Reds breeze to 4-1 victory
By CARLTON THOMPSON
Copyright 1999 Houston Chronicle
Sep 28 1999 10:51PM
After 35 years of hosting Houston baseball, the Astrodome will close up regular-season shop at the end of the week. It appears the Astros can't wait that long to shut it down.
Although nothing in their demeanor or rhetoric suggests the Astros are done, very little in their play over the past two weeks indicates they have enough left in their tanks to beat the Cincinnati Reds to the finish line in the National League Central.
The Reds reclaimed first place Tuesday with a 4-1 victory before the largest crowd (54,037) ever to watch a baseball game at the Astrodome. The Astros had been in sole possession of first place in the NL Central since July 9, and they had spent only five days out of the top spot since April 30.
"Maybe that's a good thing," Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "Now, we don't have to worry about holding them off because we don't have the lead anymore. Let them see how it feels for a while."
The Reds' residency atop the NL Central will be permanent if the Astros don't turn things around over the final four games of the season. Dierker's team has lost eight of its last 11 games. Meanwhile, the Reds have won eight of 10 to take control of the division. If the past two weeks are any indication, the only thing standing between the Astros and an early vacation are the Mets, who are in the midst of an equally pitiful stretch-drive performance.
The Mets, who lost to Atlanta Tuesday, have dropped seven in a row and trail the Astros by 1 1/2 games in the wild-card race.
"I'm concerned, because I don't want to play all this way and not go to the playoffs," Dierker said. "I'd be happy to get in as the wild card. I don't care how we get in there.
"I still see us getting in, although it might not necessarily be on merit."
Considering the way they have responded to the playoff race, the Astros are well aware that words such as collapse and choke are just waiting to roll of the tongues of observers near and far. Nevertheless, they insist they don't feel pressured by the situation.
"People are going to say what they want to say," Astros second baseman Craig Biggio said. "When you're not winning, it looks like you're tight, but we're not tight."
And as far as pressure, few people have a way with words quite like Astros center fielder Carl Everett.
"There's no such thing as pressure," he said. "The only pressure I know about is in tires. We need to forget about all the hoopla and just play our games. Too much is being made about this. We've been playing like Little Leaguers. We have a great team; we just haven't been playing like it."
It would have been difficult to look like a great team considering the way Pete Harnisch pitched Tuesday night. The sore-armed righthander held the Astros to just four hits in eight innings. Harnisch, who is pitching despite shoulder tendinitis, threw only 74 pitches, 58 for strikes.
"That's pretty amazing," Astros left fielder Bill Spiers said. "When you only throw 16 balls, you had pretty good stuff."
Harnisch, who is 4-0 against the Astros this season, retired 23 of the 27 batters he faced and made Reds manager Jack McKeon look like a genius for pushing his start back to this pivotal series.
Astros starter Jose Lima wasn't at his best, but he pitched well enough to keep the Astros in the game. A costly second-inning error by right fielder Derek Bell helped the Reds score two runs.
"We gave them a couple of runs, and in a 2-1 game you could do some things differently than you might in a 4-1 game," Dierker said. "But you have to tip your hat to Harnisch."
Sean Casey's solo homer gave the Reds a 1-0 lead in the first and took some of the initial steam off the fired-up Astrodome crowd. Lima (20-10) has allowed a staff-high 30 home runs, four shy of his club record from a year ago.
The Astros tied the score in the bottom of the inning when Biggio hit a leadoff single, stole second and scored on Jeff Bagwell's ground ball to shortstop. The Reds' two-run second inning went unanswered, as did the single run they posted in the third.
Dmitri Young and Eddie Taubensee led off the second with back-to-back singles, with Young scoring from first on Taubensee's hit, which rolled under Bell's glove and to the right-field wall. Pokey Reese singled home Taubensee, who added an RBI single in the third.
"The ball that got by Derek certainly hurt us," Dierker said. "Any time you make an error in the outfield, it usually costs you two or three bases instead of just one. It's a killer."
It was only the third error Bell has made in 200 chances this season.
"If you want to blame me for this loss, I'll be a man and accept it," Bell said. "I'll take responsibility for it."
Lima was gone after six innings, marking the third time he has lasted less than seven innings in five starts this month. He allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits.
The Astros appeared close to rallying against Harnisch (15-10) in the seventh, putting runners on second and third with one out. But Harnisch struck out Ken Caminiti, and All-Star shortstop Barry Larkin threw out Bell on a dandy play on a ground ball up the middle.
Friendswood native and Rookie of the Year candidate Scott Williamson retired all three batters he faced to earn his 19th save.
"I really don't think anyone is panicking," Bagwell said. "People are going to say it's the pressure or whatever, but I don't see that. It has nothing to do with pressure. Tonight, we just got a great game pitched against us."
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