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Sports TwitterEncarnacion walk-off gives Reds first victory
Thursday, April 03, 2008
CINCINNAT — Sometimes what appears to be abject failure can turn to sweet success in the blink of an eye — or the flash of a baseball bat.
For Edwin Encarnacion, 2008 had started like the Chinese Year of the Frog, and he was the one wearing the warts.
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His throwing error on Opening Day led to the season's first run by an opponent. His throwing error in Game 2 led to two more unearned runs.
Then he came to bat in the ninth inning Wednesday night, April 2, with his team down two runs and runners on first and second with no outs.
Because he was 0-for-5 with strikeouts his last two times at bat, Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker flashed Encarnacion the sacrifice bunt sign, even though he had never bunted successfully in the major leagues.
"I said to (coach) Chris Speier, 'I hope he doesn't get the bunt down so he can hit a game-winning home run,' " said Baker.
Encarnacion missed one bunt attempt, took a ball trying to bunt, took a called strike while trying to bunt, and the count was 1-and-2.
The next pitch from Arizona closer Brandon Lyon landed in the left-field seats, a crushing three-run home run to give the Reds a 6-5 victory.
"I tried to bunt and didn't, and then just tried to make contact," Encarnacion said. "I don't put pressure on myself because if you do, you are never going to hit like you are supposed to do."
Of his fifth-inning throwing error on a double-play ball that led to the two unearned runs that put the Reds down by two, Encarnacion said, "I don't know what happened. I didn't feel the ball in my hand. I tried to be aggressive on the throw. But I kept my head up, knew we had five innings to go, and everybody is happy now."
Baker was seemingly happier than Encarnacion after notching his first win as Cincinnati manager.
"Edwin hasn't been swinging well, so you can't let him swing in that situation because he has been struggling," said Baker. "He's been tearing himself up internally, you can see it. He's trying too hard and made a couple of miscues the last couple of games.
"From the other side of the field (when he managed the Chicago Cubs), I know I didn't like to see Edwin up there in that situation because he has hit with runners in scoring position, and he is a clutch man."
Down 5-3, Brandon Phillips started the inning with two strikes, then crushed a line drive single to right. The Diamondbacks put the overshift on Adam Dunn, and he poked a single off the end of the bat through the empty shortstop hole, bringing up Encarnacion for his failure/success story — failure to bunt, success in leaving the ballpark.
Starter Bronson Arroyo gave up four runs (two unearned on Encarnacion's error) and needed 94 pitches to get through five innings.
He trailed 2-0 until Corey Patterson led the fourth with a home run and — after a walk to Jeff Keppinger, who had three hits — Phillips crashed a two-run homer for a 3-2 lead.
The D-Backs recaptured the lead with two off Arroyo in the fifth.
Todd Coffey gave up a run in his two innings, then Kent Mercker, who hadn't pitched since Aug. 11, 2006 due to Tommy John surgery, pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, striking out the first two.
Jeremy Affeldt pitched the ninth and loaded the bases on an infield hit and two walks, but wriggled out of it run-free, earning the victory on Encarnacion's home run.
"Doesn't matter how you win them, but boy that first one seems like it is always the toughest one," said Baker. "You are always thinking about, when you start losing — you try NOT to think about it — but you do think about all the teams that have started a season with a lot of losses."
