Tuesday, October 05, 1999

Reds give credit to Leiter

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BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Al Leiter helps drench Mets manager Bobby Valentine in champagne. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Their woeful offensive performance Monday was typical of the 1999 Reds in at least one way: It was a team effort.

        The Reds, who seemed to have a different hero every night this season and got clutch hits from nearly every regular, got nothing from everybody as they were dominated 5-0 by the Mets and veteran left-hander Al Leiter in the one-game National League wild-card playoff.

        Leiter, who came in with a 12-12 record and a 4.41 ERA, held the Reds to two hits: a sharp liner to left in the second inning by Jeffrey Hammonds and a double to left in the ninth by Pokey Reese. But Cincinnati had only one runner advance past first base.

        The Reds offered no excuses. They accepted that Leiter, who helped Florida win the 1997 World Series, beat them.

        “Al Leiter. That's what got us,” Reds shortstop Barry Larkin said. “I don't think guys were tired.”

        “It's tough,” said first baseman Sean Casey, unsuccessfully fighting back tears. “With a guy like that, when he's on, you feel like you're at his mercy.”

        Leiter appeared to struggle with his control early, walking leadoff man Reese to open the first and going to a three-ball count on Larkin. But as he would the rest of the evening, Leiter made the pitches when he needed to, getting Larkin to fly out.

        “That's why the Mets got him,” Casey said. “He showed he's a big-game pitcher. I thought we were going to get to him. That's the way we've been all year.”

        Leiter looked like he might be getting tired near the end of his complete game. Eddie Taubensee walked to begin the eighth, but Aaron Boone, after fouling off several pitches, grounded into a double play up the middle.

        Reese smoked the double in the ninth, but Larkin grounded out and Casey struck out. Greg Vaughn drew a walk, and then Dmitri Young hit perhaps the hardestball of the night. Unfortunately for the Reds, it was right into the glove of Mets second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo.

        “That was the last out,” Young said, his voice trailing off in disappointment. “I got good wood a couple times. Al Leiter threw (the money) he's worth.”

        “We hit a lot of balls hard,” Reese said. “But they made some plays. He kept the ball down. He was nasty.”

        Leiter kept the Reds off balance, mixing speeds and pitches. He especially frustrated them by coming inside with fastballs and cutters, forcing them to foul pitches off into the third-base stands.

        “You saw how many foul balls were hit for souvenirs,” Young said.

        The Reds were in a 2-0 hole before they even batted, but Young said they weren't pressing to make things happen at the plate.

        “The opposite,” he said. “We've come back from five-, six-, seven-run deficits. He just got us.”

        Boone thought the night was a microcosm of the season's final few weeks, as the Reds' bats became less potent. They failed to rally in perhaps their two most important losses: Friday in Milwaukee, when they jumped to a 3-0 lead but couldn't score afterward and lost, and Monday.

        “It's frustrating,” a soft-spoken Boone repeated several times. “Hopefully, it's something we can learn from.”

       

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