Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Hamilton gave Reds what they need
Boone: 2 runs in 5 innings 'terrific'
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Reds starter Joey Hamilton had control prolems.
(AP photo)
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Joey Hamilton's performance Monday was the kind the Reds want from their starting pitchers.
Hamilton wasn't great — five innings, seven hits, five walks and three strikeouts — but he kept the Reds in the game. Four innings later, they won 5-4.
Hamilton's best work came in jams. He got Fred McGriff to hit into a double play to end the first inning. Hamilton left runners at first and third in the second, first and second in the third.
“My sinker was working,” he said. “When it is, I usually can be effective.”
Hamilton, the 31-year-old right-hander, earned the Opening Day start with an excellent spring. Monday, he looked like a veteran without his best stuff — avoiding disaster by not letting Sammy Sosa and McGriff hurt him.
“I pitched very carefully around those guys,” Hamilton said. “They have people who can hurt you, especially Sammy. I was fortunate to be able to work around the five walks.”
Reds manager Bob Boone will take five innings of two-run ball from any of his starters.
“I thought he was terrific,” Boone said. “He was very tough when he got in a little bit of trouble.”
WILLIE'S BACK: Scott Williamson pitched two-thirds of an inning Monday. But it's safe to say he got one of the biggest outs of the game.
Williamson, who had Tommy John surgery April 12, 2001, came on to pitch the sixth with the Reds leading 4-2. He got pinch hitter Mark Bellhorn to fly out, then had a little lapse in control. He walked Delino DeShields on five pitches and Corey Patterson on four.
That brought up Sosa, who had 160 RBI last year.
Williamson threw a 97-mph fastball by Sosa. He followed that with three breaking balls in the 83-mph range. Sosa swung through one of them and took the other two for balls.
Williamson went back to the fastball and got Sosa swinging with a 94-mph pitch. That was it for Williamson. Left-hander Gabe White came in to face left-handed-hitting McGriff and struck him out.
REITSMA THROWS: Right-hander Chris Reitsma threw four innings against the Reds' Triple-A Louisville club in Sarasota on Sunday.
“Everything went fine,” Reitsma said. “I wasn't worried. I just had an off start my last time in spring training. I was having trouble finding my release point. I got it back.”
Reitsma allowed five runs in his previous exhibition start and complained of having trouble getting his elbow loose.
Reitsma, as the fifth starter, won't pitch until Saturday against Milwaukee. GOTTA WIN: The Reds have sold fewer tickets in advance at this point this season than last season, but chief operating officer John Allen says the Reds still could draw more than the 1.879 million fans they drew last year.
“It depends on the performance on the field,” Allen said. “That will impact day-of-the-game walk-up sales. We're down a little on season sales. Group sales are good. How we do depends on how the team performs.”
NO.1 AT NO.7: Boone says he hopes to keep newcomer Juan Encarnacion in the No.7 spot in the order all year. Why? That would mean the six hitters in front of Encarnacion are all hitting.
“At the very least, we'd have the best 7-hole hitter in the game,” Boone said.
Encarnacion went 1-for-4 Monday.
RIJO HAS FUN: The phone in the Reds clubhouse rang about an hour before game time. Jose Rijo answered with his customary humor:
“Good afternoon, Steinberg's, can I help you?”
Rijo, of course, once did commercials for the defunct appliance store.
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Hamilton gave Reds what they need
