Choo is day to day with left ankle sprain

SAN DIEGO -- One day after a scheduled day off, Reds center fielder Shin-Soo Choo needed an unscheduled one and was out of the starting lineup for Monday night's series opener vs. the Padres because of a minor sprain of his left ankle.

Choo pinch-hit for Tony Cingrani in the eighth inning of Sunday's 1-0, 11-inning loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles. He was hit by a pitch and stole second base but jammed his ankle with a late slide into the bag.

"It's not that bad. I talked to Dusty and we didn't want to make it worse," Choo said on Monday.

Choo was going to get his sore ankle taped and test it to see if he could be available to pinch-hit. As he did on Sunday, Derrick Robinson led off and played center field in Choo's place.

"It was an awkward slide," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "I saw him when he got up, he was twisting his ankle. I didn't know how badly he had done it. He is day to day."