Sunday, September 26, 1999

REDS 6, CARDINALS 1

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Playoff hopes in Reds' hands with win

BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Sean Casey and Eddie Taubensee salute each other after Saturday's victory over the Cardinals, moving the Reds into a tie for first place in the NL wild-card race. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

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        The Reds ride on Greg Vaughn's back has them atop the National League wild-card standings.

        The question now is how far can Vaughn carry this club.

        “He has what it takes to take this team all the way to Haloween,” said Dmitri Young. Vaughn did take the team a giant step closer to the postseason when he hit his 14th home run of September to power the Reds past the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 before a crowd of 38,936 at Cinergy Field Saturday afternoon.

        About the time the Reds settled in their lockers for a postgame bite to eat, the Philadephia Phillies were wrapping up a 4-2 victory over the reeling New York Mets.

        That means the Reds and the Mets are tied atop the NL wild-card with 92-63 records. The Reds are one game behind the Houston Astros in the NL Central, after their loss at the hands of Milwaukee.

        But the Reds' fate is in their hands. If they have a better record than the Mets over the last seven games, the Reds go to playoffs. If the teams have the same record and the Reds finish behind the Astros in the Central, the Reds play the Mets in a one-game playoff at Cinergy on Oct. 4.

        “This is what you play for,” Vaughn said. “We just want to make the playoffs.”

        Vaughn's homer — a two-run shot to center field — broke a 1-1 tie. The only other Red to hit 14 home runs in a month was Frank Robinson, who did it in August of 1962.

        Robinson was at the game doing color work for Fox television. When you tie the record of a Hall of Famer, it means something. When you do it with home run that means as much as Vaughn's did Saturday, it means a lot more.

        “It's nice because it gave us a chance to win,” Vaughn said. “That's the important thing. It's not about how many home runs or RBI Greg Vaughn gets. It's about winning games.”

        The Reds are in a perpetual must-win situation. Saturday, they fell behind 1-0 in the first. But starting pitcher Denny Neagle (9-5) was able to hold on after shaky start.

        The Reds tied it in the third. Mike Cameron singled and stole second, then scored on Sean Casey's single.

        But the tension of a 1-1 game was starting to get heavy as the day wore on.

        Casey hit a two-out single in the fifth. Did Vaughn go up there thinking home run?

        “I always go up with bad intentions,” he said. “I wanted to do something to give us a chance to win the game.”

        He did it with towering 422-foot shot to center. Vaughn, not one to show a lot of emotion, gave a little pump of his fist as the ball went out.

        A 3-1 lead feels pretty big with a pitcher throwing as well as Neagle and a strong bullpen.

Greg Vaughn rounds the bases Saturday after hitting a two-run homer in the fifth inning. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        “The home run was monumental,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. “It gets you the lead and the (solo) home run can't beat you.”

        There was only one sticky stretch after the home run. Placido Polanco led off the eighth with a double.

        With Mark McGwire due up, McKeon brought in closer Danny Graves. Graves got McGwire to fly out.

        The Reds broke it open with three straight doubles and some shoddy Cardinals fielding in the eighth. That made it 6-1 and Graves' 27th save was a foregone conclusion.

        The Reds have won three straight at a time when the Mets have gone south. The Reds have a share of the wild-card lead for the first time since Aug. 4.

        “As good as the Mets and Astros were playing, it didn't look like anybody was going to catch anybody.” Neagle said. “We needed a team like Atlanta and now Philly to help us.

        “All you can do is take care of what you have to do and keep winning.”

        Vaughn has made that easier. He really heated up beginning Sept. 7 and is hitting .362 with 12 homers and 26 RBI over 18 games since.

        “It's great,” McKeon said. “I hope he goes right through September and into October.” All the way to Halloween, even.

       

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