Thursday, April 08, 1999

GIANTS 8, REDS 3

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Ohhhhhh-and-3 with 23 walks

BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Steve Avery had a shutout with two outs in the eighth inning ... (Michael E. Keating photos) | ZOOM |

        Around the eighth inning Wednesday, Reds manager Jack McKeon was thinking Steve Avery might be able to finish things himself. And with the way the bullpen had been hammered the first two days of the season, that would have been a good thing for the Reds.

        Instead, bad things happened two-thirds of the way through the eighth, and what had looked like a nice, tidy win turned into a messy 8-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 19,011 at Cinergy Field.

        The Reds end the season-opening series 0-3, and each loss has been progressively more baffling.

        “We've got to keep pushing,” Greg Vaughn said. “You can't keep saying it will be all right. All of a sudden, you're saying it's going to be all right and it's the All-Star break.”

        The tough thing to understand about Wednesday's loss was how quickly it turned bad.

... but he walked Ellis Burks and gave up a game-tying HR to Stan Javier ... | ZOOM |

        Avery went six innings before he allowed a hit. His pitch count was in the 90s when he went out for the eighth inning, and the Reds had a 2-0 lead.

        When Avery got the first two outs routinely, McKeon's confidence grew.

        “The way he was throwing, I figured he'd go all the way,” McKeon said.

        But then Avery walked Ellis Burks. Stan Javier followed by hitting Avery's 112th pitch into the left-field seats for a home run to tie it.

        “That was really the only pitch that got away from me,” Avery said. “I tried to throw a fastball in, and it cut on me. It was a pretty good pitch to hit.”

        After F.P. Santangelo beat out an infield hit, McKeon went to the bullpen.

... and he couldn't believe it when F.P. Santangelo was called safe on an infield hit. Avery left the game and the floodgates opened. | ZOOM |

        Avery had given the Reds what they needed. He went 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits, and he left with the game tied.

        “He pitched a great game,” McKeon said.

        Dennys Reyes, the one reliever who had been effective, came in and allowed Barry Bonds' single to right field. Dmitri Young's relay throw was wild and got away from Pokey Reese. Santangelo scored to give the Giants a 3-2 lead, and Bonds ended up on second.

        Danny Graves came in to face Jeff Kent and walked him. It was the eighth of nine walks by Reds pitchers on the day.

        Graves faced three more batters and retired none, and by the time Scott Sullivan came in for Graves and got that elusive last out, it was 7-3 Giants.

        In the three-game series, the Reds walked 23 batters, and nine of them scored.

Greg Vaughn sits alone in the dugout after the last out. | ZOOM |

        “You can't allow 27 runs in three games and expect to win,” McKeon said. “The walks are killing us. We're preaching: Throw strikes, and you've got a chance.”

        It was also the third straight game in which the bullpen could not hold a lead.

        The closer-by-committee trio features sky-high ERAs: Graves' 36.00, John Hudek's 27.00 and Gabe White's 7.72.

        “We all know these guys are better than they've pitched,” McKeon said. “We've run into streaks like this before. We'll battle out of it. Maybe going on the road will help.”

        The Reds have three games in St. Louis beginning Friday, followed by three in Chicago against the Cubs.

        Everyone in a Reds uniform probably said, “It's early,” at least once Wednesday. But the way the Reds lost has shaken the team a bit.

        “It's frustrating, because we've been in a position to win these three games,” captain Barry Larkin said. “We've scored runs. We've come back. Avery pitched a great game today. But we're still 0-3.”

        This is the Reds' worst home start since 1979 and worst overall start since they began the 1995 season 0-6. They can take solace in the fact that the Reds won the division both of those years.

        “There's still a good feeling in the clubhouse,” Larkin said. “We've just been making some mental mistakes. You can't make mental mistakes and win.”

       

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