Cincinnati Reds
Bailey: 'He won today'
By Staff Report, CNATI.com Posted May 1, 2010 5:08 PM ET
By Rob Rains
Special to CNati.com
ST. LOUIS -- Dusty Baker was managing with his heart Saturday afternoon.
Wanting to get Homer Bailey his first win of the season, even though he already had thrown more pitches than in any game of an his young career, Baker elected to keep Bailey on the mound in the seventh inning of the Reds' 1-1 game against the Cardinals.
With one out, Bailey walked Skip Schumaker, the Cardinals' leadoff hitter. He retired Ryan Ludwick on a fly to right. That brought Albert Pujols to the plate.
In the dugout, Baker squirmed. There is no manager in the game who has more respect for Pujols than Baker, who has been trying to figure out a way to get the three-time National League MVP out since 2001.
With his bullpen tired from the rain-delayed victory Friday night, and based on how well Bailey had pitched in this game, Baker elected to let Bailey pitch to Pujols. He did think about walking him intentionally, as he had done in the first inning, even with a runner on first.
"I wanted to give him a chance to get the win," Baker said about Bailey.
When Schumaker stole second, leaving first base open, Baker thought about the move again, and again decided to let Bailey try to retire Pujols, as he had done in his previous two at-bats.
The count went to 3-2 before Pujols lined a double into the left-field corner, scoring Schumaker, ending Bailey's day after 121 pitches, and leaving Baker second-guessing himself once again, especially after the Cardinals went on to claim a 6-3 victory.
"He was supposed to throw something to make him fish, and he just got it out over the plate," Baker said of Bailey's final pitch. "The kid pitched his butt off. It's a learning process, and he's learning very quickly."
Bailey was glad Baker had enough confidence to leave him on the mound and pitch to Pujols with the game on the line.
"It was a big situation," Bailey said. "The ball was down, but it didn't have as much action on it as I wanted. The guy is a pretty good hitter.
"It was a situation where either I was going to win or he was going to win, and he won today. It was where I wanted, but that's baseball."
Pujols later scored in the inning on a throwing error by Scott Rolen, giving the Cardinals a two-run lead. The Reds fought back to tie the game in the top of the eighth, but wildness by reliever Mike Lincoln and Micah Owings let the Cardinals break the game open with three runs in the bottom of theeighth.
Consecutive walks to Ludwick, Pujols and Matt Holliday -- the last two with the bases loaded -- left Baker feeling frustrated.
"There's no chance of getting them out (on walks)," Baker said. "That's what makes it frustrating. If they hit it, at least they have a chance to hit it at somebody."
Until the fateful seventh inning, Bailey was outstanding, scattering five hits through the first six innings, allowing only a solo homer to David Freese with one out in the fourth.
Unfortunately for Bailey, the Reds were not able to generate any offense against former Red Kyle Lohse, who allowed only five hits in his seven innings of work. The first four Cincinnati hits, all singles, all came with two outs.
The best scoring chance in the first six innings actually came in the first inning, when Joey Votto and Rolen produced back-to-back singles with two outs. Votto went to third on Rolen's hit, and Rolen took second on the throw to third, but the inning ended when Jay Bruce took a called third strike.
The Reds finally scored in the seventh, when Bruce led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Orlando Cabrera. They added their two runs in the eighth off the Cardinals bullpen on Votto's RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Rolen.
The Reds will send Aaron Harang to the mound in the finale of the three-game series on Sunday. He will be opposed by Chris Carpenter.
Categories: Cincinnati Reds, Featured Stories
Tags: Albert Pujols, Dusty Baker, Homer Bailey, Joey Votto, Kyle Lohse, Scott Rolen
Comments (1)
I probably criticize Baker as much as anyone but he doesn't have many options with an exhausted bullpen. Maybe they should have called up another pitcher instead of Heisey who probably won't get much playing time.
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