Cincinnati Reds
Lost in the sky
By Scott Priestle, CNATI.com Posted May 25, 2010 10:46 PM ET
Mike Leake threw seven scoreless innings Tuesday night, fielded his position like gold and was, in his manager's estimation, "one of the best hitters I had in the lineup." There is a bright future for a player with such skills.
On this night, though, the Reds needed him to play center field, as well.
After seven innings of a pitcher's duel -- or, at least, an exercise in impotent offense -- the game turned on a fly ball that Reds center fielder Drew Stubbs never saw. It fell for a triple, which led to a run that ultimately was the difference in a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The game was scoreless at the time, and Leake was strong if not dominant. Akinori Iwamura led off the eighth inning with a routine fly ball, but Stubbs could not find it against the darkening sky. He flinched as it landed about 25 feet away. Iwamura jogged into third base with a triple, and Neil Walker ripped the next pitch into the right-field corner for an RBI double.
Drew Stubbs
"Once it cleared the stadium, it could have hit my head for all I knew," Stubbs said. "(Left fielder) Jonny Gomes made the comment that it was hit high enough that he could have caught it if he saw it.
"This time of year, there's a 10- to 15-minute window where it's tough to pick up. Right before it gets really dark, it's like a deep gray sky that just swallows up everything."
Leake and second baseman Brandon Phillips said they lost sight of the ball, as well. "It happens," Leake said.
The Reds had chances to overcome it, but they stranded four runners in scoring position and had another picked off first base. Phillips hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning -- the 100th of his career -- but reliever Nick Masset allowed a home run to Ryan Doumit with two outs in the ninth.
"Tell you the truth, I thought we were going to win it, even after that," Phillips said. "I thought we were going to come back like we've been doing. They just got a good pitch to hit, and they hit it."
Leake and the Reds were left to ponder what might have been -- but also to appreciate what could be to come. Leake, the 22-year-old rookie, was impressive once again.
He allowed 10 hits but only one run in 7 1/3 innings. He snared a line drive in the first inning and pounced on a bunt in the third, turning an attempted sacrifice into a force-out. At the plate, he executed a sacrifice bunt and lined a single.
"He was one of the best hitters I had in the lineup," manager Dusty Baker said.
Baker is so enamored with Leake that he let the pitcher bat with two runners on base and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, in what was a scoreless game at the time. Leake popped out, but not before bringing the crowd to its feet with a line drive down the left field line that landed only a few feet foul.
"He's a ballplayer," Baker said. "He can run, field his position, hit. When you've got a good-hitting pitcher like that, if his pitch count is low, you're going to let him hit. He's a competitor. You don't mind him being up there in that situation."
Leake was grateful for the vote of confidence but upset with the wasted opportunity.
"That at-bat pissed me off more than anything," he said. "I had a few good pitches to hit. I just didn't take advantage. That was my chance to help myself and help the team out."
Phillips delivered the only big hit for an offense that has had just enough timely hits of late to obscure a general lack of production. The Reds did not score in seven innings against Pirates starter Paul Maholm.
After Phillips' home run, the crowd at Great American Ball Park perked up. Then Masset left a fastball over the plate to Doumit, who lined it into the seats in right-center.
"I made a mistake," he said. "There was a good hitter at the plate."
With that, Stubbs' misfortune took on a greater significance.
"It was just a bad break for us," he said.
Baker said he empathized with the young outfielder, for he was victimized by a similar play in Cincinnati early in his playing career.
"If you lose the ball, you lose the ball," Baker said. "There's nothing you can do."
Categories: Cincinnati Reds, Featured Stories, News
Tags: Brandon Phillips, Drew Stubbs, Mike Leake, Pirates, Reds
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