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Masset, Nix come through in 11th
By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted May 3, 2010 11:49 PM ET
For a brief moment, Nick Masset allowed the negative thoughts to creep back into his head. In his second inning of work, he'd jammed the Mets' David Wright and forced him into a weak dribbler -- but that dribbler found a soft spot in the infield for a single.
Masset, last year's most valuable reliever, entered Monday's game with a gaudy 11.45 ERA and had allowed 18 hits and walked nine in just 11 innings this season -- last season his WHIP was just over 1.00, allowing a scant 54 hits in 76 innings. In short, it's been a rough start for the right-hander.
But with Mets first baseman Ike Davis coming up, Masset wouldn't allow that quick "here we go again" feeling to linger.
"It was there, but then I was like, 'I'm not going to let them hurt me,'" Masset recalled. "Things like that happen, this is a game of inches and a game of ups and downs and smiles and cries; You've just go to go out and give it your best stuff."
Laynce Nix
The result was a four-pitch strikeout to Ike Davis to end the inning. He also picked up his third victory of the season when pinch-hitter Laynce Nix homered in the bottom of the 11th for a 3-2 victory over the Mets and the team's eighth victory in their last at-bat in 13 wins.
"Masset's struggled lately, but we believe in him. He's got filthy stuff and I was glad he got the win," said Nix, who hit his first career walk-off homer on a 2-2 pitch from Manny Acosta.
"I knew right off the bath he hit it, it got up in the air and the way this park plays, I was rooting for him, but I had full confidence in his swing," Masset said.
Nix wasn't as sure, but Masset's positive thinking may have been contagious. The ball landed in the second row of seats, but for a minute Nix thought Mets right fielder Jeff Francoeur had gotten under it and was going to make the catch.
"I thought I hit it too high," Nix said. "But I'm glad it carried and we won."
The Mets' only two runs were aided by errors -- a Drew Stubbs error in the second and one by Orlando Cabrera in the sixth -- saddling starter Mike Leake with a single earned run (the one in the sixth) and lowering his ERA to 2.94 in his first five big league starts.
Leake's been the Reds' most consistent starter, but with 100 pitches in six innings, he had his shortest outing of the season and leaned on the bullpen: first Daniel Ray Herrera (one batter) then Mike Lincoln (two-thirds of an inning), Arthur Rhodes (1.1 innings) and Francisco Cordero (one inning) before it got to Masset, who allowed a run in Sunday's loss to the Cardinals.
After a 1-2-3 10th against the 9 hitter a pinch-hitter and the Mets' leadoff man, Masset went back out for the second inning to face the heart of the New York order, which seemed a little like Dusty Baker pushing his luck, but with a bullpen that's gotten as much work as the Reds' this season it was about the only choice he had. Masset hadn't pitched in more than an inning this season and hadn't pitched two since last June, also in the 10th and 11th of a game he ended up winning.
Masset allowed a single to Jose Reyes before striking out Jason Bay looking for the second out of the inning and then giving up Wright's dribbler.
"Those dribblers are usually the ones that get things started," Baker said. "I'm happy we could get that and get back to .500 and get a homestand started off with a win."
But after Masset gave himself his little pep talk, he turned it right around and got Davis. As he walked off the field, he gave himself a fistpump and received cheers from the fans and his teammates.
"I was excited, what can I say? Pitchers, when you go out and do your job, it's exciting. It's been a roller coaster, but you just go out there and give it your best stuff," Masset said. "Your best stuff can get hurt. I feel my stuff's been good. It was a release, it was nice to build a little confidence and work off that."
What's been frustrating for Masset is his stuff's been good so far, he may even be throwing with greater velocity than he did a year ago. His last pitch to Davis was a 96 mph fastball. Instead, he's had some trouble with his location early this season. In each of his previous three outings, he'd walked a batter and in two of the last three he's allowed a run.
"It hasn't been my stuff. Maybe my sinker a little bit, maybe sometimes it straightens out a little bit -- I like to say that's my best pitch -- but as long as the thing's moving and I can work off that," Masset said. "My stuff's been fine. I'm not worried about anything anymore, I'm just ready to go out there and fight."
Categories: Cincinnati Reds, Featured Stories
Tags: Dusty Baker, Laynce Nix, Mike Leake, Nick Masset
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