Thursday, May 20, 1999

REDS 24, ROCKIES 12

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Rocky Mountain eruption blows top off record book

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jeffrey Hammonds had 3 HR's and scored five times. | ZOOM |

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        DENVER — It was fun. It was historic. It was even impressive. But it wasn't baseball.

        “It was like a summer-league softball game in high school or something,” Reds first baseman Sean Casey said.

        “It was batting practice! For both clubs!” Reds manager Jack McKeon exclaimed.

        Those were the most sensible descriptions of what transpired at the pinball machine known as Coors Field on Wednesday, when Cincinnati's suddenly torrential offense doused the Colorado Rockies 24-12.

        Yes, pitchers from both teams threw overhanded.

Sean Casey had 2 HR's, reached base seven times and scored five runs. | ZOOM |

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        The Reds' epic outburst accented their rising fortunes as they concluded their first three-game sweep at Coors. They extended their season-high winning streak to five games while improving to one game above .500 (19-18) for the first time since last May 15 (21-20).

        “I hate to see (today's) off-day, because we're in a groove,” McKeon said.

        A few Reds could use the rest after spending much of the contest running the bases.

        “Big-league baseball at its finest,” said a sardonic and tired Mike Cameron, the Reds center fielder, whose eight plate appearances tied a major-league record for a nine-inning game.

        Jeffrey Hammonds, who began the game batting .132 with no homers and three RBI, smashed a career-high three home runs and had five RBI. He and first baseman Sean Casey, who went 4-for-4 with a pair of three-run homers, matched a team record by scoring five runs apiece.

        Told of his run total, Casey murmured under his breath, “That's ridiculous.”

Casey congratulates catcher Brian Johnson and reliever Ron Villone. | ZOOM |

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        The collision of the Reds' skilled hitters and the Rockies' abysmal pitchers caused numerous record-book revisions. The teams established a major-league standard by combining for 81 total bases, including Cincinnati's club-record 55.

        Both clubs' 36 runs were the most ever scored at Coors Field, where the mile-high altitude and spacious dimensions that encourage gap hitters taint every offensive feat.

        The Reds set a franchise record for total bases (55), tied their 97-year-old club mark for hits (28), scored their second-highest total of runs ever and fell one extra-base hit short of the National League standard of 16. Seven different Reds collected three or more hits off the Rockies' league-worst pitching (6.30 ERA), equaling another NL mark.

        No wonder Cincinnati overcame another disastrous start by Denny Neagle (1ö innings, six runs, seven hits).

        “As a hitter, you love playing in parks like this because there are a lot of places to hit the ball,” Hammonds said.

Hammonds is greeted by manager Jack McKeon. | ZOOM |

        Most of the places Hammonds found were beyond the playing surface. He had two chances at a record-tying fourth homer, but grounded to third in the seventh inning and walked in the eighth. He finished with five RBI, another career high.

        He was rivaled by Casey, whose list of achievements is growing like the theater lines for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. His six RBI were a personal best and he reached base safely in all seven of his plate appearances, lengthening his streak to nine.

        Informed of his on-base proficiency, Casey said, “I guess that's the job of a hitter, to get on base, right?”

        The Reds' pitchers considered it their duty, too. Neagle contributed an RBI single to Cincinnati's six-run first. Steve Parris (2-0), who yielded three runs in 3ô innings — effective work, under the circumstances — had a fourth-inning RBI single.

        Reliever Ron Villone, of all people, stroked the franchise record-tying hit, a ground ball single to left with two outs in the ninth inning.

        “It was just that kind of day, I guess, that something like that might happen,” Villone said.

        Though rarefied air, lousy pitching and a friendly ballpark helped fuel the offense, the afternoon's biggest hitters weren't about to belittle their own efforts.

        “I want to believe I was hitting that ball today,” Hammonds said. “I haven't played here enough to know the difference ... It's like when the wind is blowing out at (Chicago's) Wrigley Field. You still have to hit the ball.”

        “It was weird,” catcher Brian Johnson said.“This place is always a strange place to play. Actually, it wasn't strange the first two nights here; it was pretty normal. But today was typical. This was what you expect here, but not to this extreme. Arena ball.”

       

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