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GAME LOG
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Todd Ritchie's slider was back. So was the
Pittsburgh Pirates' luck.
Ritchie kept the Cincinnati Reds out of a big inning and Dante
Bichette let in Pittsburgh's go-ahead run with a fielding error in
the eighth, setting up the Pirates' 6-3 victory Friday night.
The Reds (59-61) have lost four in a row, scoring a total of
eight runs during a slump that's dropped them below .500 and
widened their gap with first-place St. Louis in the NL Central.
"Guys are playing hard and doing the best they can. We just
need a little luck," Reds starter Scott Williamson said.
No such luck for the Reds, who couldn't recover from Bichette's
error and couldn't do much against Ritchie (6-6). He went 7 1-3
innings and gave up three runs -- Ken Griffey Jr. had a sacrifice
fly, a solo homer and a run-scoring groundout.
Ritchie has pitched two solid games since returning from a
pulled muscle in his right side that limited him for a few starts
and finally disabled him for nearly three weeks.
"He probably was hurt a lot longer than we knew," manager Gene
Lamont said. "He's pitched two good games since he came back.
Tonight he had a good slider. In his last five or six starts, he
was pretty much a fastball-changeup pitcher."
Ritchie admitted he was bothered by the injury for longer than
he let on. "I don't know how far exactly that goes back," he said. "I
was definitely hurting before I went on the disabled list. It
wasn't real painful, but it was affecting my slider and my velocity
was down."
Mike Williams pitched out of a two-on, two-out threat in the
ninth by retiring Dmitri Young on a forceout for his 17th save in 21 chances.
Griffey's 35th homer tied it at 2 in the sixth, but Bichette's
seventh error helped the Pirates go ahead to stay in the eighth.
Jason Kendall singled off Scott Sullivan (2-5) with one out and
Brian Giles followed with a single to right that Bichette charged
but missed, letting the ball roll to the wall. Kendall, who stopped
at second, continued home on the misplay.
Bichette bent over, dropped his head and put his hands on his
knees for several seconds after throwing the ball in.
"It got under my glove," Bichette said. "That's all I can
say. It's a lonely feeling, but you've got to pick yourself up and
go back out there. Missing a ball like that is the worst fear of an outfielder."
Giles scored from third on Aramis Ramirez's soft double to
right, which eluded a sliding Bichette and put the Pirates up 4-2. "We got some good breaks," Lamont said. "A lot of those have
been going against us. Tonight they went for us."
Adrian Brown and Kendall added RBI singles in the ninth off
Danny Graves. Kendall also had a solo homer as part of his
three-hit night. "We've had a tough time on this trip so far," Kendall said.
Williamson gave up two runs in seven innings and set a club
record for wild pitches by throwing his 20th in the sixth. Williamson, last year's NL Rookie of the Year, surpassed the
club record that Jim Maloney set in 1963 and matched in 1965.
Maloney pitched 250 innings each of those seasons, while
reliever-turned-starter Williamson broke his mark in his 100th
inning this season.
Griffey's sacrifice fly put the Reds ahead in the first, but the
Pirates strung together three consecutive hits to take their first
lead in the sixth inning.
Kendall hit his 11th homer with one out, and Giles singled and
came around on John Vander Wal's double to the wall in left-center
for a 2-1 lead. Griffey tied it with a one-out homer in the bottom of the
inning, ending Ritchie's streak of nine consecutive batters retired.
Game notes
Only three umpires worked the game because Terry Craft was
sick. ... A cameraman tumbled into the stairwell at the end of the
Pirates' dugout when a railing gave way a half-hour before the
game. He was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and
released. ... Pirates 2B Warren Morris went 0-for-4, extending his
slump to 1-for-20. ... One of Williamson's pitches to Enrique
Wilson in the third inning bounced three feet in front of the
plate. ... Reds 2B Pokey Reese was scratched from the lineup
because of a tight left hamstring. ... Larkin had an infield
single, leaving him one hit shy of 2,000 career. He will be the
first major league shortstop to have 2,000 hits, 170 homers and 350
steals. ... The Reds lead the majors with 81 wild pitches, two shy
of the club record set in 1965. The major league record is 94 wild
pitches by the 1986 Texas Rangers.
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Cincinnati Clubhouse
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