Lots of noise, little to show
Reds strand 12 in 4-3 loss to surging Dodgers
Posted: Friday May 29, 1998 10:25 AM
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Dodger Eric Karros steals second base in the win (AP) |
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jack McKeon could only shake his head. At age 67, after so many years in the game of baseball, the Cincinnati Reds manager has seen almost everything.
What he saw Thursday night was enough to leave him in a sour mood.
"We should have busted the game open a dozen times," McKeon said after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Reds 4-3 on Bobby Bonilla's two-out RBI single off the glove of left fielder Melvin Nieves in the ninth inning.
The Reds managed 11 hits and drew nine walks off four Los Angeles pitchers, and got another baserunner on an error.
They wound up with only three runs.
They hit bottom in the seventh when they strung together four straight singles -- by Barry Larkin, Eddie Taubensee, Willie Green and Bret Boone -- and all it got them was one run.
That's because Greene's hot grounder headed toward right field hit Taubensee, who was ruled out. Boone then got his third hit of the game to drive in Larkin and tie the game 3-3.
"I understand the guys are young, but you can't have mental lapses and expect to win," McKeon said.
And the Reds didn't, losing for the 10th time in 13 games.
"Tonight was a night where we caught a couple of breaks, those breaks we weren't getting earlier in the year," said Dodgers manager Bill Russell, whose team won for the sixth time in eight games.
The Dodgers turned five double plays -- in the third, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings.
The Reds loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth, but scored just once -- on a sacrifice fly by Taubensee.
Eric Young started the winning rally with a one-out double off Stan Belinda (3-6), the third Cincinnati pitcher. Jose Vizcaino then struck out before Gary Sheffield drew a walk.
Young and Sheffield pulled off a double steal before Bonilla sliced a 2-1 pitch to left-center. Nieves left his feet trying to make a running catch near the warning track, and the ball glanced off his glove.
"He didn't throw anything close to Gary, he was pitching around him," Bonilla said. "I was looking for the ball, to hit something hard. [Nieves] leaped at that last second. He almost came up with the ball."
But he didn't, giving the 35-year-old Bonilla a game-winning hit.
Bonilla was part of the blockbuster trade between the Dodgers and Florida Marlins on May 15. The Dodgers are 8-4 since the deal was made.
Bonilla had three hits against the Reds, lifting his average since the trade from .227 to .265.
"You keep putting those guys in those situations, they're going to come through for you," Russell said. "It doesn't matter if they're struggling or not."
Jim Bruske (2-0) blanked the Reds in the top of the ninth to earn the victory. He issued a pair of one-out walks before getting Boone to ground into a double play.
"Those are always a pitcher's best friend," Bruske said. "I threw him a sinker, I got what I wanted -- a ground ball."
Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead in the second when Greene reached base on an error by second baseman Young and scored on a double by Boone.
The Dodgers scored twice in the bottom of the inning on an RBI triple by starting pitcher Ramon Martinez and a run-scoring single by Young.
Charles Johnson broke out of an 0-for-35 slump by hitting a leadoff homer in the fourth, his eighth of the year, to put the Dodgers ahead 3-1.
"It was good to contribute offensively a little bit," Johnson said. "I can't let a strikeout affect the way I go behind the plate or the way I call a game. It's not right for the team. That's the way I play the game."
Notes: Martinez allowed six hits and two runs, one earned, in six innings while walking a season-high six and striking out six. He threw 125 pitches before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. ... Reds starter Scott Winchester was taken out for a pinch-hitter after allowing six hits and three runs in four innings. David Weathers then blanked the Dodgers for three innings. ... Boone, who had three hits, played in his 47th straight game without committing an error. The second baseman has committed just one while playing in all 54 Cincinnati games. ... The triple by Martinez was the first of his career in his 577th official at-bat. ... Johnson, who came to the Dodgers in the seven-player trade with the Marlins, had one hit in four at-bats and is now 2-for-40 since the deal. His homer traveled an estimated 432 feet. ... Young stole three bases, lifting his total to an NL-leading 21.
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