Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Look who's still contending
Written off several times, Reds nip at Cards' heels
By John Fay, jfay@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DENVER — The day after the Cardinals traded for third baseman Scott Rolen, someone mentioned to Reds manager Bob Boone that the national media — read ESPN talkers — had pretty much ceded the National League Central to St. Louis.
“I thought they ceded it to them in spring training,” he said.
Touche.
Spring training is four months and four days in the rearview mirror, and the Reds are still the team that won't go away.
The Reds were off Monday, but open a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies today at Coors Field.
Can the Reds continue to confound the experts the rest of the way, and take the race to the wire?
Sure. They've done it for 110 games. Why shouldn't they be able to for 52 more?
The Reds stand two games behind the Cardinals in the Central, as close as they've been since the All-Star break. The Reds trail wild-card leader Los Angeles by three games following the Dodgers' loss to Philadelphia Monday.
The Reds picked up three games on the Cardinals in four days while St. Louis lost five straight.
The Reds are a $45 million team succeeding in an $80 million world.
It's a credit to general manager Jim Bowden, a bad chooser of words but a good chooser of players (the Russell Branyan trade looks pretty good now).
It's a credit to Boone. Rip him for his moves, but he has kept the team together through some rough stretches.
But, mostly, it's a credit to the players. The Reds' lineup is dotted with guys having off years, but, as a team, they're doing what it takes to win. A good example of that was Branyan taking a walk in the ninth inning Sunday when a home run would have given him four for the day.
The biggest reason for optimism in the Reds camp is this: The offense is finally cranking out runs as it was expected to. Since July 23, the Reds have averaged 6.3 runs per game, up two runs over what they averaged previously.
The biggest reason for pessimism: There are a lot of questions about the starting pitching. That has been a year-long theme. But Elmer Dessens' injured groin muscle and Ryan Dempster's shocking ineffectiveness make it more critical now.
The NL Central race could very well come down to the Reds' 14 games with the other contenders.
They play St. Louis and the surging Houston Astros, who are one game behind the Reds, seven times each.
The Reds are 5-7 against the Cardinals and 3-7 against the Astros this season.
“We've got to beat the teams who are over .500,” Reds shortstop Barry Larkin said, “and we've got to continue to beat the teams we're supposed to beat.”
The Reds have been great at the latter (38-14 against teams below .500) and horrible at the former (20-38 against teams over .500).
They've made in-roads against St. Louis. The Reds started the season series 2-5 against the Cardinals, but they've won three of the last four. They've been awful all year against the Astros.
The Reds get a chance to beat up on some sub-.500 teams in the next six days. They play three games in Denver, then three at home against the San Diego Padres. The Reds are 5-1 so far against the Rockies and Padres.
Those series are followed by a make-or-break, 13-games-in-13-days run against the world champion Arizona Diamondbacks and the Astros. The way Arizona's rotation sets up now, the Reds will face Randy Johnson twice in six games and Curt Schilling once. That beats getting them both twice. Johnson won his 16th game Monday and Arizona is 34-8 when the Big Two start.
The Reds' confidence is at an all-time high since they closed their last two series with stunning, come-from-behind victories —— a 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, and Sunday's 15-10 win over San Diego.
Comebacks no longer surprise Boone.
“I'm just used to them playing hard, not quitting,” he said. “You need some breaks. But we're swinging the bats awfully good.”
There's little question the Reds are a better team than the one that left spring training. They've added Branyan, the star of Sunday's game. They've got a healthy John Riedling, who makes a good bullpen better.
Reggie Taylor has developed into a good bench player. Brandon Larson, completely out of the big-league plans in March, is hitting .333 since his call-up. Jimmy Haynes, brought in as an innings-eater, has won 12 games. Austin Kearns, the fifth hitter who is batting .295, was in Double-A when the Reds broke camp.
The Reds have some tough moves to deal with the next couple of days. If Dessens is going to miss two or three starts, who fills in? Who's out of the lineup and off the roster when first baseman Sean Casey comes off the disabled list?
What happens if Dempster gets bombed again?
The Reds have been at similar crossroads before, and in each case have fought back.
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Look who's still contending