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GAME LOG
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Dante Bichette hopes his modest single leads
to better things -- like a place in the Cincinnati Reds' everyday
lineup.
|  | | Pokey Reese, left, and Alex Ochoa celebrate Ochoa's game-winning, 10th-inning single that lifted the Reds over the Pirates. |
Bichette, out of the starting lineup for all three games of the
series, singled in the 10th inning Thursday, setting up a
game-winning rally and a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Alex Ochoa's bases-loaded single with one out completed the
rally and kept the Reds on their roll, now nine wins in the last 11
games. Cincinnati improved to 5-0 in extra-inning games.
"This team just gets it done," said Bichette, who got into the
game in the eighth as a pinch-hitter. "It's been exciting."
A game that started off with the 26,252 fans groaning about
walks ended with them on their feet watching the Reds win another
with three hits and a walk.
Sean Casey led off the 10th with a single off Mike Garcia (0-2).
One out later, Bichette hit a soft single to right that sent Casey
to third.
The hit was only Bichette's second in his last 16 at-bats, one
of the reasons why manager Jack McKeon kept him out of the lineup
for three games.
"I don't think I've ever had three days off," Bichette said.
"It's definitely frustrating. I want to play. I'm a guy you don't
worry about, just pencil me in and let me play. That's one of my
strengths."
McKeon plans to get Bichette back in the lineup during a weekend
series in Chicago. "Maybe that bloop single will help Bichette get started,"
McKeon said.
After Bichette's hit, the Pirates intentionally walked Benito
Santiago to load the bases, setting up the forceout at home or the
double play. Garcia started Ochoa off with a pair of sliders,
hoping to get a grounder, but couldn't get him to swing at either.
Down 2-0 in the count, Garcia had little choice but to throw a
strike. Ochoa hit a drive that bounced over the wall in
right-center for a game-winning single, with the runners stopping
to celebrate after advancing one base.
"In that situation, you're trying to get something up in the
strike zone and you try to drive it," Ochoa said. "He threw me
two sliders off the plate and I didn't go after them. Then he had
to come in."
Danny Graves (6-0), hit hard in the Pirates' 9-6 win Wednesday
night, pitched a perfect 10th for the win. He's the first Reds
pitcher to start a season 6-0 since reliever Johnny Ruffin had an
identical mark in 1994.
Cincinnati's Scott Williamson pitched out of a two-on, none out
threat in the eighth, and Pittsburgh's Jose Silva got Dmitri Young
on a called third strike with runners at second and third to end
the ninth.
Both starters threw a lot of pitches and gave up a lot of hits
in the first few innings, setting the stage for the game to come
down to the bullpens.
Pittsburgh's Jason Schmidt and Cincinnati's Osvaldo Fernandez
threw a combined 62 pitches in the first inning, which lasted 34
minutes. In the first two innings, 13 of the 24 batters reached --
nine on hits, four on walks, all of which took an hour.
John Vander Wal doubled home a run and scored on Brian Giles'
single to make it 2-0 in the first. Schmidt gave up Young's RBI
single and a run-producing double-play grounder by Aaron Boone as
the Reds tied it in the bottom of the inning.
"As the game went on, I got better," Schmidt said.
"Unfortunately, it's a tie game by then. I thought it was my game
to win and I let them back in it. I take full responsibility for
it."
Schmidt added to his problems in the second, when the Pirates
got the first two runners aboard and Schmidt bunted into a double
play. Adrian Brown's single made it 3-2 as the Pirates had to
settle for only one run on four hits in the inning.
Young doubled, Boone was hit by a pitch and Santiago singled up
the middle with two outs to tie it at 3 in the third inning.
Schmidt threw 122 pitches in six innings, his longest stint in
four starts since he returned from the disabled list May 1. He was
out for 15 days with a sore shoulder.
Notes: Wil Cordero is expected to rejoin the Pirates this weekend
in Pittsburgh. Cordero was given permission to return to Puerto
Rico this week for a child custody case. He missed all three games
against Cincinnati. ... Schmidt, a .085 career hitter, is 0-for-11
with five strikeouts this season. ... Sign of the times: Fans booed
when Ken Griffey Jr., representing the go-ahead run, drew a
four-pitch walk leading off the seventh. Griffey walked four times.
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Baseball Scoreboard
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Cincinnati Clubhouse
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Detroit 0
Cleveland 0
Texas 8
Baltimore 7
Minnesota 10
Oakland 5
Cincinnati 4
Pittsburgh 3
Houston 0
Milwaukee 0
Atlanta 3
San Francisco 2
Los Angeles 0
Chicago Cubs 0
San Diego 6
Florida 2
Arizona 8
Montreal 6
St. Louis 7
Philadelphia 2
Colorado 0
NY Mets 0
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