CINCINNATI - GAME RECAPS

May 26th - Cincinnati 7 St. Louis 2 - Attendance 34,158.

Cincinnati vs. St. Louis - a great NL Central battle - McGwire, Griffey, Larkin - should be a great game, right? Well, those three All-Stars were all on the D.L, and the Reds were mired in a terrible slump, having only won 5 games in May. Starters were Dustin Hermanson for the Cards and Elmer Dessens for the Reds. 

Hermanson started slowly, walking Deion Sanders to lead off the Red first, and 3 singles and an error later it was suddenly 3-0 Reds. St. Louis got 1 run back in the third, but the Reds managed another walk, a single and two doubles in their half and it was 6-1 Cincinnati after only 3 innings. Jim Edmons crushed a homer in the 4th, but Dessens was solid the rest of the way, giving up only 4 hits through 7 and striking out 9. Hector Mercado, just called up from AAA Louisville, and John Riedling worked the final two innings and the Reds won easily 7-2. This game was not very interesting as the Reds were in command early, so it gets a 4/10 rating.

Reliever Alan Benes pitches against the Reds

May 27th - St. Louis 2 Cincinnati 0 - Attendance 28,140.

Darryl Kile, 6-3 vs. Brian Reith, recently called up from AA. Looked like a blowout, but although Reith started poorly, hitting lead-off batter Fernando Vina and giving up a run-scoring double to J.D. Drew, but he settled down, scattering 7 hits over 5 2/3 innings. Kile also scattered 7 hits, but managed to not give up a run. In the bottom of the 6th, the rains came and the game was delayed 51 minutes. When it was restarted, Kile remained in, pitching until the bottom of the 7th, leaving with 1 out a man on third and the 1-0 lead intact. Jason Christiansen was brought in and Kelly Stinnett was the pinch hitter. It was the key point in the game, and Stinnett struck out. Alex Ochoa grounded out after Gene Stechschulte relieved and the Reds were essentially done. St. Louis added an insurance run in the 9th on 3 straight singles, and Dave Veres pitched the 9th, yielding only a single as the Cards won 2-0.

Albert Pujols fouls off a pitch

This was a good game, I liked the pitching changes made by LaRussa and Boone's countermoves, and the game was close until the end. I give this one 7/10.