Wednesday, September 29, 1999

Reds 4, Astros 1

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BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Pete Harnisch throttled the Astros for eight innings. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        HOUSTON — Go ahead, say it — Cincinnati's magic number for clinching the National League Central Division title is four.

        It became permissible to speak in those lofty terms Tuesday night, when the Reds' early aggression on offense complemented Pete Harnisch's resilient pitching in their 4-1 victory over the Houston Astros.

        The Reds (95-63) broke a tie with Houston (94-64) atop the division standings while winning their sixth game in a row. About that magic number: Any combination of Reds victories or Astros defeats equaling four in the teams' remaining four games will give Cincinnati the Central title and a division series confrontation with West champion Arizona starting next Tuesday.

        The magic number is even smaller — three — to secure the wild-card playoff berth, since the New York Mets (92-65) continued slumping with their seventh loss in a row.

Sean Casey is greeted after his first-inning HR. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        “Right now, every game's the playoffs,” said first baseman Sean Casey, whose first-inning homer off Astros right-hander Jose Lima gave the Reds a fast start. “We can't sit back now. This is a big win, but we have a lot of work to do (today).”

        A victory in tonight's series finale would give the Reds a two-game lead over the Astros.

        The Reds, who assumed their first one-game lead over Houston since July 9, can do no worse than leave here with a first-place tie.

        “The pressure is to win the series,” said shortstop Barry Larkin, ignoring the playoffs for the time being. “I think if we can win, keep that focus, we'll be fine. To win the series we have to win tomorrow.”

        Said manager Jack McKeon, “We're not jumping up and down in the streets. We know (Houston's) a good ball club.”

Jose Lima gave up four runs in the first three innings. | ZOOM |

        The Reds weren't as serious as they sounded. Larkin visibly exulted after darting behind second base to grab Derek Bell's grounder, spinning and throwing to first base for the out that stranded Astros on second and third base in the seventh inning. Harnisch chattered admiringly to Larkin about Jeff Bagwell's deep fly ball earlier in the inning (“He almost missed that ball and still nearly hit it out!”).

        But they took care of business first.

        A sellout crowd of 54,037 — the largest paid attendance in the Astrodome's 35-year history — came indoors to urge Houston toward a third consecutive division title.

        Instead, they watched the Reds maintain their season-long dominance over Houston. Cincinnati is 9-3 against the Astros, outscoring them by a 70-40 margin. The Reds improved to 5-0 here while handing Houston its seventh defeat in 10 games.

        “Ever since Lima said something earlier in the year about not being worried about the Reds, these guys have been really fired up,” said Scott Williamson, who earned his 19th save and his first since Aug. 26.

Reds celebrate after Scott Williamson gets the last out. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        “I'm concerned about it,” Astros manager Larry Dierker said. “I don't want to come all this way and not make the playoffs. I'd be happy to get into the playoffs even if we lose the rest of our games and the Mets lose the rest of their games. But at some point, we have to start playing better or we won't deserve to be in the playoffs. And we're running out of time.”

        Time was on Harnisch's side. Pitching on eight days' rest, he yielded just four hits while issuing no walks in eight innings. He reversed his fortunes from his previous six starts (1-4, 7.11 ERA), allowing him to relax as he improved to 4-0 this year against Houston.

        “I did a lot of messing around out there,” said Harnisch (15-10), whose 75 pitches included 59 strikes. “I had a lot of fun tonight.”

        Cincinnati established control by scoring in each of the first three innings off Lima (20-10). Casey's homer, his 25th, sent a quick message.

        “I was hoping we could get to Lima early and not let him settle in,” Casey said. “That was a big home run. It kind of gets the guys thinking, "Hey, we can get this guy now.' ”

        They did, though Derek Bell's two-base error on Eddie Taubensee's single helped the Reds add a pair of runs in the second inning. Larkin doubled and rounded the bases on infield singles by Greg Vaughn and Taubensee in the third.

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