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Y! MyWebCINCINNATI 8, MILWAUKEE 2
Hairston's bat powers Reds to victory
Four hits and three runs become part of a one-two punch with Volquez's pitching to down Brewers.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
MILWAUKEE — Jerry Hairston Jr. is not only a catalyst, he is a catalytic converter, and what he does for the Cincinnati Reds is cataclysmic.
Numbers sometimes lie, can be construed in any way the interpreter wants, but Hairston's are dead, solid platinum.
He had four hits and scored three runs in Miller Park on Saturday, July 12, to help the Reds bury the Milwaukee Brewers 8-2, lifting Edinson Volquez to his 12th victory on the year.
And Adam Dunn contributed the heavy lumber with a pair of homers and four RBIs.
How important is Hairston?
When he plays shortstop, the team is 20-10. When he bats leadoff, the team is 18-13. When he bats sixth, the team is 3-0. When he plays center field, the team is 8-2. Right field? 2-0.
"Keep that center field, right field and batting sixth stuff under wraps," said Hairston with a laugh. He prefers shortstop and leadoff — two spots he should be everyday, every night, every game.
But it doesn't matter where he plays or where he bats, his presence is majestic.
"You think one guy doesn't make a difference?" Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "They tried to tell me that in Chicago when we lost Derrek Lee. I know better."
Hairston was sitting at home midspring, hoping for a job, when the Reds came calling, and heading into Saturday's game, he was hitting .344 with a .392 on-base average.
"Best I've played since 2003, right before I got hurt," he said. "I really felt like I was turning the corner, but I had a foot injury and when I came back I was like 4-for-50 or 4-for-70. I shouldn't have come back."
Volquez is 12-3 as he heads for the All-Star game and owns more confidence than any 25-year-old deserves to have. How confident? He is making predictions now.
"After I warmed up, I told Edwin Encarnacion, 'I'm going to win this game. I'm going to have a very good game because I have great stuff.' "
Volquez said Encarnacion looked at him as if he were el loco. Then he added to the legend in the first inning with All-Star Ryan Braun batting.
"I told Edwin I was going to strike him out," Volquez said. "Edwin told me, 'You're crazy, man,' then I struck him out."
Said Hairston of Volquez, "He is a tremendous pitcher with tremendous stuff. To think he is only 25. We are confident that we're going to win when he pitches."
Volquez went seven innings, giving up two runs, one earned, and six hits, striking out 10, lowering his ERA to 2.29.
"I only told Edwin, nobody else, I was going to have a great night," Volquez said. "All my pitches are going to be there, and he was laughing at me."
And Dunn is on one of his terror tantrums — five homers in six games.
When a writer asked about it, Dunn said, "You obviously are from Milwaukee. Yeah. You don't see me often, dude. I got into these ruts where I take pitches that I should be hitting and swing at ones I shouldn't.
"Right now, I'm in one of those things that is just the opposite — I swing at pitches that I should be swinging at, seeing the ball good, and getting good results. I'm seeing it good and just swinging it," Dunn added.
Seth McClung vs. Edinson Volquez seemed a monumental mismatch, and it appeared to be just that in the first inning.
Hairston led the game with a single, Jay Bruce flew out to left, Ken Griffey Jr. walked on a full count, Brandon Phillips struck out, then Dunn propelled his 25th home run over the right-field wall.
Quicker than you can say Bernie Brewer, the Reds were in front 3-0.
Stayed that way, too, until the fourth when Hairston booted Braun's grounder for an error and Prince Fielder launched a stand-and-watch (which he did) home run to left field, cutting Volquez's margin to 3-2.
Volquez gave up three singles in the fifth, including a one-out hit to McClung, breaking a streak of 0-for-38 by Milwaukee pitchers.
That forced Volquez to face Fielder, this time with the bases loaded. After he jumped ahead 2-and-0, Fielder rolled a weak grounder to second and the Brewers didn't score.
"A changeup," Volquez said. "My changeup hasn't been there for three or four starts, but it was the best it has been in a long time."
The Reds went feeble after the first, getting one hit and two walks off McClung in 5 2/3 innings after Dunn's homer.
They broke through for a run against the Brewers bullpen in the eighth after Hairston led with a double, his third hit. With two outs and a 3-and-2 count, Griffey rolled a run-scoring single to right to make it 4-2.
Dunn's second homer, his 26th, led the ninth against Eric Gagne, then Encarnacion pumped his 15th homer over the left-field fence on an 0-2 pitch, pushing the cushion to four runs.
It didn't stop there because Corey Patterson's single, Hairston's fourth-hit, a ground-rule double, and Jay Bruce's two-run single made it 8-2.
Today's game
Who: Reds (Bailey 0-3)
at Brewers (Sabathia 7-8)
When: 2:05 p.m.
Radio: WLW-AM (700); WONE-AM) 980
TV: FSN Ohio
