Friday, July 23, 1999
Reds go coastal starting tonight
Put 29-13 road record to test in SF, LA
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Reds today go on the road, where they're playing exceedingly well this year. Their 29-13 road record is the best in baseball.
The catch this time is that they go to the West Coast, where they've played exceedingly poor over the years.
The Reds open a three-game series in San Francisco at 10:35 tonight. They follow it with a four-game series in Los Angeles.
The Reds were 4-14 on the road against the three West Coast teams — San Francisco, San Diego and L.A. — last year.
“We're going into dangerous territory,” center fielder Mike Cameron said.
The Giants lead the National League West with a 52-44 record. The Reds won't face a team with a better record until they play the Atlanta Braves in late August.
The West Coast swing follows a tough loss at home Thursday. The Reds lost 6-5 to St.Louis on two ninth-inning home runs and closed their homestand 4-4.
“Hopefully we'll bounce back,” said Danny Graves, Thursday's losing pitcher. “We've bounced back before.”
Here's a look at what lies ahead:
San Francisco
• Record: 52-44 (.542), lead NL West by one-half game
• Streaks: 3-7 in last 10, 2-6 since All-Star break
• Who's hot: SS Rich Aurilia is hitting .350 (21-for-60) in July.
• Who's not: OF Barry Bonds is batting just .100 (4-for-40) in his last 12 games.
• Skinny: Don't be surprised to see high-scoring games. None of the three Giants starters the Reds will see has a winning record or an ERA under 5.00, but the Giants' offense has scored the second-most runs in the NL this year.
Los Angeles
• Record: 43-51 (.457), tied for fourth in NL West, eight games behind Giants.
• Streaks: 8-4 in last 12, 4-4 since All-Star break.
• Who's hot: OF-1B Todd Hollandsworth entered Thursday having gone 11-for-29 (.379) over the last 11 games.
• Who's not: P Chan Ho Park, whom the Reds may face in the second game of the series, is 0-5 with four no-decisions in his nine Dodger Stadium starts this season.
• Skinny: Unless the Dodgers shuffle their rotation, the Reds will miss Kevin Brown, the highest-paid pitcher in baseball. Brown, who signed a $105 million deal with the Dodgers last offseason, is 10-6 with an ERA of 3.79. The other four Dodgers starters have a combined record of 24-33.
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