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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Just when the Cincinnati Reds were ready to
celebrate, Craig Paquette made them miserable again.
|  | | Craig Paquette, right, is congratulated by teammate Kerry Robinson after Paquette's three-run home run beat the Reds in the ninth inning. |
Paquette hit his first career pinch homer, a three-run shot off
closer Danny Graves with two outs in the ninth inning, as the St.
Louis Cardinals rallied for a 5-4 victory Friday that left the home
team numb.
The Reds were one strike away from a rare victory at Cinergy
Field when Paquette -- a .220 career pinch-hitter -- hit a hanging
breaking ball over the left-field wall.
"It doesn't get any better than that," said Paquette, now
12-for-51 off the bench with 10 RBI. "That's easily one of the
toughest things in baseball. You're facing their best pitcher,
their closer who has nasty stuff."
Not lately, and not when the game's on the line. Graves (2-2)
has blown three save chances this season by giving up game-turning
homers.
Two weeks earlier at Cinergy, Graves was in a similar situation,
trying to hold a ninth-inning lead with two outs against Houston.
Lance Berkman, who like Paquette had never hit a pinch homer and
was only 1-for-27 career off the bench, hit a hanging breaking ball
for a three-run shot.
The same thing happened Friday when Graves decided not to use
his best pitch -- the sinker -- and instead hung another breaking
ball.
"It was a curveball -- if you want to call it a curveball,"
Graves said. "It was more of a spinner. It just floated up there.
It was stupid. I don't know why I threw it.
"I threw my third-best pitch and he smoked it. Maybe I should
stop throwing it, especially since that's not the first time it
happened."
Bad things seem to keep happening to the Reds, who sent two more
players for MRIs on Friday and had a patchwork lineup take them
to one strike of a rare home victory.
The Reds lost their fourth in a row and their 13th in 16 games,
dropping them a season-high 8½ games behind the first-place
Cardinals in the National League Central.
Cincinnati has lost 12 of its last 13 games at Cinergy Field,
where its 6-17 record is the worst in the NL.
The Cardinals won for the 13th time in 17 games by rallying in a
steady rain in the ninth. Edgar Renteria and Kerry Robinson singled
with one out, and Paquette came to bat with two outs and the 24,590
wet fans on their feet, ready to celebrate.
Paquette fell behind 0-2 in the count, took a ball, fouled off a
pitch and then hit his fourth homer to left, starting a celebration
on the bases that carried over into the Cardinals' dugout.
"That was an unbelievable comeback," manager Tony La Russa
said. "Graves is usually lights-out in that situation."
Alan Benes (1-0) got the victory with one inning in relief. Dave
Veres pitched the ninth for his sixth save in as many chances.
Alex Ochoa, elevated to leadoff in Cincinnati's depleted lineup,
homered and singled to help the Reds take a 4-2 lead into the
ninth. Ochoa, who had not batted leadoff since 1996, hit the second
pitch from Andy Benes for his third homer to get the Reds out of
their offensive funk.
Cincinnati was coming off a 3-0 shutout by Jon Lieber that ended
its streak of scoring in 208 consecutive games, an NL record.
Ochoa also singled during a three-run fifth inning that put the
Reds ahead. He was filling in at the top of the order for Pokey
Reese, who has a bruised nerve in his right thumb that kept him out
of the lineup. He got into the game for the last two innings.
Reds left fielder Dmitri Young, out of the lineup for the last
five games with a bruised left knee, left the game after the fifth
to get an MRI because the knee was bothering him again. Donnie
Sadler also got a precautionary MRI exam on a sore knee.
Game notes
The start of the game was delayed 19 minutes by rain. The
Reds have had rain delays in each of their last four games. ... Outfielder J.D. Drew, who leads the Cardinals with 17 homers, was a late
scratch from the lineup because of a stiff neck. ... Andy Benes has
given up leadoff homers in each of his last two starts. Doug
Glanville also hit one last Saturday in Philadelphia. ... Reds right-hander Matt Skrmetta rejected a minor-league assignment and became a free
agent Friday. ... It was only the 11th time that Ochoa has batted
leadoff in his career. He's 15-for-47 (.319) career in the top
spot. ... Jason LaRue's seventh-inning double snapped an 0-for-20
slump by Reds pinch-hitters. ... After the game, the Reds optioned
right-hander Jim Brower to Triple-A Louisville and called up
left-handed reliever Hector Mercado. ... Outfielder Deion Sanders, who's in
an 0-for-16 slump and hitting .159, was out of the lineup again.
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RECAPS
Baltimore 7
Texas 6
Boston 4
Toronto 0
Cleveland 6
NY Yankees 4
Chi. White Sox 8
Detroit 4
Anaheim 6
Tampa Bay 4
Seattle 9
Kansas City 6
Oakland 4
Minnesota 2
Chicago Cubs 1
Milwaukee 0
St. Louis 5
Cincinnati 4
Philadelphia 10
Montreal 8
NY Mets 4
Florida 3
Atlanta 1
Pittsburgh 0
Arizona 7
San Diego 1
Los Angeles 4
Houston 1
Colorado 6
San Francisco 1
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