Saturday, May 08, 1999

REDS 3, CUBS 2

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Larkin keeps his head

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Barry Larkin, lower left, and Sean Casey, top, hit back-to-back, two-out doubles in the ninth. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        Once Barry Larkin's head cleared, so did the bases. Characterized as the Reds' heart and soul for years, Larkin's skull also matched the overall state of the club through eight innings Friday night.

        The Reds captain suffered a headache on a freak play in the eighth, when a throw from Chicago Cubs shortstop Jose Hernandez struck him in the batting helmet at point-blank range. The Reds needed pain relief at that point, too, having stranded a season-high 11 runners on base.

        But a resilient Larkin returned in the ninth inning to smoke a two-out double that chased home two runs and enabled Cincinnati to outlast the Chicago Cubs 3-2.

Larkin is mobbed by Pokey Reese, Eddie Taubensee and Hal Morris after his game-winner. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Larkin's hit prompted genuine jubilation from the Reds, who mobbed their leader behind the pitcher's mound as the Cinergy Field audience of 26,533, the largest home crowd since Opening Day, roared its approval.

        This scene appeared unlikely moments earlier. Cincinnati left the bases loaded in the eighth inning as pinch-hitter Dmitri Young grounded out to second base. “It was getting frustrating,” said Sean Casey, whose homer earlier in the inning accounted for the Reds' only run to that point.

        Then the Reds entered the ninth trailing 2-1 against Cubs relief ace Rod Beck (2-3), who had notched saves in his last four opportunities.

Sammy Sosa wears a look of frustration after striking out in the third inning. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        Beck also had yielded 19 hits while compiling a 7.94 ERA in his previous 11ô innings. He continued to look vulnerable, surrendering Mi chael Tucker's one-out single and, after Greg Vaughn flied out deep to center field, Casey's ground-rule double.

        Casey's hit, his third of the evening, was especially galling, because it would have scored Tucker easily. But the ball bounced over the fence, forcing Tucker to stop at third base.

        “I said, "My God, here we go again,'” Reds manager Jack McKeon said.

        Up came Larkin, who had collected three hits in 10 career at-bats against Beck. Larkin scorched a 1-0 pitch inside third base and up the left-field line, scoring Tucker and pinch-runner Chris Stynes.

Pete Harnisch composes himself after giving up two runs in the sixth inning. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        “I've pitched in that situation against him many times, but he's always gone to right field,” Beck said. “I wasn't going to let him do that to me this time, and I didn't. I tried to jam him with a sinker in, and he laces it down the line. I don't know what to tell you. It wasn't even a strike.”

        The game-winning blow continued Larkin's recent resurgence. He's hitting .467 (7-for-15) on the homestand, lifting his average from .182 to .223. But though the victory brought him genuine satisfaction — “All wins are important, man,” he said — his first three-hit game of the season didn't overwhelm him.

        “The answer will be found once I feel like I'm comfortable up there, and I don't feel that,” Larkin said. “When that will happen, I don't know ... There's no comfort level up there yet.”

        Said McKeon, “If he wants to get three more (hits) tomorrow and not feel comfortable, I'll take it.”

        Larkin, who has moved to the fifth spot in the batting order, leads the team with 18 RBI. “I just might leave him there,” McKeon said.

        Larkin found himself in an awkward place in the eighth as he slid into second base. Hernandez, who dove to his left to smother Aaron Boone's grounder, rose to his knees and tried to throw the ball to first base. His peg caromed off Larkin's helmet all the way to the warning track in front of the third-base visitors' dugout.

        Said Larkin, who said his ears were ringing after the play: “I looking right at (Hernandez) and I said, "Oh my God.' I saw the ball coming. So I just dropped my head. Thank God I didn't do a Dmitri Young and flip my helmet off when I was running. That might have hurt a little bit.”

        By contrast, the first five innings proceeded without incident or a run. Then Reds starter Pete Harnisch, who entered the game with only five walks in 34ô innings, issued two of his four free passes in the sixth inning. Both of those runners scored.

        Still, Harnisch lasted seven effective innings before Dennys Reyes and Danny Graves (2-3) worked an inning apiece to extend the bullpen's scoreless-innings streak to 18ô. “They deserve a lot of credit,” Larkin said of the Reds relievers.

        Though Larkin also merited some attention after the game, he humorously tried to deflect it as reporters and television cameras gathered around his locker.

        Subtly reminding interrogators of his tender cranium, he said, “No bright lights, please.”

       

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