Wednesday, June 27, 2001
Win starts and ends with Ochoa
By R.B. Fallstrom
AP Sports Writer
ST. LOUIS — Alex Ochoa finished what he started for the Reds Tuesday night, leading off the game with a homer, then scoring the go-ahead run in the ninth-inning.
“He's been swinging great for three or four weeks, really,” manager Bob Boone said of the Reds' leadoff hitter, who was 3-for-4 to raise his average to .310. “He's gotten an awful lot of big hits for us.”
Ochoa hit a leadoff double in the ninth off reliever Gene Stechschulte (0-4), whose throw to first on a sacrifice by pinch hitter Brady Clark was out of the reach of second baseman Fernando Vina and rolled down the right-field line.
“I turned around and threw the ball and the last thing I knew, he (Pina) was falling down,” Stechschulte said. “I don't know if he caught his spike or what happened. The double really hurt more than that.”
Ochoa hit Andy Benes' first pitch over the left-field wall for his sixth homer of the season and two pitches later Barry Larkin hit his second.
“That's something you don't see very often,” Ochoa said. “St. Louis came back a couple of times and we kept trying to score runs. It was a tough game because they were hitting the ball, too.”
Ken Griffey Jr. hit his third homer in 11 games since coming off the disabled list in the sixth.
“I'm starting to feel more comfortable at the plate,” Griffey said. “I got a chance to talk to Big Mac (Mark McGwire) and he said it's like going through spring training all over again.”
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Win starts and ends with Ochoa