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Friday, Jun. 2 7:35pm ET
Tough call ends Reds' win over Twins | |||||
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GAME LOG
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A disputed call helped the Cincinnati Reds survive a close call and keep their ninth-inning streak intact. Danny Graves struck out Jacque Jones on a disputed swing, then a game-ending force-out Friday night to preserve a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Dante Bichette and Michael Tucker each homered and had three hits, but it was Jones' last swing of the night that had everyone talking and disagreeing. Did catcher Benito Santiago interfere with Jones' swing? Did Jones foul off the pitch? Could anyone figure out exactly what happened? "It's hard for us to tell what's going on," Santiago said. "The whole thing was so quick. I don't know." This much was certain: The ninth inning was the most interesting of all. Tucker and Bichette, the Reds' two hottest hitters, helped Cincinnati take a 4-3 lead into the ninth, where they have an impressive streak going. Since last Sept. 16, the Reds are 30-0 when they lead after the eighth inning. The Twins had a chance to end it and get their sixth win in their last seven games after they loaded the bases against Scott Williamson and got a two-run pinch single by Midre Cummings. Graves relieved to face Jones, who had opened the game with a homer. After getting two strikes, Graves threw a pitch over the outside of the plate that enticed Jones to swing. What happened next was in dispute. The replay indicated that Jones' bat hit Santiago's mitt on the swing. The ball popped out of Santiago's glove. Jones thought he'd fouled off the pitch; Twins manager Tom Kelly thought Santiago's mitt had interfered with Jones' swing. Home plate umpire Jerry Layne thought it was strike three. "I thought it was catcher's interference," Kelly said. "But Jerry is a good umpire. It's just that he didn't see catcher's interference, so what are you going to do? "It was quite awkward when Jacque says he fouled it off, and I'm saying another thing. But he had a couple of swings to get the ball in play. It's hard to blame anyone. We had our chances." Jones declined to talk about the swing, saying only, "The umpire said I'm out." The Reds conceded that Jones' bat hit Santiago's mitt, but had their own spin on what happened. "We thought Bennie (Santiago) had already caught the ball when he hit his glove," Reds manager Jack McKeon said. "That was a late swing." When Graves got Cristian Guzman to hit into a force at second, it became a footnote and a welcome win for the Reds, who are 3-4 in a 12-game homestand that is their longest of the season. "We don't have an easy one, do we?" McKeon said. "We're on pins and needles all the time." Rob Bell (4-3) gave up a homer to Jones on his second pitch of the game and began worrying. "I'm thinking these American League guys are good," Bell said. "Two pitches into it, they're hitting it 450 feet." Bell was wrong on two counts. Jones' eighth homer went an estimated 426 feet, and it wasn't a sign of things to come. Bell allowed only three more hits during his seven innings. Joe Mays (2-7) gave up a solo shot by Tucker in the second and a two-run homer by Bichette in the fourth. Tucker is in a 12-for-18 spurt while Bichette has hit .458 in a dozen games since returning from a three-day benching. Bichette has raised his average from .213 to a more characteristic .275 in the last two weeks. "I've just had to dig myself out of a deep hole," Bichette said. Ken Griffey Jr. remains at the bottom of his. A day after he got an unwanted day off, he went 0-for-3. An 0-for-17 slump has dropped his average to .209. Game notesThe start was delayed 17 minutes by rain. ... Mays had an infield single in his first at-bat, his first career hit. That matched last year's total by Twins pitchers, who were 1-for-18 in interleague games with eight strikeouts. ... The Twins are 24-25 in interleague play since 1997, including 5-5 against the Reds. Cincinnati is 24-20 overall in interleague play. ... Bichette is 7-for-9 in his last two games. ... Slumping 2B Pokey Reese (3-for-22) was out of the lineup, but came in for defense in the eighth. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Minnesota Clubhouse Cincinnati Clubhouse RECAPS Chicago Cubs 2 Detroit 0
Cincinnati 4
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