Saturday, September 23, 2000
Reds 12, Astros 5
Casey hits two of six Reds homers
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sean Casey is an easy guy to get along with, but he does take exception to something people have been saying to him lately.
“People say, "Man, you've been hot lately,' ” Casey said. “I say, "What do you think, I came up from .200 yesterday?' ”
The point is Casey has been hot lately, but he was also hot in June, July and August. He went 3-for-3 and led the Reds home run parade with two (they had a season-high six) in a 12-5 victory over Houston Astros Friday night at Cinergy.
Casey's average stands at a season-high .311.
“That's not bad for a guy who's been hitting for a long time,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said.
Casey was hitting .213 on May 31. He didn't have an RBI in his first 40 at-bats (he's up to 73).
That came after he struggled in the second half last year, but he never doubted himself.
“I believed in myself,” he said. “I just went and worked everyday. I knew I was going to hit. I always hit. You hear all the doubters. But that's why it's a 162-game season.”
He is hitting .372 since the All-Star Break with 12 home runs and 47 RBI. And he keeps getting hotter. He has 21 RBI in the 21 games since Dante Bichette was traded. He's hitting .516 with three home runs and nine RBI in the his last 10 games.
“This didn't happen overnight,” Casey said.
“For him it was a matter of finding a groove,” McKeon said. “He's in the zone right now. Everything he hits he hits hard.”
Casey may be the one Red that would like to play on.
“I wish we had another month or two,” he said. “I had 140 more at-bats last year (than I have now). I think if I had as many this year, I'd put up better numbers.”
The Reds jumped all over Jose Lima. Lima, the 21-game winner from last year, fell to 7-16, had his ERA climb to 6.83 and set a very dubious record. Elmer Dessens was more than good enough given all the run support. He went 6ô innings, allowing three runs, to push his record to 10-5. Dessens has won four straight starts. His ERA over that span is 3.07.
Lima gave up a pair of runs in the first on Casey's RBI double and Alex Ochoa's sacrifice fly.
Houston's Richard Hidalgo hit his 43rd home run of the year to make it 2-1. He hit hit 44th in the eighth.
But things got considerably worse for Lima in the Reds' second. Juan Castro and Micheal Tucker hit two-run homers and Casey hit a solo shot. The homers were 45th, 46th and 47th that Lima has allowed this year. That's a new National League record for home runs allowed. Hall of Famer Robin Roberts gave up 46 with Philadelphia in 1956. The difference is Roberts allowed his 46 in 297 ininngs. Lima allowed his 47 in 188 innings.
Lima lasted only two innings. He allowed five hits and seven runs. He walked three and struck out one.
“It's either out of the strike zone or out of the part,” Houston manager Larry Dierker said.
Casey hit his second home run in the seventh, driving Rusty Meachem's first pitch of the inning into the right field yellow seats. It was Casey's third two-homer game of his career.
Two outs later, Benito Santiago hit his eighth home run.
Alex Ochoa hit the Reds' sixth homer of the night, a three-run bolt to left, in the eighth. That tied a record for most home runs allowed by the Astros.
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Reds 12, Astros 5
