Sunday, April 25, 1999
REDS NOTEBOOK
Larkin's April: 'Crap at the plate'
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Before Saturday's game, Barry Larkin said he was working on hitting the ball. Not his stance, or not his hand replacement placement, just hitting the ball.
“I want to hit it solidly,” he said.
He did. Larkin launched a 2-1 pitch from Mike Hampton in the third inning over the left-field wall for a three-run home run. It was Larkin's fourth homer of the year, as many as he hit in any month last year.
But homers haven't taken the sting out of a bad April. Larkin had a bad April last year. But this one is much worse. He was 1-for-4 with the home run, raising his average to .164.
“Last year, I was hitting the ball hard,” he said. “I just wasn't getting any luck. This year, I've hit a few balls hard. But most of time, I've felt like crap at the plate.”
Larkin hit .188 last April.
“I've got a ways to go to get to .188 this year,” he said.
Larkin's career average for April is .242, compared to an overall average of .300.
“Something about April,” he said.
Larkin bounced back from last April's .188 to hit .309 for the year, his eighth .300-plus season in the last 10 years.
Larkin has started all 16 games for the Reds. He says rest isn't something he needs.
“We've had four days off in the 15 games,” he said. “We're off Monday. I've had plenty of rest.”
The good news: Larkin hit .330 last May.
Swell Sully
Scott Sullivan is pitching like he did in the 1997, and that's a good thing.
Sullivan was 5-3 with a 3.24 ERA as a rookie in '97 and allowed 79 hits in 97 innings. Last year, he slipped to 5-5 with a 5.21 ERA and allowed 98 hits in 10ö innings.
This year, he's 2-0 with a 3.09 ERA.
“No question,” Sullivan said. “After last year, I wanted to get off to a good start. Last year, I had such a good spring. Then I had some bad outings early. A good start is something you build on.”
Sullivan's role of long relief isn't glorious, but it's important. He eats up innings when starters fail. With the Reds' added firepower this year, he'll be in position to win some games if can hold the opposition. Friday night was an example. His 2ô innings corresponded with the Reds' rally.
Casey at bat
Sean Casey doesn't check the paper every morning to make sure he's still atop the National League batting race.
“When I do that,” he said, “I'll start to drop.”
Going into Saturday, Casey was on top at .446, 20 points ahead of Tony Gwynn. Casey went 0-for-4 Saturday to drop to .417.
Casey has been in this position before. As a Cleveland minor leaguer, he won the Carolina League batting title in 1996, hitting .331 with Single-A Kinston. He won the Arizona Fall League title in 1997, hitting .396. And he would have won the New York-Penn League title in 1997 with Double-A Akron, but he was called up to Triple-A before he had enough at-bats to qualify. He was hitting .386 when he was called up.
Belinda's Rehab
Reliever Stan Belinda will start for Triple-A Indianapolis in a rehab assignment today. Belinda will go two innings. He has been on the disabled list since the season started with a sore right shoulder.
suhed1-2-3 II
Reds starter Steve Avery started the game with a 1-2-3 inning. It was only the fifth time all year a Reds pitcher has done so and the first time done back-to-back this season.
On the ball
Ken Caminiti's two-RBI single in the eighth was his 1,500th career hit. Before anyone noticed, the ball was fouled into the stands. Reds publicity director Rob Butcher went into the stands and got the ball from the fan, promising an autographed Caminiti ball.
Up next
RHP Pete Harnisch (1-2, 2.53) tries to break a two-game losing streak today when he pitches the series finale.
Houston will start RHP Sean Bergman (0-1, 2.77).
Harnisch, who pitched for the Astros from 1991-94, is 1-2 with a 6.88 ERA against Houston.
The game is on Fox Sports Net Ohio.
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