Wednesday, April 21, 1999

METS 3, REDS 2

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Larkin (.174) leaves bases loaded in 9th

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Barry Larkin walks off the field after making the last out. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        The New York Mets are exactly where the Reds want to be by the end of the season. The difference between the teams was stark on Tuesday night.

        New York's 3-2 victory dealt the Reds their third consecutive defeat and kept them alone in last place in the National League Central Division. If Cincinnati aspires to greater heights, the Mets serve as a worthy example — and not just because they're 3-0 in one-run decisions compared with Cincinnati's 1-4.

        “These are the games you've got to win,” Reds right-hander Pete Harnisch said. “The teams that make the playoffs win these games.”

        The Reds (4-8) harbor hopes of contending for the wild-card berth to reach the postseason, for which the Mets (9-5) would qualify if the season ended today.

Pete Harnisch inspects his broken bat after flying out. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        That all may be fantasizing right now, but consider these realities:

        The Mets collected big hits, scoring twice with two outs. The Reds didn't. John Franco was touched for a ninth-inning run but left the bases loaded by coaxing Barry Larkin's pop-up to first base.

        “If I had a ... ball on a tee I wouldn't hit it right now,” said Larkin, who's batting .174.

        “Fortunately, he's struggling a little bit right now,” Franco told reporters in the Mets clubhouse. “Nine times out of 10, he'll come through in that situation. I got away with one.”

        And New York didn't suffer from the absence of three starting position players: outfielders Rickey Henderson (hamstring) and Brian McRae (knee) and catcher Mike Piazza (knee).

Barry Larkin is tagged out at home. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        By contrast, the Reds' bullpen allowed an eighth-inning run. Cincinnati kept failing to collect the big hit, going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position through the first eight innings.

        “We have to catch a break or two,” Harnisch said. “That's not to say we're unluckily losing these games. We're making mistakes at the wrong time.

        “There's no reason to throw in the towel. But the trend is bad.”

        As was the Reds' fruitless baserunning in the fourth inning.

        Sean Casey followed Larkin's leadoff walk by lining the first of his two doubles. Though the play developed in left field, Larkin sped home and was thrown out on relays by left fielder Mike Kinkade and shortstop Rey Ordonez.

        Larkin insisted he wasn't surprised to be sent home: “I'm looking at the third-base coach (Ron Oester). Whatever he says. I'm going hard.”

        An instant later, Casey made an ill-advised dash to third base on Greg Vaughn's grounder to shortstop, and he, too, was erased.

        “Casey's was just a mental mistake,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. “Who knows whether Larkin can score.”

        McKeon didn't fault Oester for waving in Larkin.

        “I've been out there on the lines,” McKeon said. “I don't like to second-guess anybody ... That's magnified when you don't cash in with the opportunities that you do have. When you're going like we are, it's a perfect throw. If you win a lot of games, it's off the base.”

        The Reds appeared poised to cure their ills in the ninth inning, which Dmitri Young and Aaron Boone started with singles off Franco, the former Red who recently became the second reliever to notch his 400th career save. Pokey Reese's third single scored Young to trim the 3-1 edge Franco inherited.

        Franco then loaded the bases by walking pinch-hitter Jeffrey Hammonds after forging ahead on the count 0-2. But the left-hander struck out Mike Cameron before subduing Larkin on a change-up.

        The Reds wasted a strong effort by Harnisch (1-2), who allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. The Mets broke a 1-1 tie against him to open the seventh as Bobby Bonilla lined a full-count pitch into the right-field seats for his first homer of the year.

        “I threw the ball pretty well, but what's the difference?” Harnisch said. “The way we're going, it doesn't matter if we lose 2-1, 3-2, 9-1.”

       

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