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Message #: 31100
In a series being played online, the Cincinnati Reds amassed a 7-1 advantage in home runs in easy San Diego Stadium and have taken a 2 games to 0 lead in the best-of-5 series which resumes later today. Cincy's righthanded batters were especially pleased to notice the 1-20 BPHR chance -- meaning that even one of our typical split cards couldn't rob them of a home run.... Game 1: Kevin Gross vs. Andy Ashby and neither was particularly sharp, especially Cincy ace Gross. The Reds struck quickly for 3 runs, amazingly without any help from the ballpark. Bret Boone opened the series with a single and was wild pitched to second, where he scored two batters later on Hal Morris' single. Derek '4' Bell in CF for the Padres made a spectacular play to rob Reggie Sanders of a hit leading off the second inning, but with 2 outs #8 hitter Lenny Webster was hit by an Ashby pitch and Gross followed with a liner to Bell which he misplayed into an RBI double and allowed Gross to circle the bases in the process. So the Reds had a 3-0 lead, but it turned out that Bell knew exactly what he was doing. Gross' 360-foot sprint had a very adverse effect on his pitching. He started off the SDN 2nd with a free pass to David Segui and up came Bell -- who immediately found the first of many BPHRs in the series and the 3-0 lead became 3-2 just that quickly. Ashby began setting down the Reds without incident, and Gross didn't even get through the 3rd inning before completing the choke on back-to-back-to-back doubles -- each of them coming after 2 were out and nobody on base -- and the 3-0 lead became a 4-3 deficit just that quickly. Boone erased the deficit with a solo homer in the CIN 5th and the score remained tied at 4 as both starting pitchers exited the contest. Facing his second batter of the day, Padre reliever Steve Bedrosian plunked Hal Morris and with 2 outs Felix Jose delivered the home run which gave the visitors a 6-4 lead. Jeff Brantley held the Pads scoreless for 2 innings and became the pitcher of record following Jose's blast, and Todd Jones earned the save after a heart-attack ninth (nothing's ever easy for the Reds) when he put the tying runs on base after getting the first two outs. Brad Ausmus singled and dangerous pinch hitter Eddie Williams rolled his loaded 3 column but was limited to a walk. Jones struck out Bip Roberts on 4 pitches to end the 6-4 victory. ======================================================================= Game 2: Jose Rijo vs. Andy Benes and the wind was really blowing out today, but most of the time it seemed to be doing so only when the Reds were batting. Three pitches into the game Boone launched his second home run of the series and a 2-out error kept the inning alive for Reggie Sanders to make it 3-0 via his home run. Roberts opened the San Diego portion of the game with a double again today, but this time there was no scoring as Rijo retired the side after nailing Tony Gwynn with a pitch, perhaps as a result of the 2 beanballs Cincy batters absorbed in the opener. There was more of that to come, as things eventually got a bit nasty.... In the CIN 2nd the Reds extended the lead to 5-0 on back-to-back automatic BPHRs by Boone and Larkin on identical rolls on Benes' card. In the 4th, Boone tried for HR #3 of the game, but after being decked by a Benes fastball he grounded out then had some words for the 6'6, 240-pound Benes on the the way back to the dugout. Benes continued to lose his cool, walking Larkin on 4 pitches, tossing one to the backstop after Morris had singled Larkin to second, then with the count in his favor Mitchell lined a single to left which made the score 6-0. The San Diego offense finally came to life moments later when they got 2 runners into scoring position with 2 outs and Benes due up. With everyone in the house expecting a pinch hitter, the crowd was aghast when the San Diego manager sent the light-hitting pitcher up to bat. The boos turned to cheers when Benes delivered a base hit that was good for 2 RBI (nothing's ever easy for the Reds). Benes regained his cool on the mound as well, putting down the Reds in order in the 5th. But Rijo settled down too and did the same to the Padres and the contest stayed at a dangerously close 6-2 score after 5 innings. But Benes' regained cool turned out to be quite temporary. After Rijo looked at 3 pitches then sat down to open the CIN 6th, up stepped Boone and this time Benes didn't miss him. The benches began to empty as Boone walked slowly to first base but order was restored after both managers were warned. One out later Morris singled Boone to third and hometown boy Kevin Mitchell was allowed to roll in his mega-loaded 2 column at last. Out went the baseball and the Reds had broken it open to a 9-2 lead. Benes was permitted to complete the inning with no further theatrics but when he gave up a leadoff single in the 7th he was pulled from the mound at last. Cincy scored a couple of times in that frame, Rijo gave both of those runs back, and the final score was 11-4. Ausmus gophered one leading off the Padre 9th, and Rijo was deprived of a complete game when he allowed a 2-out single and Paul Gibson was summoned to protect the 7-run lead against lefty batter Gwynn, who lined out. The series resumes in Cincinnati after a day off; scheduled pitchers for game 3 are John Smiley (13-9, 4.21) for the Reds and rookie Joey Hamilton (11-6, 2.71) for San Diego. Alan |
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