Wednesday, May 08, 2002
Reds 8, Brewers 2
Dunn, Casey homer
By John Fay jfay@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sean Casey is greeted by third-base coach Tim Foli after his first homer in 53 games.
(Ernest Coleman photos)
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The Reds came home from the West Coast in a funk offensively. But awaiting them at Cinergy Field was the cure: the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Reds beat the Brewers 8-2 Tuesday night before a crowd of 16,167 at Cinergy Field. It was the Reds' second straight win after four straight losses to end the West Coast trip.
The difference is the Reds are hitting again. They've scored 16 runs in the two games against the Brewers. That's one more than they scored on the six-game California trip.
“That was nice,” Reds manager Bob Boone said of Tuesday's blowout. “We've got some guys swinging the bats.”
Adam Dunn and Sean Casey homered for the Reds. It was Dunn's sixth home run in 10 games. It was Casey's first home run in 53 games. The Reds tied a season high with 15 hits. Austin Kearns had three; Casey, Dunn, Todd Walker and pitcher Elmer Dessens each had two.
Adam Dunn hits his sixth homer in 10 games.
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The Reds have scored 21 runs on 35 hits in the three games since Boone moved Kearns to the fourth spot. That gives the Reds batters hitting right, left, right, left, right, left in the second through seventh spots.
“That puts pressure on the pitcher,” Dunn said. “It's really tough on a bullpen.”
Dessens (2-3) went seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out three and allowed only one runner to advance to second through the first six innings.
Elmer Dessens has a 1.34 ERA over his last six starts.
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“That was a very professional performance from Elmer,” Boone said. “Sometimes it's tough to pitch with a lead. He hasn't had much practice at it.”
Dessens has rolled after having a bad first start. Since then, he has allowed six earned runs over 40 innings. That's a 1.34 ERA over six starts.
For the second straight night, the Reds started hitting early. Barry Larkin, back in the lineup after a night off because of a tight hamstring, led off the first with a single up the middle. Juan Encarnacion sent Larkin to third with a single.
Larkin scored on Casey's fielder's choice, and Kearns singled. Then Dunn did it again. He lifted a fly ball so high it was hard to believe it had a chance get out. But it did, landing in the bullpen behind the right-field wall.
“For us mortals, that's a fly-out,” Boone said. “But he's got something special in that bat.”
Adam Dunn makes a diving catch.
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Dunn's power is such that he doesn't have to hit them perfect, just well.
“It's nice when you can mis-hit one and it still goes out of the park,” Dunn said.
It was Dunn's eighth homer of the year and second in as many nights. The three RBI gave him the team lead with 24.
Casey then led off the third with a shot to left that just cleared the wall near the left-field line. It was his first home run since Aug.24.
“It's nice to get the first one out of the way,” Casey said. “Maybe now they'll start coming.”
Boone pulled five of the regulars by the late innings, which was a pretty sound strategy. The Brewers lost for the 104th consecutive game when trailing after eight innings. That's a major-league record.
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Reds 8, Brewers 2
