Saturday, July 24, 1999

GIANTS 6, REDS 5

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Avery's spot may be in jeopardy

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Steve Avery leaves the game in the second. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        SAN FRANCISCO — Danny Graves lost his magic with the bases loaded, while Steve Avery looked just plain lost.

        The combination was a galling one for the Reds at 3Com Park, who fell 6-5 Friday night to the San Francisco Giants and dropped 2 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros in the National League Central Division.

        It was an ominous beginning to a seven-game road trip for the Reds (53-41), though their road record (29-14) remained the best in the major leagues. The Giants, losers in seven of their previous nine games, broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run outburst against a trio of Reds relievers in the seventh inning.

        Jason LaRue made the score close with one out in the ninth inning by belting his first major-league homer, a two-run shot off Giants relief ace Robb Nen. But after Michael Tucker blooped a pinch-hit single, Pokey Reese grounded into a game-ending double play — though television replays clearly showed Reese was safe.

        “Good. The umpires said they'd check the replays,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. Taking a cue from the NFL, McKeon added, “Maybe we ought to have instant replay.”

Greg Vaughn is met at home plate by Sean Casey after blasting a two-run homer. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Graves staged his own form of replay. He issued a pair of bases-loaded walks in the seventh inning, echoing Avery's performance in the first. Avery's place in the starting rotation grew even more endangered when he walked four of the first five hitters, also forcing in a run, to ignite a three-run Giants outburst.

        Avery lasted only 1 2/3 innings, equaling his second-shortest outing of the year. He permitted just two weak hits but walked five, giving him 27 walks in 22 innings spanning his last five starts. His ERA in that stretch is 7.36, inflating his overall figure to 5.16.

        The Giants improved to 4-0 against the Reds, having swept a season-opening three-game series in Cincinnati in which each decision followed the pattern of this one.

        “This is exactly how we played these guys at the start of the season. We walked everybody,” McKeon said. “Our pitchers are better than that.”

        Rich Aurilia began San Francisco's seventh with one out when Scott Sullivan (3-2) hit him with an 0-2 pitch. Dennys Reyes then yielded singles to Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent to load the bases.

        In came Graves, the Reds' most logical option despite his two-homer, three-run collapse in Thursday's 6-5 loss to St. Louis. On seven of eight previous occasions that the sinkerball specialist inherited bases-loaded jams, nobody scored.

Rich Aurilia slides into home past Jason LaRue. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        This time, however, Ellis Burks fouled off a 3-2 pitch before drawing a walk, forcing in Aurilia. J.T. Snow followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Bonds. Then third baseman Chris Stynes, who entered the game with Graves as part of a double-switch, mishandled Charlie Hayes' groundball to re-load the bases.

        Graves then walked Scott Servais, San Francisco's eighth-place hitter, to push across the final run.

        Ex-Red Jerry Spradlin (3-1) earned the victory, pitching a scoreless seventh.

        As usual, the Reds roused themselves, loading the bases with two outs in the eighth inning against Giants reliever John Johnstone as Dmitri Young and Sean Casey singled and Greg Vaughn walked. But Barry Larkin grounded into a force play, extending his streak of games without an RBI to 17.

        Earlier, Avery continued to test the Reds' patience. It'll soon become clear whether he has done so for the final time as a starting pitcher.

        Avery was replaced by Stan Belinda after walking Barry Bonds with two outs in the second inning. Of Avery's 55 pitches, just 25 were strikes. The left-hander threw eight consecutive balls in one first-inning juncture.

        Unless the Reds obtain another starting pitcher, which appears increasingly unlikely as the July 31 trading deadline approaches, the Reds have several options:

        • They can keep Avery in the rotation, hoping that he'll recapture the form he displayed when he worked seven innings or more in each of his first five starts;

        • They can move him to the bullpen and replace him with left-hander Reyes;

        • They might even opt to release him, put Reyes in the rotation and summon lefty B.J. Ryan from Triple-A Indianapolis to fill the bullpen opening.

        The first inning, in which Avery has an 11.37 ERA, again spoiled his performance almost before it began.

        Kent popped up after Avery walked the first three Giants, but Burks drew a free pass on five pitches to force in a run. Snow lofted a sacrifice fly before Hayes' bloop single dropped untouched into short left-center field, scoring another run.

        The Reds retaliated against Giants starter Chris Brock in the fourth inning with a three-run surge, featuring Vaughn's 25th homer.

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