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StumbleuponSAN DIEGO 6, CINCINNATI 4
Reds torched in 9th
Cordero blows second save in last three chances as Padres snap six-game losing streak.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
CINCINNATI — The San Diego Padres came to town with baseball's worst record and a six-game losing streak, so in their best Clint Eastwood imitation, the Cincinnati Reds made their day.
Closer Francisco Cordero didn't close anything — he opened the door three-car garage wide for the Padres to motor through for a 6-4 victory Monday, July 21.
It was Cordero who gave up four runs in the ninth Thursday against the New York Mets, turning an 8-6 win into a 10-8 catastrophe.
This time, handed the ball with a 4-3 lead, he went to 3-and-2 on the first four batters he faced, giving up a walk, two singles and a double for three runs.
Can you say $46 million?
And now it is evident why Homer Bailey wears cowboy boots. He is snake-bit, and he doesn't want the poison injected in his ankles.
"Gonna have to put snake guards on them," he said with a smile.
Bailey held the Padres to three runs and eight hits over 61/3 innings, and it was his 4-3 lead that Cordero expunged.
It was the second straight time Bailey was bitten by a blown save, and he still hasn't won a game in a professional uniform since late April for the Class AAA Louisville Bats.
"He threw the ball good, good enough to win, big-time," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
The Padres struck for two in the first, three straight one-out hits that included a run-scoring double by Adrian Gonzalez and a sacrifice fly by Kevin Kouzmanoff.
"After they got two runs in the first inning, I just did everything I could to forget about it," Bailey said. "Even in the first inning I thought I made good pitches that they were able to get the bat on. It was the first inning, and I knew our guys would pick me up."
Edwin Encarnacion cut the deficit in half with a first-pitch two-out home run in the second, his fifth homer in nine games and his 18th overall.
The Reds tied it in the third on a leadoff double by David Ross and a run-scoring double by Jay Bruce, extending his career-best hitting streak to 10 games.
Ken Griffey Jr.'s 606th career home run in the sixth pushed the Reds ahead 4-2, then San Diego's Scott Hairston (Jerry Hairston Jr.'s brother) clubbed his 16th homer, cutting it to 4-3 in the seventh.
Then San Diego's Scott Hairston (Jerry Hairston Jr.'s brother) clubbed his 16th homer, cutting it to 4-3 in the seventh, "Probably the only bad pitch Homer made all night," said Baker.
Bailey then walked Edgar Gonzalez and his night was finished, then wrecked by Cordero.
The Reds filled the bases with no outs in the ninth against Padres closer Trevor Hoffman on three straight singles by Adam Dunn, Encarnacion and Joey Votto.
Then the door slammed the way a closer is supposed to slam it — Ross struck out, pinch-hitter Javier Valentin popped to the catcher and Bruce struck out, swinging at three bad pitches — a veteran closer giving a raw rookie a tough lesson.
"We had action there, bases loaded and no outs," said Baker. We had a chance to do to Hoffman what they did to Coco, but we didn't even get one run."
And it is rare you see a Reds game without seeing something you've never seen before — especially creatively bad baserunning.
After one in the fifth inning, even Baker said, "In all my years of baseball, I don't think I've ever seen that one."
Ross was on third and Bailey was on second with one out when Votto chopped one on the infield grass to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.
Ross started for home, too far to get back, and stopped. Gonzalez threw to third baseman Kouzmanoff, who tagged Ross out. Bailey was halfway between second and third and Kouzmanoff's throw to shortstop Khalil Greene erased Bailey, too.
"I saw Ross break for home, so I took off for third," said Bailey.
"Strange," said Baker. "Very strange."
Today's game
Who: Padres (Peavy 7-6) at Reds (Cueto 7-9)
When: 7:10 p.m.
Radio: WLW-AM (700); WONE-AM (980)
TV: FSN Ohio
