REDS 9, ROYALS 4

Sunday, June 06, 1999
REDS 9, ROYALS 4
Casey, Hammonds each homer twice

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Sean Casey after hitting a three-run HR.
(AP photo)
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KANSAS CITY — Off-days used to stop the Reds. A power failure posed a new threat to their momentum.
But Saturday afternoon they ignored these distractions, overcame early shortcomings and lengthened their winning streak to six games.
Sean Casey and Jeffrey Hammonds each homered twice to drive in all of the Reds' runs and complement Steve Parris' third career complete game as Cincinnati subdued the Kansas City Royals 9-4 in the first game of a doubleheader at Kauffman Stadium.
“The guys picked me up big time today,” said Parris (4-0). “They're the story of the game, not me.”
The Reds had faltered following days off. They were 4-5 under those circumstances. This time, they not only had to shake off Thursday's open date but also had to rouse themselves after a power outage knocked out a bank of field lighting and caused postponement of Friday night's game, forcing the twinbill.
“It kind of deflates you a little bit,” said Casey, who had five RBI.

Barry Larkin is out at home trying to score from first on Dmitri Young's second-inning double.
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The Reds initially punctured their own balloon against Royals starter Jose Rosado (3-5). They wasted most of the nine hits they collected against the left-hander, stranding three runners in scoring position in the first four innings. Potential offensive bonanzas were spoiled in the first inning, when Mike Cameron was thrown out trying to steal second base with runners on the corners and one out, and in the second, when Kansas City nabbed Barry Larkin trying to score on Dmitri Young's double with nobody out.
Casey was among the Reds who battled himself at the outset. He struck out on three pitches in his first at-bat and fell behind 0-2 in his next plate appearance against Rosado.
“You see Casey strike out, which is unusual, and you say, "What got into him today?'” Reds manager Jack McKeon said.
“I was swinging at pitches that were over my head,” Casey said, sounding incredulous. “It was one of those days where I was battling every pitch to try to get something I could do something with, to tell you the truth.”
In the middle of his second at-bat, Casey slapped himself in the head, as if to clear it.
Said Casey: “I was saying, hey, come on, start seeing the ball. Make an adjustment! Are you going to keep doing this all day, or are you going to adjust? So I tried to slow everything down.”
It worked, as Casey clobbered an inside fastball for a three-run, third-inning homer that gave the Reds a 3-1 lead. Beltran's second of two homers helped put Kansas City back in front, 4-3, in the bottom of the inning.
But the Reds had established the tone of the afternoon, which Hammonds maintained by leading off the fourth inning with a shot beyond the left-field fountains estimated at 433 feet.
Hammonds, who entered the game with only three hits in 20 at-bats since his three-homer bonanza May 19 at Colorado, capitalized on the elements as well as his power one inning later.
Facing reliever Jose Santiago after Rosado had walked Greg Vaughn and Young, Hammonds lofted a 1-0 pitch toward left field. The ball, perhaps riding the 22-mph winds that gusted from right to left, settled in the seats to give Hammonds his sixth career multiple-homer game.
Casey sealed the Royals' sixth consecutive defeat in the eighth inning with his second homer, which gave him a team-high 12 and drove in Cameron with one out. The 388-foot blast to right field came off Aiken High School graduate Scott Service, a former Red.

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