Owings takes one for the team to give Reds 4-2 win
Published 12:36 am Monday, September 7, 2009
ATLANTA — Once Micah Owings realized he was OK, one of his biggest concerns was making sure his mom knew he was fine.
Owings walked off the field after getting beaned with the bases loaded in the 12th inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2 on Sunday for their seventh consecutive win.
Owings (7-12), who pitched two scoreless innings, was hit on the left side of his batting helmet by an 0-1 fastball from Kawakami. Owings was on his back for several seconds before medical staff from the Reds and Braves helped him sit up and walk to the dugout.
The scary play came in front of several family members, who came in from Gainesville, Ga., hoping to see Owings get into the game.
‘‘Yeah, it was nice to have them here even though I’m sure my mom was flipping out from the get-go, but I tried to reassure everybody when I knew that I could see and that everything was fine,’’ Owings said. ‘‘I wasn’t dizzy or anything, but I wanted everyone to know because I knew they would be worrying and praying at the same time.’’
According to Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker, Owings was bleeding ‘‘at the ear’’ in the dugout.
‘‘He can’t fly for a couple of days,’’ Baker said. ‘‘But he was in good humor about it. The doctors are in there now stitching him up.’’
Joey Votto scored on the play, and Corky Miller followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.
Kawakami (7-11), who has started 25 of 27 games, allowed two runs and two hits in two innings. Atlanta has lost five straight, matching its season-worst skid set April 14-18.
Cincinnati trailed 2-1 before Drew Stubbs hit his fifth homer against Mike Gonzalez in the eighth. The Reds have won 12 of 14.
‘‘Anytime a guy gets hit, it’s a scary situation,’’ said Stubbs, who finished with three hits. ‘‘It could’ve been much worse — a concussion that puts him on the DL — but I was ready for the game to end in the ninth.’’
The Braves wasted a terrific start by Tim Hudson, who allowed one run and four hits over seven innings in his second game since returning from elbow surgery. The right-hander retired the last 14 batters he faced.
Reds’ boxscore
Sunday’s Game
Reds 4, Braves 2, 12 innings
Cincinnati Atlanta
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Stubbs cf 5 1 3 1 McLoth cf 5 0 1 0
DMcDn rf-lf 5 0 1 1 Prado 3b 4 0 1 1
Votto 1b 4 1 0 0 GAndrs lf 5 0 0 0
BPhllps 2b 5 0 0 0 Norton 1b 0 0 0 0
Rolen 3b 5 1 1 0 AdLRc 1b 4 0 1 0
Gomes lf 4 0 1 0 Gorecki pr-lf 0 0 0 0
Balentn rf 0 0 0 0 M.Diaz rf 4 0 0 0
ARosls ss 2 0 0 0 Conrad 2b 4 0 0 0
Herrer p 0 0 0 0 Infante ss 5 0 0 0
Masset p 0 0 0 0 D.Ross c 4 2 1 1
Barker ph 1 0 0 0 THudsn p 2 0 0 0
Owings p 0 0 0 1 KJhnsn ph 1 0 1 0
Arroyo pr 0 0 0 0 MGnzlz p 0 0 0 0
Corder p 0 0 0 0 RSorin p 0 0 0 0
CMiller c 4 0 0 1 Moylan p 0 0 0 0
Cueto p 2 1 1 0 McCnn ph 1 0 0 0
Burton p 0 0 0 0 Kawkm p 0 0 0 0
Janish ss 3 0 0 0 Church ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 40 4 7 4 Totals 40 2 5 2
Cincinnati 001 000 010 002 — 4
Atlanta 000 010 100 000 — 2
E—Cueto (2). DP—Cincinnati 1, Atlanta 1. LOB—Cincinnati 5, Atlanta 8. 2B—Prado (25). 3B—Stubbs (1). HR—Stubbs (5), D.Ross (7). CS—Stubbs (2). SF—C.Miller.
IP H R ER BB SO
Cincinnati
Cueto 6 3 1 1 2 9
Burton 0 2 1 1 0 0
Herrera 1 2-3 0 0 0 0 0
Masset 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 0
Owings W,7-12 2 0 0 0 2 1
Cordero S,33-35 1 0 0 0 0 3
Atlanta
T.Hudson 7 4 1 1 1 6
M.Gonzalez BS,6-15 1 1 1 1 0 2
R.Soriano 1 0 0 0 0 1
Moylan 1 0 0 0 0 1
Kawakami L,7-11 2 2 2 2 2 0
Burton pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. HBP—by Cueto (Prado, Conrad), by Kawakami (Owings). Umpires—Home, Jerry Layne; First, Tony Randazzo; Second, Brian Gorman; Third, Chris Guccione. T—3:39. A—32,397 (49,743).