Saturday, May 2, 1998

BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bret Boone makes a diving tag to get Jeff Cirillo attempting to steal. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

MILWAUKEE -- It has only been a month and already the Milwaukee Brewers seem to have this National League thing down pat.

The Brewers, recent emigres from the American League, played decidedly National League baseball Friday, getting a sacrifice bunt from pitcher Scott Karl to help spur their go-ahead rally.

Karl's bunt in the fifth inning put baserunners Marc Newfield and Mike Matheny in scoring position, and Jeff Cirillo knocked them both in with a single for a 2-1 lead. The first-place Brewers went on to win 5-2, extending their lead over the Reds in the National League Central to 5 1/2 games.

The Reds, meanwhile, continue to have trouble scoring runs. They were 1-for-9 with men in scoring position Friday, which has manager Jack McKeon steaming. Their two runs came on a Bret Boone homer in the second and an Eduardo Perez sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the eighth.

"We need somebody to put the ball in play," McKeon said. "We're not getting any RBI production. We've got a bunch of guys hitting .300, but what the hell does that mean if you don't get runs?"

Jose Valentin grimaces after Barry Larkin is called safe stealing second. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Boone gave the Reds a 1-0 lead on a home run to dead center field, his fourth homer and 20th RBI of the season. But three potential rallies were cut short by inning-ending double plays -- in consecutive innings in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

In the fifth, pitcher Mike Remlinger lined out to Karl, who doubled up Boone at third.

In the sixth, leadoff man Chris Stynes walked and No. 2 hitter Willie Greene singled up the middle. Dmitri Young then popped up, but the killer was a pop up to right field by Perez.

Perez's fly was only the second out of the inning. But Stynes and Greene were running on the pitch, and Cirillo caught the ball in shallow right. Greene couldn't get back in time, and Cirillo threw to Karl, who was covering first, for the inning-ending double play.

Then, with one out in the seventh, Barry Larkin walked and pinch-hitter Lenny Harris singled. But pinch-hitter Eddie Taubensee struck out swinging and Larkin, who was running on the pitch, was thrown out trying to steal at third.

Larkin continues to struggle at the plate. He came in hitting .188 and was 0-for-3 to run his slump to a career-worst 0-for-27. Perez's sacrifice fly came in the eighth with the bases loaded after three singles by Stynes, Greene and Young. But it was the only run they could get in and Boone popped up to end the threat.

"We had our chances," McKeon said. "Take your pick. We need to get guys scoring. If we have to find new guys, we'll find new guys."

Reds starter Remlinger (2-3) pitched a decent game -- 5 2/3 innings -- and left trailing only 2-1. But he was again hurt by his nemesis -- control. He walked four, and the one that hurt the most was a leadoff walk to Newfield to open the fifth. It started the go-ahead rally. "Same old story," McKeon said. "Every time we walk a guy he scores."

Remlinger was most upset by the 3-2 curve ball he hung to Cirillo. He said if had just thrown it -- as he did on the 3-1 pitch -- instead of trying to aim in the strike zone, he would have gotten out of the inning.

"If I could have that one pitch back, I'd like to see what would have happened," Remlinger said. "If I throw the one I should have thrown, I might have walked him but I'd have gotten the next hitter."

The Brewers added to their lead in the sixth when former Red Eric Owens, who they gave up on in spring training this year, hit a chop single up the middle off reliever Todd Williams, who was just called up. That allowed Mark Loretto to score and gave Milwaukee a 3-1 lead.

It had to be a sweet moment for Owens. The Reds traded him to Florida for pitcher Jesus Martinez in March, but even the stripped-down Marlins didn't think he could help them and sold his contract to Milwaukee for $25,000. He's had little else to celebrate this season, playing sparingly for the Brewers.

"It always feels good to come through in a situation like that against a former team," Owens said. "I don't hold any grudges."

Friday was the first time the Reds had played in Milwaukee since Aug. 26, 1965, against the old Milwaukee Braves -- a 3-1 Cincinnati win. The starting pitcher that night for Cincinnati was none other than Joe Nuxhall, who popped his elbow trying to throw a side-armed pitch to Eddie Mathews.