Sunday, September 05, 1999REDS NOTEBOOK
Reds fix whatever was broken
PHILADELPHIA — Everybody, it seemed, tried to do something Saturday to improve the Reds' flagging fortunes.
Players conducted a private meeting, without coaches or manager Jack McKeon present, to rally themselves.
McKeon shuffled the batting order slightly, using Greg Vaughn in the fifth spot for the first time this year while Dmitri Young hit fourth for the 10th time this year.
Vaughn entered the game with no home runs in 57 at-bats, his longest skid of the season.
He thrived as a No.5 hitter last year with San Diego, batting .288 (51-for-177) with 18 homers and 48 RBI.
But he accumulated most of his 573 at-bats in other spots. This year, Vaughn had hit cleanup 104 times and third in 16 games.
“I just wanted to do something different,” said McKeon, whose team had lost eight of its previous 11 games. “We're ready to do anything to get them charged up.”
A 22-3 victory with nine home runs would qualify as being charged up.
But before Saturday the Reds had been inconsistent offensively during this poor 11-game stretch. They actually have matched their overall average of 5.1 runs a game. But they've hit .260, 10 points below the league average and 12 below theirs. Facing Atlanta in six of those games stifled the offense.
In two losses at Montreal last weekend, the Reds scored six runs on consecutive days. But they were shut out for the last five innings in one game and scored just one run in the final six innings of the next game.
McKeon can't do anything at this point about the pitching staff, which has compiled a 6.27 ERA, significantly higher than the team ERA of 4.10, in those 11 games.
“Our pitchers aren't pitching,” McKeon said. “It's almost like that opening week. You give (opponents) a lot of extra runners, they're going to score.”
OK, sort of
Shortstop Barry Larkin said he had a lingering headache resulting from his rough eighth-inning slide into third base Friday, but he felt well enough to start Saturday. “My neck doesn't hurt, thank God,” said Larkin, who was troubled by a sore neck last year.Larkin's head struck the ground when he launched his headfirst slide on an unsuccessful steal attempt.
He also absorbed a hard tag by Philadelphia third baseman Kevin Jordan.
The Reds blowout allowed McKeon to sit Larkin when the game got out of hand.
The hot seat
McKeon empathized with Terry Collins, who resigned Friday as manager of the Anaheim Angels. Saturday was the 1,312th major-league game McKeon had managed, nearly twice Collins' total. This year is also the 50th anniversary of McKeon's entry into professional baseball.Referring to Collins' hyper-intense attitude, McKeon said: “I probably was the same way at that stage. That's when you're trying to make your mark. Now, this job isn't life or death to me.”
Etc.
Forecasts for steady rain today in the Philadelphia area prompted plenty of schedule-gazing. Since this is the Reds' last trip here, and since they and the Phillies have no common days off, the only possible makeup date in the event of a rainout is Monday, Oct.4, the day after the scheduled conclusion of the regular season.That game would be played only if necessary — that is, if a victory or defeat made a difference in the Reds' postseason status.
• By replacing Larkin in the bottom of Friday's eighth inning, infielder Travis Dawkins (20 years, 113 days old) became the youngest Red to make his major-league debut since pitcher Rosario Rodriguez in 1989 (20 years, 55 days). Dawkins is the team's youngest position player to debut since a catcher named Johnny Bench (19 years, eight months, 21 days) in 1967.
• After not facing Houston all year, the Phillies play the Reds' NL Central rival seven times between Monday and Sept.15.
If the Phillies stick with their current pitching rotation, ace Curt Schilling, who beat the Reds on Friday, will face Houston twice. “We'll forgive him for last night,” McKeon said, assuming that Schilling can beat the Astros.
Up next
Weather permitting, Denny Neagle (4-5) will make his third start of the season against Philadelphia, though it'll be only his 14th start overall. He's 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA against the Phillies, who will counter with Robert Person (8-3). Person beat the Reds on Aug.15, allowing three runs in seven innings.
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