The Associated Press

Monday, August 14, 2000

CHICAGO – After beating Los Angeles twice and getting within three games of second-place Cincinnati, the Chicago Cubs arrived home confident, certain they could take at least a couple of games from the Reds.

Instead, their offense disappeared. Completely. As in 22 scoreless innings.

”It’s disappointing because we had a chance to do some damage to the team in front of us,” first baseman Mark Grace said. ”Now we’ve got to pick it up and get something out of this next homestand.”

Sean Casey drove in one run with his bat and another with his body, and Steve Parris got his first victory since July 8 on Sunday night as the Reds shut out the Cubs 3-0 again for a three-game sweep.

Casey homered and went 3-for-3. Pokey Reese drove in the other run for the Reds, who have won four in a row and nine of their last 12 on the road.

The Cubs, meanwhile, were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since July 1997. They were swept for the first time since Florida did it June 23-25. It was their first three-game losing streak since the All-Star break.

And that three-game margin the Reds had? Back up to six.

”If you’d told me the wind’s blowing out and we’re going to get shut out, I would have taken that bet,” Cubs manager Don Baylor said. ”It was not Randy Johnson out there.”

Parris (6-14) had lost his previous three decisions and is tied with Jose Lima for most losses in the NL. But he’s pitched better than his record indicates, and the Cubs gave him a chance to prove it.

He pitched 7 2-3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits. He struck out three and walked four.

His only real trouble came in the eighth, when he gave up a single to Eric Young and walks to Ricky Gutierrez and Sammy Sosa to load the bases. But reliever Scott Sullivan struck out Rondell White swinging to end the threat. As White whiffed, Parris jumped up in the dugout and hit his head.

Sullivan got the last four outs for his third save.

”Parris did a super job,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. ”I think he’s pitched relatively well the last five or six outings. He just never got a break.”

Neither did the Cubs. After Sosa’s three-run homer in the fifth inning Friday, the Cubs went 0-for-20 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-34 with runners on base.

They stranded nine Sunday, adding to the 13 they left on Saturday.

”We have to get on the board somehow,” Baylor said. ”A bloop hit, anything to get it started.”

The Cubs also wasted another solid outing by a starter. Ruben Quevedo (1-4) gave up three runs and five hits in seven innings. But he also hit two batters, forcing in a run when he plunked Casey.

”I got into a little trouble the first couple of innings,” Quevedo said. ”I was making a lot of mistakes.”

In the fourth inning, he left a changeup right where Casey wanted it. He sent it over the left-field fence for his ninth homer of the year and a 2-0 lead.

In the fifth, Quevedo loaded the bases when he gave up a double to Barry Larkin, hit Ken Griffey Jr. and walked Bichette. He then hit Casey to force in a run, giving the Reds a 3-0 lead.

”Parris has had a few games where we couldn’t score or blew a lead late,” Casey said. ”It means a lot to get him going.”

Notes:

Before the game, Parris ran out to center field, touched the 400-foot sign and waved to fans. Parris grew up in nearby Joliet. … The Reds’ sweep was their first at Wrigley Field since September 1998.

… The 22 scoreless innings by Reds pitchers marks their longest string of the season.