Thursday, September 30, 1999
Three games to chew your nails
BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HOUSTON — Here we go. Three games in three days, for the season, beginning Friday in Milwaukee. Three games to chew your nails and your Rolaids.
One hundred fifty-nine down, three to go, zero difference between the Reds and the Houston Astros. Each leads the New York Mets by a game and a half, for the safety net of the wild-card playoff spot.
The Reds could have made it easier on themselves here Wednesday night. But it wouldn't have been much like them. Any team that comes from behind to win 45 times, as Cincinnati has done this year, is not prone to restful pennant-chasing.
The Reds fell behind 3-0 to Houston ace Mike Hampton, before succumbing 4-1. Hampton is 21-4. If he's not the NL Cy Young winner, Hampton is best man to Randy Johnson. He is not one to blow three-run leads.
“He was a man tonight, you know?” Barry Larkin said. “He had just about every pitch working.”
You don't spot a 20-game winner a 3-0 lead and live to smile about it over the postgame food spread. Meanwhile, John Olerud was launching a Greg Maddux pitch deep into the New York, New York night, a grand slam that gave the gasping Mets an 8-1 lead on the way to a 9-2 win over Atlanta.
So here we go. On to Milwaukee, to the final act of the regular season, not as tense as it could be (thanks to the Mets' recent dive), but tense enough. After a summer of so-so attention, it's time to hang on every pitch. Close your eyes, clench your fists, pray and cheer. Go nuts.
It's baseball on a wire. A season in a weekend.
“If we (win), we deserve to be in the playoffs,” Jack McKeon said. “If we don't, we don't.”
Larkin was more philosophical. “In order to win,” he said, “we have to win.”
The Reds had chances against Hampton last night but not many and not very substantial. They left two runners on in the first inning and two more in the third. They had runners at the corners with two out in the sixth, but Jason LaRue flied out.
The Houston fans, passive and wondering Tuesday night, came to play Wednesday. They booed the Reds during batting practice and snorted loudly at every close call. They even booed Sean Casey the first time the Mighty One came to the plate.
Booing Sean Casey is like booing Santa Claus or kicking your beagle. But, OK. The Astros needed all the help they could get. Losers of three straight and eight of 11, Houston had to have this one. Losing again at home, this time with its best pitcher, would have been a huge mental blow. Instead, the Astros end the regular season at home, with three against the hot L.A. Dodgers.
“It would have been nice tonight, to kind of put everyone away,” Aaron Boone conceded, “but we're still in control.”
Hampton threw eight innings, hitting spots, changing speeds, offering subtleties you'd expect from a 21-game winner. He left for closer Billy Wagner, who threw gas. Wagner is as subtle as a bill collector.
His first 12 pitches of the ninth inning were fastballs, 96, 97 and 98 mph. The Reds didn't score.
Here we go. The season is just getting started. Things are just warming up. After 159 games, it has become very simple. The Reds sweep Milwaukee, they're in the playoffs. They win two, they do no worse than a Monday playoff-for-the-playoffs against Houston or the Mets at Cinergy Field.
Here we go, on the road, where the Reds win more than any other team in baseball. “A comforting thought,” Larkin decided.
The Reds made the math a little scarier Wednesday night, the possibilities a little more frightening. They extended the play by another act. It was just like them.
It was Houston's turn to leave the Reds feeling a little short. So here we go. Three games for the year. Hold on tight.
Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at 768-8454.
Astros 4, Reds 1
Astros: 'It was a big win'
REDS NOTEBOOK
Box, runs
Pokey second to none?
Mets 9, Braves 2
Playoff seats still for sale
Postseason possibilities abound
How Reds, Astros, Mets finish
