Sunday, August 16, 1998

BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Barry Larkin slides safely into second in front of Expos' Orlando Cabrera. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Steve Parris made a strong case to keep his job in the starting rotation by going 7 1/3 innings and allowing three runs in the Reds' 6-4 victory over the Montreal Expos Saturday night.

Either Parris or Mike Remlinger is likely to be headed for the bullpen when Jason Bere is ready to move into the rotation.

"We'd like to get Jason Bere in there," Reds manager Jack McKeon said. "But we're not going to sacrifice someone who's contributing to do it. Right now, we'll stay where we are."

The victory was the first for Parris (2-3) since he beat Detroit 1-0 in his first start for the Reds on June 28. He had been 0-3 with a 6.03 ERA since. He was better than that Saturday. After Wilton Guerrero led off the game with a double, Parris faced 19 more batters before another runner reached second base.

Parris is pitching, he says, worry-free.

"If they want to throw Jason Bere into the rotation," he said, "they're going to do it whether I'm pitching well or not. I'm just going to go out and pitch every game like it's the last of the year." Vladimir Guerrero's three-run homer into the left-field green seats in the eighth was the extent of the damage against Parris. It was the second longest outing of his career, and it came three years to the day when Parris, then with Pittsburgh, beat San Diego 6-0 in a complete game.

The win was the Reds' second straight. They are 37-23 against teams below .500 (such as the Expos), and 18-45 against teams .500 or above.

A scary moment led to the Reds' first run. Jeffrey Hammonds led off the second inning with a line drive that hit Montreal pitcher Mike Thurman in the head.

The ball bounded into short left field. Thurman had to leave the game but suffered only a contusion.

The Reds added to their lead a run at a time after that with single runs in the third, fifth and sixth (Bret Boone's 13th home run) before scoring twice in the seventh.