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Cincinnati Reds

Reds strike back

By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted May 16, 2010 12:17 AM ET

It took a near-perfect play to get Skip Schumaker at the plate in the ninth inning of Saturday's game, but the Reds made it -- Chris Heisey to Orlando Cabrera to Ramon Hernandez to nail Schumaker at the plate and give the Reds a 4-3 victory over St. Louis.

The Cardinals had already pushed across one run on Reds closer Francisco Cordero and on a ball that momentarily got stuck under the left field wall, Schumaker thought it was his best chance at tying the game.

"It was bang-bang," Schumaker said. "It's tough to get two runs off of Cordero, that's the play you knew he was going to send you because it's tough to get four hits off of him in one inning. That's all you can really ask for right there."

Schumaker singled in the first run of the inning, and following a strike out by pinch-hitter Joey Jay, another pinch hitter, Mather, hit the ball to the wall. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has zero problem with sending Schumaker.

"With two outs, seven out of 10 times the third base coach will send them," La Russa said. "They have to make two good throws and a catch and tag. I have no problems being aggressive. If one of the throws is off-line we get a run and tie the game."

It looked as if the hiccup at the wall made the choice even easier for third base coach Jose Oquendo, and Heisey -- entered as a defensive replacement for Jonny Gomes on the double switch that brought Cordero into the game -- said he thought the bad bounce may have cost them the run.

"It didn't come off the wall like I was expecting, I was probably on the edge of the track and it stuck right there. I had to take off after it again," said Heisey. "I just had to react, the whole point is to get to the ball as quick as you can. I probably wouldn't have sent him if it came right back to me."

Oquendo, though, was sending Schumaker the entire way - he could be seen throwing up a stop sign, but he said it was for Mather.

Heisey made the quick throw in to Cabrera, who was sure he was going to have a play, "The last time I looked back, he was half-way between second and third and that was the last time I looked back and I saw Heisey go get the ball and by the time I figured out if they sent him home it was going to be a play I had time to see and throw," he said.

Cabrera's throw was wide and bounced, but Hernandez was able to pick it out of the dirt, take a step back toward the plate and tag Schumaker out at the plate to give the Reds the win and pull them to within a half-game of the NL Central lead.

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright gave up a season-high four runs in six innings, allowing seven hits, walking three and striking out one. One walk was intentional -- and costly.

In the sixth inning, the Cardinals elected to intentionally walk Gomes in favor of Drew Stubbs, who was hitting below .200. Stubbs was down 0-2 in the count, but battled back and then took a slider to the wall in right-center for a triple, scoring two runs to break a 2-2 tie.

"Anytime someone gets intentionally walked, it gives you a little bit of extra motivation to get up there and get the job done," said Stubbs, who had struck out in his previous at-bat against Wainwright.

Said Wainwright, "It wasn't a bad pitch, I'd worked him out there all night long, had been out there with cutters, fastballs, curveballs, all sorts of stuff away. I think he as just leaning out over the plate. If I bust him inside, I probably get him, but hindsight is 20/20."

Reds starter Mike Leake was even more impressive than Wainwright, allowing four hits and two runs to improve to 4-0 as a pro. Leake struck out five and walked three, and unlike Wainwright, his one intentional walk didn't haunt him. The Reds gave a free pass to Albert Pujols following Ryan Ludwick's two-out double in the seventh and Leake induced a fielder's choice out of Matt Holliday to end the inning. Leake pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, including two strikeouts to end his night.

"Leake's a crafty pitcher, he kept the ball down, he used all his pitches and very effective when he changes speeds," Schumaker said. "When he had to, he made pitches. There's a reason he skipped the minor leagues, he's around the plate and threw strikes. He was effective."

It was the first time Leake faced the Cardinals, but said they came in with an aggressive gameplan against him.

"I think that's the reputation I have, that I try to get ahead early and try to get early outs. They were lifting the ball off of me than pounding me in the ground, so I had to make an adjustment," Leake said. "I started using different first-pitches, I was getting fastball happy, so I had to mix it up just so they weren't getting too comfortable in the batter's box."

It worked, as the Cardinals pushed across runs in the second and third, but were unable to do any more damage and Arthur Rhodes and Nick Masset each worked perfect innings to get the ball to Cordero in the ninth.

"When these two teams hook up, it's usually a wild one," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "It's going to be a wild won tomorrow. As long as we come out on top of the wild ones, I'm very happy."

Categories: Cincinnati Reds, Featured Stories

Tags: Adam Wainwright, Chris Heisey, Jonny Gomes, Mike Leake, Orlando Cabrera, Ramon Hernandez, Skip Schumaker