Friday, April 16, 1999REDS NOTEBOOK
Neagle's debut delayed
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati EnquirerCHICAGO — The most significant effect of Thursday's rainout was the delay of Denny Neagle's regular-season debut.
Neagle, expected to start Sunday against Pittsburgh after being activated from the disabled list, will pitch Wednesday instead, in the second game of a series against the New York Mets.
Brett Tomko, who would have faced Chicago in Thursday's series finale, will open the Pittsburgh series tonight. He'll be followed in the rotation by Jason Bere and Steve Avery.
After Monday's scheduled off-day, Pete Harnisch will open the New York series Tuesday, enabling the Reds to separate their left-handers, Avery and Neagle, in the rotation. Most teams prefer not to have pitchers of similar styles working on back-to-back days.
Without the rainout, Avery and Neagle would have pitched Saturday and Sunday against Pittsburgh and wouldn't have been split until the following week.
Successful journey
Manager Jack McKeon was relatively satisfied with the Reds' 3-2 record on their road trip.“You try to break even or win on every trip, if you can do it,” he said.
The most encouraging development was the stability Reds pitchers achieved.
The Reds posted a 2.51 ERA for the five games, as the starters pitched into the seventh inning or beyond in four of them. Relievers Danny Graves and Gabe White emerged from the funk that enveloped the bullpen during the season-opening three-game sweep by San Francisco.
“The bullpen has shown signs of getting it together, at least a couple or three of them,” McKeon said. “Now if we can get the rest of them settled, we'll be in good shape.”
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