Saturday, April 24, 1999

REDS 7, ASTROS 5

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Lineup shift ignites bats

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Greg Vaughn is greeted by Michael Tucker after Vaughn's 2-run HR in the third. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        The Reds changed undershirts and caps from red to black Wednesday night while winning their last game. Manager Jack McKeon tried a more conventional means of activating his club Friday.

        McKeon shuffled his lineup, flip-flopping Greg Vaughn and Sean Casey in the batting order while dropping Barry Larkin to fifth and inserting Michael Tucker in the No.2 spot. It worked.

        The revamped Reds rapped 10 hits, the most they've collected in eight games, resulting in a 7-5 victory over the Houston Astros before a chilled Cinergy Field crowd announced at 19,052.

        A different, mostly right-handed lineup will confront Astros left-hander Mike Hampton today. But McKeon's juggling act wasn't wasted.

        “We got what we wanted out of it,” he said.

Vaughn can't reach Richard Hidalgo's second-inning HR. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        McKeon had to do something. The Reds entered the game ranked next to last in the National League with a .244 batting average. Mike Cameron, Casey and Pokey Reese had 50 of the team's 100 hits by position players. By contrast, the big three of Larkin, Vaughn and Dmitri Young were batting a combined .195 (29-for-149).

        Before the game, McKeon downplayed his changes: “Don't read anything into it except we want to do what we can to jump-start (the lineup).”

        The effect was widespread.

        • Replacing Young in right field, Tucker stroked a pair of RBI singles in only his second start of the year.

        • Vaughn rose from cleanup to the No.3 spot and drove in three runs while blasting Cincinnati's longest homer of the year, a 423-foot, two-run homer in the third inning. Casey was unruffled by his move, lining two hits.

        “I still feel like I'm in a dogfight,” said Vaughn, who lifted his average to .192. “Sometimes you feel like you're in an alley with (All-Pro linebackers) Junior Seau and Greg Lloyd at one end, and it's the only way out, and you have to find a way to get out of it. That's the way I feel right now at the plate.”

Michael Tucker steals second as Craig Biggio leaps for the wild throw. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        • The Reds stole a season-high three bases. Mike Cameron, who stayed put in the leadoff spot to amass three hits and three runs, swiped two.

        “We've got to get aggressive,” Vaughn said. “Today we went out and forced the issue.”

        • Cincinnati's three-run third inning, capped by Vaughn's homer, featured three consecutive hits, the first time they have achieved this modest feat.

        • All this helped the Reds improve their fortunes with runners in scoring position. Batting .219 (25-for-114) in those situations entering the game, they went 4-for-6 with two sacrifice flies against the Astros, whose three-game winning streak ended.

        The Reds also relied on four double plays to fend off Houston, which began the game with a league-best .306 team average.

        The most unconventional of the twin killings came in the third inning as Vaughn threw home to retire Astros starter Chris Holt, who was trying to score on a third-inning fly ball.

Eddie Taubensee tags out Chris Holt. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        The most welcome one came in the eighth, when reliever Danny Graves induced Derek Bell's comebacker with the bases loaded and nobody out. “That was the play of the game,” Cameron said.

        Cincinnati needed such efforts to overcome three errors, seven walks, a wild pitch and starter Jason Bere's shaky outing. Bere allowed four runs in four innings and ruined his own evening when his high throw to first base in the fourth inning created a pair of unearned runs.

        Scott Sullivan (2-0) pitched 2ô innings of relief to earn the victory, despite surrendering a run and ending the bullpen's 12-inning scoreless streak. Graves earned his third save. The Reds opened the scoring with a first-inning run off Holt (0-3). Cameron singled, stole second, moved to third on Tucker's infield out and scored on Vaughn's sacrifice fly.

       

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