Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Reds Notebook
Sullivan encouraged by 2 scoreless innings
By John Fay jfay@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIAMI — Reds manager Bob Boone said before Tuesday night's 6-5, 11-inning victory over the Florida Marlins that he'd like to get Scott Sullivan in the game in an “innocuous situation.”
“Hopefully, we'll have a seven-run lead,” Boone said.
As they say in the Hertz commercial: Not exactly.
Sullivan pitched the seventh and eighth with the score tied 4-4.
“We don't live in a Utopian society,” Sullivan said. “Sometimes things aren't perfect. But it was nice to get back out there in my usual role.”
Sullivan gave up two hits and a walk but no runs.
It was his first appearance since May19. Two days later, he had a cortisone injection to help ease the swelling around his elbow that resulted from getting hit by a Richie Sexson comebacker May13 in Milwaukee.
“I felt pretty good,” Sullivan said. “Toward the end, my forearm lost its durability.”
Boone was expecting Sullivan to slowly get back into form. If Tuesday's performance was any indication, Sullivan should be able to resume his primary setup role fairly quickly.
“I saw some good things out there,” Boone said.
SATURDAY'S STARTER: Boone still hasn't decided who will start for the Reds on Saturday. It is right-hander Jose Rijo's turn. Rijo also was supposed to start today, but he was skipped because he was getting tired early in his starts.
Rijo came out of the bullpen in the fourth inning Tuesday night and made one pitch, retiring Mike Lowell on a fly out. He will be in the bullpen the next few days, but he still could start Saturday.
Another alternative is right-hander Jim Brower, who pitched 5 1/3innings in relief of Joey Hamilton on Friday and allowed one earned run.
Brower went 4-3 with a 6.02 ERA in 10 starts last year.
“I'd like to start,” Brower said. “Being a spot starter is a tough situation, but there's always a chance you can catch lightning and dominate. That might lead to another start.”
Brower probably won't know until Thursday. Until then, he'll be counted on for long relief.
BORN TO RUN: With the Reds playing Major League Baseball's best running team, you'd think Boone might be tempted to use his best throwing catcher for all three games of the series.
That's not the case. Boone said he'd be as comfortable with Corky Miller at catcher as Jason LaRue. Miller has thrown out only 22 percent of would-be base stealers. LaRue has thrown out 44 percent this year, and led the National League by throwing out 60 percent last year.
“We don't stop the running game with catchers,” Boone said. “We stop it with pitchers.”
Boone and pitching coach Don Gullett have been working with the pitchers to speed up their deliveries.
Closer Danny Graves is the prize pupil. He has gone from 1.45 seconds to less than a second.
“Anyone below 1.3 is hard to run on,” Boone said, “unless it's a real burner.”
“It's something I've really worked on,” Graves said. “Late in the game, you have to control the running game. It's tough to do. You want to be quick to the plate, but (you) still (have to be) effective with your pitches.”
Boone occasionally will order a pitcher to throw to first base, but he leaves most of the responsibility up to the pitcher.
“If I intercede — and have them throw over — you can bet your bottom dollar I've got a feeling they're going to run,” Boone said.
The Marlins lead all of baseball with 65 steals.
JUAN GONE: Outfielder Juan Encarnacion was out of the lineup Tuesday to make room for Ken Griffey Jr. The plan is for Griffey not to play today.
CASTRO PLAYS: Infielder Juan Castro made his first start of rehab reassignment with Triple-A Louisville on Monday and went 2-for-4 with an RBI. He hadn't played in a real game since April10 when he aggravated his injured left hamstring.
Also at Louisville, right-hander Jose Acevedo threw six scoreless innings in a 7-1 RiverBats victory over Ottawa. Outfielder Ruben Mateo has hit in all five games since returning to Louisville. Mateo was 10-for-22 with two homers and eight runs scored.
Reds Stories
Learning time for Bengals' defense
Frerotte happy in stripes
Xavier not lacking in candidates
Kings 92, Lakers 91
Lakers on the brink of elimination
Nets' Kidd confident, angry, entering Game 5
Cavs pay high price for working out prep star
Hurricanes reach Stanley Cup finals
Red Wings feel due against Colorado
NKU's Walton named All-American
Skatepark Schedule
Coming up this week
Lebanon (24-0) trying to make reputation
Colerain has point to prove
Cincinnati High School Results
Ohio regional baseball schedule
Ohio regional softball schedule
Ohio Regional Track Schedule
Ohio State Tennis Schedule
• Return to Reds front page...
Reds Notebook: Sullivan encouraged by 2 scoreless innings
