Saturday, June 26, 1999

REDS 10, ASTROS 7

---

Tucker hits Reds within two games of first

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Aaron Boone tags Tim Bogar out at third base. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        HOUSTON — Though the Reds made plenty of noise with their bats Friday, Brett Tomko delivered the evening's loudest message with one purposeful pitch.

        Tomko, a full-fledged member of Generation X at age 26, looked refreshingly old-fashioned as he invoked an ancient baseball law in the Reds' 10-7 victory over the Houston Astros.

        The win moved the Reds within two games of the first-place Astros in the National League Central Division with two games left in their weekend showdown.

        Tomko proved that he'll stand tall for his teammates by hitting Astros cleanup hitter Derek Bell in the side with his first pitch of the sixth inning.

        Bell's plunking served as obvious retaliation for the indignities suffered by Reds slugger Greg Vaughn, who was hit by Astros starter Chris Holt in the second inning and brushed back by reliever Jose Cabrera in the sixth.

        “Part of the game is getting hit and pitching inside. I understand that,” said Vaughn, who homered off Holt when they last met April 23. “But I don't appreciate throwing 90-something miles an hour up around my head.”

        Failure to respond could have dampened the Reds' spirit and their faith in Tomko. Having remained perfect on this crucial road trip (5-0) while shaving the Astros' NL Central Division lead to two games, the Reds don't need such distractions.

Pokey Reese and Michael Tucker celebrate Tucker's home run. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        “That was just another sign of (the Reds' bonding),” Vaughn said. “That's what it's all about. Tomko doing what he did, that was just the final straw of us being a unit.”

        Moments earlier, Tomko was crossing the clubhouse as Vaughn yelled, “Atta boy, Tomko. You're my MVP.”

        Tomko (3-4) insisted that he was trying only to back Bell off the plate, not hit him. The Reds led 10-4 at the time.

        “It wasn't a whole lot of purpose to back somebody off the plate a little bit,” he said. “If that's what that did, that's great ... I don't like to see anybody get hurt, and that's not the intention, but I was just trying to move some feet a little bit. Unfortunately, I got it a little bit too in.”

        Bell declined to speak to reporters after the game.

        The Reds excelled at real baseball, too. Michael Tucker drove in four runs, one short of his career high, and matched a personal best by scoring three runs.

        Manager Jack McKeon hasn't given the right-field job to anyone on a daily basis, but he said Tucker is making a strong bid to earn it.

        “He's doing a heck of a job, the way he's coming on,” McKeon said of Tucker, whose three hits lifted his average to .291.

        Celebrating his 28th birthday, Tucker hit a two-run homer in the third inning before adding a two-run triple in the sixth. He also singled to begin Cincinnati's three-run rally in the fifth inning, which they followed with four runs in the sixth.

        For good measure, Tucker made an acrobatic leaping catch of Bell's eighth-inning drive against the right-field wall. It proved to be a crucial play — a rally-killer — because the Astros scored their final run in that inning and left runners at the corners. Scott Williamson recorded the last out of the eighth and pitched a perfect ninth to gain his ninth save.

        It all helped the Reds (39-31) improve their road record to 24-10 — best in the majors, since Cleveland lost 8-2 at Kansas City to fall to 23-10 away from home.

        “We can't let up,” McKeon said. “We have to keep adding to it. (Houston) is a tough ballclub. To come in here and win two, I'm very happy.”

       

---

Reds Stories

REDS 10, ASTROS 7 Box, runs REDS NOTEBOOK Cardinals' rookie no-hits Diamondbacks

Reds page