Tuesday, September 07, 1999

REDS 6, CUBS 3

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One homer is enough to beat Cubs

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Pokey Reese tries to block the ball as Lance Johnson steals second base. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        CHICAGO — The Reds' story during Labor Day weekend revolved around 14 record-setting home runs. On Labor Day itself, just one homer told most of their tale.

        The underlying theme, of course, was winning.

        On a Monday afternoon when 15-mph winds made Wrigley Field play like the Grand Canyon, Dmitri Young beat the gusts and the Chicago Cubs with a three-run, fifth-inning homer that helped the Reds prevail 6-3.

        “Dmitri took the game out of their hands,” said Reds manager Jack McKeon, referring to Young's blast that capped a five-run rally.

Dmitri Young is congratulated by Barry Larkin after hitting a three-run homer. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Cincinnati (79-57), which already has surpassed last year's victory total by two, still trails first-place Houston by 2¹/₂ games in the National League Central Division. New York remained four games ahead of the Reds in the wild-card race.

        The Reds, who made major-league history by belting those 14 homers Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia, needed two to tie Boston's three-game record of 16 and three to claim the mark for themselves. They drove four balls to the warning track that might have cleared the ivy-covered wall had the wind not been blowing in from Lake Michigan.

        But Young found a spot in left-center field that was relatively calm. It left the Reds content.

        “We're just trying to win right now,” Young said. “It's nice to set major-league records, but the only thing we've been trying to do is keep up with the Astros and stack up those wins.”

Sammy Sosa watches his 58th home run of the season sail over the fence. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Stacking up the homers for the third day in a row was impossible. Reds first baseman Sean Casey sensed this before the game.

        “I crushed one to dead center in batting practice, and I think it landed 30 feet from the wall,” he said.

        This conviction grew after Greg Vaughn's mighty fourth-inning drive died in the glove of staggering left fielder Glenallen Hill, who grabbed the ball just in

        front of the wall.

        “I thought it was going to be over the apartment building (across the street),” Casey said.

        “When Greg hit his and the ball didn't get out, right then and there I said, "Oh boy,'” Young said.

        Sammy Sosa, whom no wind can repress, broke a 1-1 tie with his major league-leading 58th homer in the third.

        “I thought if anybody could hit one, it would be one of the big guys,” Reds shortstop Barry Larkin said. “I guess you had to be 200 pounds-plus to leave the yard.”

        Listed at 235 pounds in the Reds' media guide, Young qualified.

        “I hit mine in the right spot,” said Young, who mashed an 0-1 curveball off Cubs left-hander Micah Bowie (1-5). “Greg hit his in that nasty Bermuda Triangle area of left field.”

        Other factors contributed to the Reds' third consecutive victory.

        Good fortune helped ignite their big fifth. Cubs center fielder Lance Johnson, a Princeton High School graduate, lost Jason LaRue's leadoff fly ball in the sun for a double. Bowie (1-5), one of five rookies starting in Chicago's lineup, walked pitcher Juan Guzman.

        Pokey Reese's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners before Larkin, a non-participant in Cincinnati's recent power outburst, scored them with a double to erase Chicago's 2-1 edge.

        “B-Lark has been doing this his whole career,” said an admiring Young.

        “We needed that hit,” said McKeon, aware that Bowie, who entered the game with a 12.18 ERA, was stifling the Reds. “That was a key for us. Also for Barry, too. Because he wasn't having much luck.”

        After Casey walked, the switch-hitting Young followed with his 11th homer. It was his third in 90 at-bats as a right-handed hitter, compared with only one in 147 righty at-bats last year.

        Guzman (5-2) protected the lead with seven effective innings before Scott Sullivan and Danny Graves, who collected his 19th save, finished off the Cubs.

        “We just want to keep the game close so we can give the hitters a chance to score some runs, and we can win,” said Guzman, who allowed three runs (two earned) and six hits while issuing two walks and striking out six. “Right now we're doing everything together.”

       

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