Sunday, September 12, 1999
REDS NOTEBOOK
Graves doesn't want to sit out
Despite the frightening-looking injury he sustained Friday night, Reds reliever Danny Graves insisted he could have pitched Saturday, though manager Jack McKeon was expected to keep him out of the game against the Florida Marlins.
McKeon said he would have rested Graves, who had pitched five days in a row (skipping only the second game of last Tuesday's doubleheader at Chicago), even if the right-hander had been healthy. Graves suffered a bruised left quadriceps muscle when Alex Gonzalez's game-ending line drive struck him just above his left knee, caromed off his right knee and popped up, enabling him to catch the ball.
Graves, who fell to the turf and was helped off the field after making the catch, insisted that he felt much better Saturday morning after icing his leg all night. He even appeared at a clinic in Blue Ash and threw in the outfield during batting practice.
“I'm not the biggest part of the team, but I think I'm a big enough part not to need days off,” Graves said before the game. “Hopefully we won't need me tonight. but I told them if they need me, I'm fine. If we go 15 innings and everybody pitches but me, I'm fine. I know they're going to try to give me the day off but I told them I don't need it.”
Graves' apparent health buoyed the Reds, who have benefited greatly from his pitching. He has allowed just one earned run in 17ö innings spanning his last 14 appearances, including three saves in his last three outings to hike his team-high total to 22.
Rave reviews
McKeon and pitching coach Don Gullett liked what they saw of left-hander Ty Howington, Cincinnati's No.1 draft choice from the June amateur draft who threw in the bullpen.
Howington, who also officially signed his first pro contract, displayed rising and sinking fastballs, a curveball and a changeup.
“He's one of the better-looking pitchers we've brought in,” McKeon said.
“He's obviously a No.1, in my opinion, in regards to physical ability,” Gullett said. “He has great arm action and arm strength, and he showed three quality pitches. The potential is definitely there.”
Howington missed the entire minor-league season while holding out for his $1.75 million bonus. But the graduate of Hudson's Bay High School in Vancouver, Wash., didn't consider his summer wasted, since he pitched a Seattle-area team to the Connie Mack World Series. Howington, the draft's 14th overall selection, recorded a 1.16 ERA, striking out 61 batters in 35ô innings while allowing just 16 hits.
“It's not the same level (as the low minors),” he said. “But I got my innings in.”
The 18-year-old, who'll probably begin next season at Single-A Clinton, said he hoped he could reach the majors in “a couple of years.”
Between innings
Right-hander Pete Harnisch recently mentioned that refining his pitching mechanics has been difficult, since his sore shoulder has forced him to limit his throwing between starts.
Since firing his glittering eight-inning one-hitter Aug. 19 against Pittsburgh, Harnisch is 1-2 with a 7.59 ERA in four starts, having yielded 32 hits in 21ö innings.
Harnisch, who'll pitch Tuesday's opener of a three-game series against Chicago at Cinergy Field, had his usual between-starts bullpen session Saturday.
“I thought he did OK,” Gullett said. “Of course, Pete is a perfectionist. He gets upset if he doesn't throw every pitch where he wants.”
Power bill
Entering Saturday, the Reds had hit 28 home runs in September, including 25 in their last eight games. The club record for homers in a month is 50, set in August 1956.
That's the same year the Reds established their single-season franchise record with 221 homers. This year's team is on pace to finish with 208.
When Dmitri Young and Eddie Taubensee homered in Saturday's third inning, it marked the sixth time this season that Reds batters have hit back-to-back home runs.
Up next
Ron Villone (7-6), whose first appearance this year against Florida prompted the Reds to begin thinking about making him a starter, pitches today against Marlins right-hander A.J. Burnett (2-1).
Entering a May 28 game at Florida with the Reds trailing, 7-1, Villone allowed just two hits in 4ô shutout innings and tied his career high with seven strikeouts. By June 8, he had joined the rotation.
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