Cards swept by Cincy
Larkin: 'We've won 9 of 10 and we kept McGwire in the park'
Posted: Sunday July 05, 1998 06:06 PM
| |
On the skids: McGwire has gone homerless in his last five games and has just one hit in 11 at-bats (AP) |
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Mark McGwire
made an error, got doubled up and again failed to homer. And that was just
the start of the St.
Louis Cardinals' problems.
The Cardinals again failed to turn a pivotal double play on Sunday,
setting up Cincinnati's winning rally and a 6-1 victory that gave the Reds
a three-game sweep.
Rookie second baseman Placido Polanco missed the base with his foot
while making a pivot in the sixth, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Brook Fordyce
followed with a bases-loaded single for a 4-1 lead.
The Cardinals' up-the-middle defense played a big role in the series.
They failed to turn a double play once every game, setting up a rally each
time.
The shoddy play set up the Cardinals' 10th loss in 12 games.
Afterward, their clubhouse was closed for a 55-minute meeting while wives
and children waited outside.
"We talked about what we're going to do during the three days off,"
manager Tony La Russa said. "There also was some talk abut the way we've
played the last few days."
McGwire singled, walked, flied out and struck out, leaving him tied
with Reggie Jackson for most homers before the All-Star break (37). After
hitting No. 37 on Tuesday, he was homerless in his last five games, going
1-for-11 with nine walks and one hit-by-pitch.
The Reds, in last place in the National League Central, swept a
three-game series for only the second time this season and headed into the
All-Star break on their best spurt of the season. They've won nine of 10
despite trading away Lenny Harris
and closer Jeff
Shaw, the start of what's expected to be a month of shedding
veterans.
"We're on a great roll," said shortstop Barry Larkin,
who wore the numbers of traded teammates on his uniform vest Sunday. "We
swept the Cardinals, we've won nine of 10 and we kept McGwire in the park.
Everything's looking good."
The back-to-back trades of Harris and Shaw -- and the anticipation
that other veterans will be gone after the All-Star break -- have left the
Reds in a fatalistic mood that is translating into wins.
"We were stymied for a while, then we broke loose [after the botched
double play]," Reds manager Jack McKeon said. "I hate to see the break
coming now. We're playing exciting baseball."
With McGwire neutralized, the Cardinals got little in the way of
offense as they suffered their first three-game sweep in Cincinnati since
August 19-21, 1986, when Pete Rose was the Reds' player/manager.
Brett
Tomko (8-6) allowed one run on six hits in six innings to win his third
consecutive start, and Willie Greene
had three hits, including a two-run homer in the seventh inning.
The game turned in the sixth with the score tied 1-1. Larkin singled
and took third on Greene's one-out double off Kent Mercker
(5-6). Bret
Boone was intentionally walked, and Sean Casey hit a potential
inning-ending double-play grounder to shortstop Luis Ordaz.
Polanco took the toss while straddling the base and threw to first to
get Casey, leaving Boone safe at second while Larkin scored. La Russa was
ejected by second base umpire Joe West while arguing the call.
"There's no doubt in my mind that technically Placido straddled and
didn't touch the bag," La Russa said. "[West] said he wasn't touching the
bag, and he was right. My argument is that's a pretty common method of
turning a double play and it wasn't usually called."
Fordyce later singled off John
Frascatore for two more runs.
Notes: The game was delayed for a few minutes in the second inning
when Mercker hit a foul that deflected off Fordyce's mask and hit home
plate umpire Kerwin Danley on the right leg. Danley was on his hands and
knees for about two minutes while a trainer attended to him. He stayed in
the game. ... Polanco, given his first major league promotion on Friday,
had his first two hits. ... Right fielder Reggie
Sanders was a late scratch from the Reds' lineup because of an upset
stomach. ... In addition to the numbers on Larkin's jersey, Reds players
displayed handmade paper jerseys honoring their traded teammates on the
railing of the dugout.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
