Ga. native Phillips contributes after being sick

ATLANTA -- Homecomings are supposed to be more like Friday night than Thursday.

In Thursday night's series opener between the Reds and Braves at Turner Field, Reds second baseman Brandon Philips was nowhere to be found, downed by a vicious bout of food poisoning.

"I ate on the plane," recalled Phillips, who starred at Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Ga., about 30 minutes outside of Atlanta. "When I got home, I stopped at my parents' house, and right when I got to the house, I said, 'Mama, my stomach hurts. Something ain't right,' and then I let her have it."

Some homecooking must have done the trick, because on Friday, Phillips let the Braves have it. He went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two stolen bases in the Reds' 4-3 loss. It was his seventh multi-hit game of the season -- the third time he had back-to-back multi-hit games -- and his third multi-RBI game and second in three games. The steals were his first two of the season.

"He had something that ran through him pretty good, beat him up, but he came back swinging the bat well, played well defensively and stole two bases," said Reds manager Bryan Price. "So he didn't look like he was limited in any way."

Phillips played a part in all of his team's runs on Friday, as he punched a two-run single to short center in the first inning, and singled to center in the fourth, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball, then came home on a sacrifice fly by pitcher Anthony DeSclafani.

Video: CIN@ATL: DeSclafani pads lead with sacrifice fly

While he performed well, he wasn't feeling too well after the game -- because of the result.

"I was happy just to be playing regardless of how I swung the bat, just being able to be back in the lineup," he said. "But we didn't get the 'W,' and if you don't win, then you lose. That's just how I look at it."