3 win over the Toledo Mud Hens before 5,551 fans.

The right-hander lost a battle with Micah Owings to become the Cincinnati Reds' fifth starter out of spring training and gave up eight earned runs in the Bats' season opener.

After getting no more than five strikeouts in his first three starts, Bailey matched the Louisville franchise record set by Ken Hill on May 10, 1990, against Indianapolis and also set a Fifth Third Field mark.

Bailey, the Reds' top prospect before breaking into the majors in 2007, worked 61/3 innings, getting all but four of his outs with strikeouts. He gave up four hits, two walks and two runs, though one of the runs scored after Bailey gave way to Ben Jukich in the seventh.

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