bengalsfan33 Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/...recap&fext=.jspCINCINNATI -- After losing four of his last five starts, Reds left-hander Brandon Claussen needed to make a strong showing in Sunday's season finale to go into the offseason with something positive to reflect on. Although he wound up with another loss, as the Reds fell to the Pirates, 2-0, before 30,854 fans at Great American Ball Park, Claussen will at least go into the winter months knowing that he would have probably had a win if he was locking horns with anyone other than Oliver Perez. "It was a nice start for Claussen," Reds manager Miley said. It was a tough assignment. Perez is tough on us, but it was a nice start for Claussen. He made some strides, and he knows what he needs to do in the offseason to get ready for Spring Training." Claussen held the Pirates to one run on five hits, while walking two and striking out three over six innings. It was the first time since Aug. 27 that he lasted more than five frames. "I'm pleased," Claussen said. "It's nice to end on a positive note. It would have been nicer if we could have won it, but it gives me some motivation for next season. After my last start, I was glad to be able to get another chance to end on a positive note so things worked out pretty good for me." The only trouble he ran into was in the fourth. Pittsburgh's speedy center fielder, Tike Redman, tagged Claussen for a leadoff triple to right before scoring on Tony Alvarez's sacrifice fly. Reds right fielder Austin Kearns delivered a laser to the plate on the play, but Redman managed to slide in just out of the reach of catcher Jason LaRue. The run proved plenty for Pittsburgh left-hander Oliver Perez, who beat the Reds for the fourth time in five starts this season by limiting Cincinnati's hitters to five hits -- two by Sean Casey -- while striking out nine and walking two over six scoreless innings. Once Claussen left in the seventh, Jose Castillo got a little something going for the Bucs by belting a leadoff homer to left off Reds reliever Juan Padilla. It was the sixth homer the right-hander allowed in 12 appearances with the Reds this season. Saloman Torres shut out the Reds in the seventh and eighth before Jose Mesa closed out the win, and his 43rd save, in the ninth. "The last two nights, we just couldn't get anything going offensively," Miley said. The only real opportunity came in the third when Claussen and Felipe Lopez gave the Reds runners at first and second with no outs on back-to-back singles against Perez. In what might have been his final start of his career, Barry Larkin came to the plate with an opportunity to be the hero. Instead, Pittsburgh shortstop Jack Wilson robbed him of a hit, starting a 6-4-3 double play on a hard-hit ground ball. "I just reacted and went after the ball, got it, flipped it up and thought, 'Sweet, good play. It helped us out," Wilson said. "Then they took him out the next inning and I was like, 'Ah [darn], I just took away possibly Barry's last knock as a Red. I felt terrible." He shouldn't have. Larkin took advantage of the early exit. After shaking hands with teammates and opponents, Larkin went to the Reds' radio booth to thank Joe Nuxhall and Marty Brennaman before making a heartfelt speech to the crowd and going to sit with his family in the stands. "It wasn't planned," Larkin said. "The only plan was for [Anderson] Machado to come out, and for me to walk off the field. Guys showed a lot of respect and a lot of love and affection. It was awesome. For anybody to experience that as a player, it's extremely humbling. "I was thinking about what to do, and I wanted to thank Nuxy. I wanted to go up and thank him and Marty and the fans personally. That's specifically why I didn't do a taped thank you. I wanted to thank everyone personally." Although the Reds lost the series, two games to one, they finished the season winning eight of their last 12 games to finish in fourth place in the NL Central with a 76-86 record. They finished with a 40-41 home record and drew a total of 2,287,250 fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalszoneBilly Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 The Reds season ending attendance was 30,854? After the second half they had? Hmm. I guess there are more hardcore Reds fans than I would have thought possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengalsfan33 Posted October 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 I know I wouldn't attend the last game of the season unless it was something big like Larkin's Retirement Ceremony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbarian Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 The Reds season ending attendance was 30,854? After the second half they had? Hmm. I guess there are more hardcore Reds fans than I would have thought possible. Reds Season over???? Thank God!!! Close the book on that one.And we've got Bernie making millions because of 30,000+ dumbass idiots show up at GABP.What a bunch of idiots.Thanks, Bernie. Keep on jipping the good citizens of Cincinnati. I hope you choke on that Chiquita Banana, you f**k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Brew Man Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 The Reds season ending attendance was 30,854? After the second half they had? Hmm. I guess there are more hardcore Reds fans than I would have thought possible. Reds Season over???? Thank God!!! Close the book on that one.And we've got Bernie making millions because of 30,000+ dumbass idiots show up at GABP.What a bunch of idiots.Thanks, Bernie. Keep on jipping the good citizens of Cincinnati. I hope you choke on that Chiquita Banana, you f**k. Ummm, yeah, agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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