Remember when the Reds were making a move in the National League Central?

That appears to be over now.

In their latest loss, veteran hurler Bronson Arroyo got three outs Tuesday. That’s the good news. The bad news: He allowed 11 hits, one walk and 10 runs in Toronto. Ouch.

“I could have probably told them what was coming and done better,” Arroyo told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “They hit some hard. They hit some in the hole. They had good at-bats. I threw a lot of pitches.”

The Enquirer notes that Arroyo’s ERA is 10.07 over his last five starts. He’ has allowed 115 hits in 87 innings this season.

The Reds are willing to give him a fresh start elsewhere, but which team will want to take the remaining two years and $25 million on his contract?

HE’S DUNN WITH THE BLUE JAYS

On another front, Reds slugger Adam Dunn is still miffed at Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi. Dunn still hasn’t heard a personal apology from Ricciardi for insults J.P. spewed while fielding fan questions on his weekly radio show.

Ricciardi told Toronto reporters he spoke to Dunn over the phone, but apparently that was somebody pulling a prank.

“The caller said, ‘Hi, this is Adam Dunn,’” Ricciardi told the Toronto Globe and Mail. “The person said, ‘I’ll see you in Toronto.’ If it’s not him, then it’s some prank. But I don’t know how the person would get my cellular phone number. I mean, I don’t even give it out to you guys [the press].”

(Sounds like J.P. isn’t too discerning. Maybe prankster identifying himself as “John Mozeliak” should call Ricciardi and swing a deal to bring pitcher A.J. Burnett to St. Louis.)

Dunn, meanwhile, expressed further exasperation to the Enquirer.

“I’m so sick and tired of this first and foremost,” Dunn said. “But the real truth is, no, I have not talked to him. Again, I’m not going to go out of my way to get an apology from a guy I don’t know. No, it didn’t happen and I hope this is the last time I have to talk about it.”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Albert Pujols gets that wounded calf muscle good to go:

• Who knew Adam Kennedy could play first base?
• And who knew that Tony La Russa would get so much offense out of committee of middle infielders?
• On the down side, who could have possibly guessed that Mark Mulder would suffer another physical setback?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoSports.com: “Celebrity Rehab has a new list of losers, including Tawny Kitaen, the music video temptress who was charged with spousal abuse of her major league husband. No lie. She was accused of kicking and twisting the ear of Cleveland Indians pitcher Chuck Finley. One way that Kitaen countered Finley’s charges was to fire off a couple of her own, most notably that Finley injected himself with steroids and ‘ragged; that he knew how to ‘get around drug testing within the baseball league.’ Celebrity Rehab nothing — I want Tawny Kitaen subpoenaed by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Roger Clemens‘ Cellblock).”

Jerry Greene, Orlando Sentinel: “Want a clue as to why we’ve lost interest in pro tennis? Here are the home countries of the top five male seeds at Wimbledon: Switzerland, Spain, Serbia, Russia and Spain. Now the top five female seeds: Serbia, Serbia, Russia, Russia, Russia. Case closed.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Cubs and White Sox have been going at it in a possible World Series preview, and Chicagoans couldn’t be happier. Well, maybe if the Bears got rid of Rex Grossman.”

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “Elsewhere in the NFL, the Buffalo district attorney has reached a deal with the Bills’ Marshawn Lynch concerning the accident that involved Lynch’s sport utility vehicle. The running back has agreed to plead guilty to an unspecified charge, and the D.A. has agreed to classify the crime as a bump-and-run.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Does the home run derby invitation committee have the equivalent of golf’s sponsor exemption? If so, dead seriously, let’s get Barry Bonds out of mothballs.”

MEGAPHONE

“We did steroids to get away the aches and the speed of healing. My use of steroids from a doctor was to speed up injury, and thought nothing of it . . . It was to speed up the healing process, that was it. It wasn’t to get bigger and stronger and faster.”

Former quarterback Terry Bradshaw, ratting out the old-time Steelers during a radio chat with Dan Patrick.