ST. LOUIS -- The Cincinnati Reds are used to Danny
Graves providing a few tense moments. The St. Louis Cardinals
may find themselves a whole lot more concerned about Mark
Mulder.
Graves induced Albert Pujols to bounce into a bases-loaded
double play in the ninth inning as Cincinnati battered Mulder en
route to a 6-5 triumph over St. Louis.
With Cincinnati holding a 6-4 lead, Graves took over for Ryan
Wagner to start the ninth and ran into immediate trouble. After
a walk to So Taguchi, Graves got pinch hitter Roger Cedeno, but
Hector Luna singled. David Eckstein made it a one-run game
with a ground-rule double to left as the ball just skimmed over
the fence.
"Thank god that the warning track was a little hard today or
else it wouldn't have bounced over and then its a tie game,"
Graves said. "That's probably the only rule in all of baseball
that is good for the pitcher. The ground-rule double."
Reds manager Dave Miley then opened himself to all sorts of
second guessing by opting to intentionally walk Larry Walker.
The move created a force play but brought slugger Pujols to the
plate.
Graves, who had retired all seven batters he faced this
season prior to the game, got an overanxious Pujols to chop to
third, where Joe Randa leaped and gloved the ball, stepped on
the bag and fired to first to complete the double play.
"You figure if you face Walker and play the infield back and if
he puts the ball in play it's a tie game," Miley said. "You
really don't want to walk anybody to get to anybody in their
lineup to be honest with you. We just felt it was the best
chance for us to get out of the inning. Obviously, Graves
getting the ground ball and nice play by Randa made the decision
look good. If he hits the ball off the wall or something, then
I have a different answer for you."
"I thought it was over his head. I thought it bounced over his
head," Graves said. "(But) that's 'Super Joe.' That's why we
call him 'Super Joe.' He gets it done, offensively and
defensively."
Pujols had been 6-for-20 in his career against Graves.
"He made a pretty good pitch. I just didn't come through
today," Pujols said. "It wasn't my day. Nine out of 10 times
that happens again, I drive that run in. It just didn't happen
today."
Graves' second save of the season preserved a victory for
starter Matt Belisle (1-1), who was filling in for injured
righthander Ramon Ortiz. Belisle allowed a run and four hits in
five innings.
"It worked out well. I didn't feel tired. I had pretty good
adrenaline going," Belisle said. "(Catcher Jason LaRue) and I
got on a pretty good rhythm and I pretty much was throwing what
he was throwing down."
Mulder (0-1), who allowed five runs in six innings in his season
debut on Friday, was even worse in this one. The 27-year-old
lefthander, who was winless in his last seven starts in 2004,
was tagged for 11 hits and six runs in five innings against the
Reds.
"I felt great out there. I was throwing strikes with
everything," said Mulder, who allowed all six runs to be scored
with two outs. "I made some mistakes over the middle of the
plate and they hit everyone of them. Those are the things that
you can't, you can't do that."
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa offered a different take.
"That's not the outing you would look for from the Cardinals.
We're not going to single people out," Cardinals manager Tony La
Russa said. "He had two outs and nobody on twice. He got two
strikes a lot of times, he just needs to finish them a little
better."
Austin Kearns hit a three-run homer in a four-run fifth inning
and Joe Randa added three hits as Cincinnati won for the first
time in five road games.
"I think we've just been struggling all around really. It was a
nice day to get some hits and put some runs up there," Kearns
said. "When you get two-out hits with guys in scoring position
it builds your confidence."