Monday, April 15, 2002
Phillies 3, Reds 1
Padilla hits stride as Reds' win streak ends
By John Fay, jfay@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PHILADELPHIA — The Reds' good road trip ended not so good Sunday with a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium.
The Comeback Kids were shut down by a new kid in the Phillie rotation.
Phillies right-hander Vicente Padilla had the best day of his young career. Padilla went a career-high eight innings and struck out a career-high 11. The Reds only managed six hits and not a single walk.
They did knock out Padilla in the ninth, but Jose Mesa closed it out.
“The kid was very good,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “He changed speeds. He hit his spots. He was pretty tough.”
The Reds went 0-for-8 with five strikeouts with runners in scoring position. This was a departure from the big comebacks they put together in the previous three games, when they strung together hits in clutch situations. But the Reds lineup didn't look much like it did the previous three games.
Sean Casey didn't play after being hit in the head Saturday night. Boone rested Barry Larkin, Aaron Boone (he did pinch-hit in the eighth and stay in play to shortstop) and Jason LaRue. With Ken Griffey Jr. already out, that meant only three players from the Opening Day lineup — Todd Walker, Juan Encarnacion and Adam Dunn — started Sunday.
Still, the Reds were happy with the 4-2 road trip. “That's a great road trip,” Casey said. “We're excited. We played great baseball the last couple of days.”
Elmer Dessens (0-3) took the loss. He's allowed one earned run in 13 innings over his last two starts and took losses in both games.
“Elmer pitched terrific,” Bob Boone said. “Anytime you score one point, you aren't going to win very often.”
Dessens returned to Philadelphia Saturday night after going to Cincinnati for the birth of his first child. The trip didn't bother him. He retired the first six batters he faced.
But the Reds, who went into the game third from last in the National League in defense, gave the Phillies three runs in the third.
Todd Pratt and Doug Glanville started the inning with back-to-back singles. Dessens struck out Padilla. He then got Jimmy Rollins to ground right to third baseman Wilton Guerrero for a perfect double-play ball.
But the ball went off Guerrero's chest. He had no play with the speedy Rollins running, and the bases were loaded.
“That was the ball game,” Boone said.
It was Guerrero's fifth start as a major leaguer at third base. “I'm sure that's part of it,” Boone said. “It got him on an in-between hop.”
Dessens didn't shift the blame. It was still 0-0 after the error.
“I still thought I'd get the next two guys,” he said. He did get Marlon Anderson, but Bobby Abreu singled in two runs and Scott Rolen doubled in another.
The runs were the 11th, 12th and 13th unearned runs allowed by the Reds this year.
The runs looked big against the makeshift lineup with Padilla pitching.
Padilla, a 24-year-old right-hander obtained from Arizona in the Curt Schilling deal, was converted to a starter last year, and went 7-0 at Triple-A Scranton.
He set a career-high for strikeouts by the sixth inning. His previous best was eight. He set a career-high for innings by pitching the seventh. His previous high was six.
He was mixing a 95 mph fastball with a wicked curve.
Dessens might have been able to match him, if not for the error by Guerrero. Dessens ended up going six innings, allowing the three unearned runs on seven hits. He walked one (intentionally) and struck out six.
The Reds have scored one run in Dessens' last two starts.
“It's a long season,” he said. “My luck will change.”
The Reds finally got a run in the ninth. Guerrero beat out an infield single. Encarnacion followed with another infield single. Third baseman Rolen threw this one down the right field line for an error. Guerrero scored and Encarnacion went to second.
Closer Mesa stranded him there.
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Phillies 3, Reds 1
