Wednesday, September 08, 1999

REDS 10, CUBS 3

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Vaughn's 3 HR help earn split

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Dmitri Young greets Greg Vaughn, who hit three homers. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        CHICAGO — A doubleheader that could have been disastrous became tolerable for the Reds when Greg Vaughn's three home runs led a six-homer outburst that overwhelmed the Chicago Cubs 10-3 in Tuesday's second game.

        But the Reds emerged from Wrigley Field with a split, due to their 2-1 loss in the first game. They trail first-place Houston by three games in the National League Central Division — the Astros' largest lead since Aug.8.

        Said third baseman Aaron Boone, who homered twice in the nightcap: “We just need to play good baseball. We're realizing more and more it has to be real good baseball.”

        Lately for the Reds, competence has meant slugging. They have 21 homers in their last five games.

Young argues a called third strike with one of the new umpires, Dan Iassogna. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        “You can't explain it,” said Vaughn, who recorded his first career three-homer game and Cincinnati's second of the season, matching Jeffrey Hammonds' May 19 effort at Colorado. “We were just trying to be aggressive. We weren't fouling off pitches. We were hitting them out of the ballpark.”

        Manager Jack McKeon may have had the most accurate perspective on the Reds' latest longball outburst: “The only problem was, we didn't get any of them in the first game.”

        Eventually, power will wane. If the Reds are to sustain the excellence they need, they must duplicate the resilience summoned by Brett Tomko, whose pitching in the second game complemented the offense.

        Tomko (5-7) limited Chicago to one run in six innings while notching his first victory since Aug.1. He was bruised on his right forearm and his left rib cage by a Henry Rodriguez line drive in the sixth but finished the inning and wasn't seriously hurt.

Pokey Reese loses the ball as Chad Meyers slides into second. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        “I tried to take the same approach that I had when I came out of the bullpen — approach every inning like it's the last you're in there,” said Tomko, who allowed one run in 4ô innings in two relief appearances since being removed from the starting rotation.

        Having endured banishment to the bullpen, demotion to the minors and criticism from Reds staff, Tomko won a game that Cincinnati absolutely had to have. Since Houston defeated Philadelphia 8-6, a second loss would have left the Reds four games back.

        But Tomko, who walked one while striking out five, refused to put undue pressure on himself. “I didn't approach it as anything more than I got another start,” he said.

        It wasn't just another performance, as the fourth inning proved. Mickey Morandini and Sammy Sosa singled before Mark Grace doubled in a run, giving Chicago runners on second and third with nobody out and Cincinnati clinging to a 4-1 lead.

        Then, with his fastball hitting 96 mph on the Fox Sports Network's radar gun, Tomko fanned Henry Rodriguez and Jeff Blau ser. After walking Jeff Reed, Tomko coaxed Cole Liniak to hit into an inning-ending forceout.

        “The adrenaline kicks in a little bit when it's a big moment in the game,” said Tomko, who threw 55 strikes in 87 pitches. “I just got fired up.”

        Boone homered in each of the next two innings while Vaughn blasted his second home run in the sixth, giving Cincinnati a commanding 9-1 lead.

        Mike Cameron returned to the lineup in rousing fashion after missing 10 games with a strained left hamstring, opening the scoring in the second inning against Cubs rookie Brian McNichol by belting a two-run homer with his first swing. Clearly overmatched in his major-league debut, McNichol allowed six runs and eight hits while lasting two batters into the fifth inning.

        In the opener, the Reds suffered the ignominy of mustering four hits in eight innings off right-hander Steve Trachsel (6-16), who has been branded as one of the season's biggest flops in the entire major leagues.

        Facing a Cincinnati team that had scored 37 runs while hitting 15 homers in its previous three games, Trachsel more closely resembled a 16-game winner than a 16-game loser.

        After Pokey Reese singled leading off the game, Trachsel retired 21 of the next 22 Reds he faced, including 16 in a row following Boone's leadoff double in the third inning.

        “He did a heck of a job changing speeds and making good pitches. That was the best he has pitched against us in a long time,” McKeon said. Given Trachsel's 6-2 career record against Cincinnati, that was saying a lot.

        Reds starter Ron Villone (7-6) collaborated with Trachsel on a scoreless tie through four innings.

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