Monday, October 04, 1999
Reds' fate in Parris' hands
Should start 1-game playoff today vs. Mets
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[parris]](http://reds.enquirer.com/img/mugs/parris.jpg)
Steve Parris
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MILWAUKEE — Steve Parris didn't even make the Reds' major league roster coming out of spring training. Today, he's the most important player on the team.
His pitching in tonight's one-game playoff will likely determine whether the Reds' magical ride continues or ends in disappointment.
Parris, a 31-year-old right-hander, is expected to take the mound for the Reds in tonight's 7:05 one-game showdown with the New York Mets to see who gets the National League wild-card playoff berth.
“No different than any other game I pitch,” Parris said. “It's a big game, but you can't go in there thinking that. First time you think that, you start overthrowing. I'm just going to go out and relax and try to have some fun.”
Parris (11-3) opposes Mets' left-hander Al Leiter (12-12). In 17 career innings against the Mets, Parris is 0-2 and has allowed 14 earned runs. They handed him his first loss this season, back in May.
“I've lost to other teams too this year. No big deal,” he said.
Before losing his last start — a 4-1 loss in Houston last Wednesday in which he went five-plus innings, allowing six hits and four runs, only one earned — he had won his last four previous starts. That last outing wasn't as good as the Reds needed against Astros starter Mike Hampton, but Parris has been perhaps the Reds' most consistent starter all year.
A control pitcher who changes speed well, Parris can occasionally overpower hitters with his fastball. He doesn't walk many, and his best chance against the Mets will be to keep his control and keep them off-balance with different speeds.
The start will undoubtedly be the highlight of Parris' strange trip back to the major leagues. Early in 1998, he wondered if he'd ever pitch in the majors again after a promising career was derailed by shoulder surgery in 1996.
The comeback led him to sign a minor league contract with the Reds, and early last season he found himself toiling in Triple-A. When other major league teams showed interest, the Reds promoted him to the big leagues so they wouldn't lose him. It turned out to be a good investment, with Parris going 5-3 with a 2.72 ERA in his last 10 starts, arguably the best performance by a Reds' pitcher the second half of the season.
Yet this spring, Parris was the unfortunate victim of a roster crunch, sent to Triple-A Indianapolis despite a decent spring training (0-2, 3.97 ERA). With the Reds in need of pitching in early May, he was promoted to the big leagues and has stayed since.
“I don't even think about what happened,” Parris said. “I got up here a month later than I wanted to be, and I've pitched well. It all comes down to one game.”
Parris has gone at least five innings in 19 of his 20 starts — the only exception September 3 against the Phillies (1ö innings), his first time back after spending time on the shelf with a triceps injury — and has given up more than four runs only once and held opponents to three or fewer runs in 11 of h is 20 starts.
Before the triceps injury, Parris was the only Red to go at least five innings in all his starts. He has gone at least 6ô innings in nine starts, including a two complete games — most recently a six-hit shutout three starts ago against Pittsburgh.
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