Phillips, Bailey give Reds win in final game of season
Published 2:55 am Monday, October 5, 2009
CINCINNATI — The Reds’ last man standing led them to one final win.
Brandon Phillips — the lone Cincinnati regular who avoided the disabled list in 2009 — drove in three runs Sunday, and Homer Bailey shut out Pittsburgh for six innings, setting up a 6-0 victory as the NL Central’s two forlorn franchises ended the season together.
The Pirates finished their 17th straight losing season, while the Reds completed their ninth in a row.
Phillips was the Reds’ only regular starting player who wasn’t caught up in the run of nonstop injuries. He had an RBI double in the first off Jeff Karstens (4-6), a run-scoring groundout and another RBI double.
Phillips finished with 98 RBIs. He had a chance to get those last two to reach 100, but grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the sixth.
‘‘It was a great journey trying to get to 100. I just fell short,’’ Phillips said. ‘‘You learn from your mistakes. I had plenty of chances early in the season. I’m happy with the year I had. I’m very satisfied.’’
Bailey (8-5) finished his breakout season by improving to 4-0 career against the Pirates. The 23-year-old pitcher went 6-1 with a 1.70 ERA down the stretch, making him a top candidate for next year’s rotation.
‘‘The way we’ve been playing the last month and a half made it a lot easier for me to go out there,’’ Bailey said. ‘‘I think everybody here has a lot of confidence and a lot of potential, but ’potential’ means you haven’t done anything.’’
The Pirates’ 17 consecutive losing seasons are a record for a major professional team in North America. They underwent another near-total makeover at midseason and wound up losing 99 games with a cast of young players that collapsed down the stretch.
After Pittsburgh moved out of the basement on Aug. 22 — a game ahead of Cincinnati — the Pirates went 11-29 the rest of the way, clinching last place.
Reds’ boxscore
Sunday’s Game
Reds 6, Pirates 0
Pittsburgh Cincinnati
ab r h bi ab r h bi
AMcCt cf 3 0 2 0 Stubbs cf 4 2 3 0
AnLRc 3b 5 0 0 0 Janish ss 2 1 0 0
GJones 1b 4 0 1 0 Sutton ph-ss 1 0 0 0
Milledg lf 5 0 1 0 Votto 1b 4 1 3 0
Moss rf 2 0 1 0 Fisher p 0 0 0 0
DlwYn 2b 3 0 0 0 BPhllps 2b 4 1 2 3
R.Diaz c 4 0 2 0 Rolen 3b 3 1 1 2
L.Cruz ss 4 0 1 0 ARosls ph-3b 1 0 0 0
Karstns p 1 0 0 0 Bruce rf 4 0 1 1
SJcksn p 0 0 0 0 L.Nix lf 4 0 1 0
Dumtrt p 0 0 0 0 CMiller c 2 0 0 0
Pearce ph 1 0 1 0 Hanign ph-c 1 0 0 0
Veal p 0 0 0 0 HBaily p 2 0 0 0
NWalkr ph 1 0 0 0 JFrncs ph 0 0 0 0
DBatst p 0 0 0 0 Burton p 0 0 0 0
VVasqz p 0 0 0 0 RRmrz p 0 0 0 0
RVazqz ph 1 0 1 0 Barker ph-1b 1 0 0 0
Hacker p 0 0 0 0
Totals 34 0 10 0 Totals 33 6 11 6
Pittsburgh 000 000 000 — 0
Cincinnati 101 040 00x — 6
DP—Pittsburgh 1, Cincinnati 2. LOB—Pittsburgh 13, Cincinnati 9. 2B—B.Phillips 2 (30), L.Nix (26). 3B—Pearce (1), Rolen (1). SB—A.McCutchen 2 (22), Janish (2). S—Delw.Young, Janish.
IP H R ER BB SO
Pittsburgh
Karstens L,4-6 2 1-3 4 2 2 1 2
S.Jackson 2-3 0 0 0 0 0
Dumatrait 1 0 0 0 1 1
Veal 1 4 4 4 1 1
D.Bautista 1 2 0 0 1 0
V.Vasquez 1 1 0 0 0 2
Hacker 1 0 0 0 1 1
Cincinnati
H.Bailey W,8-5 6 7 0 0 3 7
Burton 1 1 0 0 1 0
R.Ramirez 1 2 0 0 0 0
Fisher 1 0 0 0 0 0
HBP—by Burton (G.Jones). WP—S.Jackson. Umpires—Home, D.J. Reyburn; First, Randy Marsh; Second, Lance Barksdale; Third, Marvin Hudson. T—3:09. A—20,940 (42,319).