By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HOUSTON - The Reds' long search for an ace in their rotation could be over if Ryan Dempster can consistently pitch the way he did Tuesday night.
Dempster went nine strong innings to beat the Houston Astros 2-1 in a good, old-fashioned, 10-inning pitching duel before a crowd of 18,594 at Minute Maid Park.
Dempster matched Houston's Roy Oswalt, one the of best No. 1 starters in baseball, pitch for pitch to force extra time.
Jason LaRue won it with a towering home run to left in the 10th. LaRue, a Houston native, had three of the Reds' five hits and drove in both runs.
"He called a great game, too," Dempster said. "We were ridiculously in synch. I owe him a dinner or something. I'll take him to McDonald's or something."
If Dempster keeps pitching as he did Tuesday, he'll be able to afford steaks for a long time.
He went nine innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He walked two and struck out three and threw only 98 pitches.
"Beautiful," Reds manager Bob Boone labeled Dempster's outing.
It could be a hint of things to come. The Reds were hoping Dempster, a 25-year-old right-hander, had ace potential when they traded for him last year.
"The thing about Dempster is he's a horse," Boone said. "I don't know what he was before, but when we got him, he was a thrower with a good arm."
Pitching coach Don Gullett smoothed out Dempster's delivery. That, in turn, improved Dempster's changeup. Gullett also tweaked Dempster's slider.
Now, you have a pitch-efficient horse with a good arm.
"He's really become a pitcher," Boone said.
"It used to take me 60 or 70 pitches to get through three innings," Dempster said.
Seventy pitches got him through the sixth Tuesday.
Dempster (1-0) has given up four runs in the first inning of his two starts and none in the other 14 2/3 innings of work.
Scott Williamson pitched a 1-2-3 10th for his second save.
Oswalt entered Tuesday's game 6-0 with a 1.64 ERA against the Reds. He beat them three times last year.
Dempster's record against the Astros wasn't quite so shiny. He entered 2-4 vs. Houston with a 6.00 ERA. He lost to the Astros three times last year.
So Oswalt was the last guy Dempster wanted to spot a run, but that's what the Reds did. Craig Biggio opened the Astros first by lining a single to left.
Geoff Blum followed with a grounder to second baseman Aaron Boone, who Boone made a nice stop on the ball. He tried to force Biggio at second, but second-base umpire ruled Biggio safe. The Reds argued the call and lost, and Jeff Bagwell followed with a walk to load the bases.
That brought up Lance Berkman, who was 8-for-16 with four homers against Dempster.
But Dempster got Berkman to hit into a 4-6-3 double play.
"That was huge," Dempster said. "I'm not an idiot. I know what my numbers are against him."
The DP scored a run, but that was all the Astros got. Jeff Kent ended the inning on a flyout to right, thanks to a nice running catch by Austin Kearns.
| Cincinnati | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| Larkin ss | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .214 |
| Williamson p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| ABoone 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .226 |
| Dunn lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .160 |
| Kearns rf-cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .348 |
| Casey 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .222 |
| Larson 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .111 |
| Taylor cf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .300 |
| JGuillen ph-rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| LaRue c | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .261 |
| Dempster p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| FLopez ph-ss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .100 |
| Totals | 34 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 8 | |
| Houston | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| Biggio cf | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 |
| Blum 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .208 |
| Bagwell 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .360 |
| Berkman lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .200 |
| JKent 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .320 |
| Hidalgo rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .364 |
| Ausmus c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .368 |
| Lugo ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .136 |
| Merced ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 |
| Oswalt p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .400 |
| Wagner p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| Dotel p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| JVizcaino ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| Totals | 34 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| Cincinnati | 010 | 000 | 000 | 1 | -2 | 5 | 1 |
| Houston | 100 | 000 | 000 | 0 | -1 | 7 | 0 |
E-Larkin (2). LOB-Cincinnati 6, Houston 6. 3B-Taylor (1). HR-LaRue (1) off Dotel. RBIs-LaRue 2 (5). GIDP-JGuillen, Blum, Berkman, JKent, Lugo.
Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 1 (Dunn); Houston 3 (JKent, Hidalgo, Ausmus).
Runners moved up-Hidalgo.
DP-Cincinnati 5 (ABoone, Larkin and Casey), (Larson, ABoone and Casey), (Larkin, ABoone and Casey), (Larson, ABoone and Casey), (Larkin and Casey); Houston 1 (JKent, Lugo and Bagwell).
| Cincinnati | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
| Dempster W, 1-0 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 98 | 2.30 |
| Williamson S, 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0.00 |
| Houston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
| Oswalt | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 119 | 1.20 |
| Wagner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0.00 |
| Dotel L, 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 2.25 |
HBP-by Dempster (Hidalgo). WP-Oswalt.
Umpires-Home, Ron Kulpa; First, Bruce Froemming; Second, Mike Winters; Third, Doug Eddings.
T-2:31. A-18,594 (40,950).
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