Friday, May 17, 2002
Less pressure, more winning helps Reitsma
Win Thursday lifts righty to 2-0; ERA 2.85
By John Fay jfay@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MILWAUKEE — Sean Casey summed it up perfectly: “Chris Reitsma is coming on like the ace of the staff. He kept us in the game today. With the way Ben Sheets was throwing, that was huge.”
Reitsma, a 24-year-old right-hander, threw seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball in the Reds' 2-1, 11-inning victory over the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday. Reitsma hung right with Sheets, who pitched 8 1/3 innings of three-hit, one-run ball.
“He gave us an outstanding performance,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “We could see from the outset that it was going to be a pitcher's duel.”
Reitsma's record is only 2-0. But Thursday's performance lowered his ERA to 2.85. Of his eight starts, he has given up two or fewer runs in five of them. His only bad start was April 12, and it had to more to do with bad defense than bad pitching.
Reitsma went 7-15 last year when he tried to make the jump from Double-A to the majors. He had a good April last year but struggled for consistency the rest of the way, including a 5.06 ERA in May.
His ERA so far this May? 2.41.
“The difference between this year and last year is I'm not putting pressure on myself,” he said. “The team's winning. We're having a lot of fun. That's what I'm trying to do.”
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Less pressure, more winning helps Reitsma
