Posted Messages
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Message #: 33283
The Reds come one unearned loss away from a sweep. In a real rarity, a member of the Cincy Arson Squad was bombarded and choked away a lead in the late innings (that's hardly the rare part) in the series finale but our opponent returned the favor (!).... Game 1: Chicago's newest starter, Mark Clark, made his debut and pitched well but the contest was decided 3 batters into the game when Eric Davis got one of our extremely atypical good split cards and launched a 2-run homer. Otherwise the wind must have been blowing in because those runs were more than enough for the surprising Kevin Jarvis, who raised his record to 4-0 with 6 shutout innings in a 3-0 whitewash of the Cubs. Jarvis combined with Jeff Shaw (who was merely saving his gasoline for another day, as you'll see) on a 5-hitter, all singles, while Clark and Paul Byrd also combined on a 5-hitter (2 doubles, 1 homer). The final run crossed the plate in the 7th when Tony Phillips delivered a 2-out hit that scored Thomas Howard, who had led off with a single and stole second. The Reds were woeful in the clutch as always (Phillips' hit was the only one), going 1 for 6 but that was 1 more hit than the Cubs had in their 3 chances. ============================================================================= Game 2: The Reds LOBbed a ton of runners against a series of ineffective Chicago hurlers, but scored almost as many as we LOBbed in a 10-4 victory. The visitors smashed 17 hits against Doug Drabek and 4 relievers in the process of building up an 8-1 lead before coasting across the finish line. Donne Wall (10-3) was doing well until suffering the game's only gopher bite, a 2-run laceration by Jose Hernandez in the 7th which cut the Cubs' deficit to 8-4 at the time. When Wall proceeded to put 2 runners on base with 2 out in the 8th, Hector Carrasco took over and retired all 4 batters he faced to earn his 3rd save of the year. Kevin Mitchell made his first start of the season in left field and had a successful day with a 4 for 4 performance at the plate, and he managed to hide from HAL in the field and escaped with no x-chances. Chad Curtis also contributed 4 hits and the always hard-hitting (for no discernable reason) Wall went 2 for 4 and raised his average to .364 (16 for 44). ============================================================================= Game 3: John Smiley and Steve Trachsel engaged in another wind-blowing-in contest in which the score was 1-1 after 6 innings. Willie Greene's solo homer had given the Reds a 1-0 lead in the 2nd and the Cubs tied it on a Lance Johnson triple that was immediately followed by a timely wild pitch in the 3rd. The Reds again achieved the coveted double digits in LOB and that proved costly of course, and so did the timely 2-out passed ball in the CHN 7th which put the Cubs up by 1 without yet getting an RBI in the game, until the clutch single which occurred later in that same at bat made it 3-1 with time running out. Cincy went down meekly in the 8th against Rodney Myers but Greene opened the 9th with a split card home run chance that became a triple. Eddie "Passed Ball" Taubensee was 3 for 3 at that point and came to the plate next -- and naturally atoned for his costly fielding blunder with a strikeout. The Cubs put Mark Guthrie on the mound and pinch hitter Chad Mottola greeted the lefty reliever with a double. Terry Adams completed the comeback for the Reds by allowing a single and an RBI double to tie the game before the Reds LOBbed the bases loaded. Nobody outchokes the Reds**, so the comeback was wasted in the 10th when we came up with another helpful blown-x and Sammy Sosa followed that with a game-ending 3-run gopher. Final score: an undeserved 6-3 loss, as the Reds go down amidst an avalanche of LOB, blown x's and passed balls. ============================================================================= Game 4: **The 0.1% exception to the 99.9%-irrefutable "nobody outchokes the Reds" law. Like most of this series, the offense started slowly for both teams with Chicago holding another unearned lead, 1-0 through 6 innings. Chad Curtis homered in the 7th during a rally in which starter Kent Mercker (6 IP, 0.00 ERA) was removed on the happy end of a 2-1 lead. Shaw brought his highest octane today and the Cubs wasted not one batter before hammering Shaw all over (and out of) the park: double, single, double, gopher and the 2-1 lead evaporated into a 4-2 deficit. Shaw wasn't even through yet, permitting 6 loud hits, 1 free pass and 4 runs during his barely 1 inning stint on the mound. However, in between Shaw's pyrotechnics, Paul Byrd found some trouble by walking 3 Reds around a double by Davis. All of that was good for only 1 run until the Cubs made a double switch and put Adams on the mound and Ozzie Timmons in left field. Tony Phillips pinch-hit, expecting at most an RBI walk but getting instead a 3-RBI double to left that Timmons misplayed for a 4-base howler to give the Reds a 7-4 lead. Shaw's choke attempt in the 8th (walk, single, RBI double) was aborted by Jeff Brantley, who created and then escaped a jam of his own in the 9th to save the 7-5 win. For his efforts allegedly on behalf of the Reds, Shaw was rewarded with his 7th win and a dirty look from Mercker who deserved far better than a no-decision. The Reds generated 7 runs of offense on only 5 hits, but received 9 walks and didn't LOB nearly as many runners as we normally do. Alan |
| Quick Index: Teams | Leagues | Managers | Postseason | |
|
|