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Message #: 30737
Cincy's highly talented but massively underachieving offense showed up for this series in a big way (55 hits, 97 total bases) and should have swept it. But since our pitching staff decided to pick up the massive underachievement banner the Buccos had plenty of chances too -- and could easily have won more than once.... Game 1: The Reds assaulted Pittsburgh starter Zane Smith, building leads of 7-1 (in the 3rd) and 11-3 (in the 6th). Game over, right? Hardly. The 18 hits and 32 total bases we accumulated almost weren't enough as John Roper gave up 5 late runs to go with the 3 early runs he allowed. Then Jeff Brantley arrived for the requisite bottom-of-the-ninth disaster, creating a difficult problem (walk, single, walk, single) before solving it by fanning Merced with 2 outs and the tying run in scoring position to preserve the 11-9 win after an 8-run lead was nearly entirely blown. Seldom-used Jerome Walton had 4 hits for the visitors, and catcher Lenny Webster had 4 RBI to go along with his 5th home run of the season. Seven of the 9 Pirate runs scored after 2 were out in an inning. ==================================================================== Game 2: The only game of the series without a patented Cincinnati monster choke, Tim Pugh pitched and hit his way to his first win of 1994. Pugh went 3 for 5 at the plate with a double, 2 runs scored and an RBI, but he fatigued in the 9th and turned a 10-2 lead into a 10-4 final. Pugh successfully scattered 13 hits in 8+ innings, while PIN starter Jon Lieber was vanquished in the 6th during the Reds' second consecutive 4-run inning. Underachieving Jeff Branson got an infrequent start, and he responded with a double & his 4th home run. ==================================================================== Game 3: Luckless Jose Rijo had another unimpressive outing, well below the level of his card, giving up 3 immediate runs to the Pirates before the offense responded and gave him a 5-3 lead. That frisky Cincy offense wound up with a massive 26-16 advantage in total bases, so naturally the game went right down to the wire. For the third straight day, the Reds simply couldn't close the door and had to flirt with disaster in the dreaded bottom of the ninth. But Rijo hung in there and completed his 160-pitch "masterpiece" (11 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks) and finally staggered into the clubhouse with an 8-5 win. The Reds banged out a plethora of XBH (7 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer) led by scrub infielder Mark Lewis. Lewis went 4 for 5 with 4 RBI, a pair of doubles and home run #2 of 1994. ==================================================================== Game 4: Trying to avoid another too-close-for-comfort ending, the Reds blitzed Denny Neagle for 4 runs before he could even retire a batter, then made the score 5-0 on Barry Larkin's solo homer in the 2nd. John Smiley was on the mound for the Reds, and he *had* been pitching better lately (5-1 in his last 7 starts) but sadly he reverted to luckless form today. The 5-0 lead became a 5-5 tie after 2 innings were complete. A critical blown-x in the middle of that surgical frame caused the final 4 runs to eventually exist. The Cincy offense was still in rare form, quickly responding again by loading the bases with 1 out, but then reverted to more common form by failing to score. After an unusually lengthy string of zeroes went up on the scoreboard for both teams, the Pirates sealed the Reds defeat when Smiley choked up a 2-run gopher in the 7th, and was finally yanked so that Todd Jones could enter and groove up a gopher to the first batter he faced. Final score: Reds choke away a 5-run lead, lose 8-5. After the first inning we pretty much stopped getting baserunners and certainly stopped hitting when we happened to get anyone aboard (0 for 6). Alan |
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