By Hal McCoy
Dane Myers owns a bat with ears. And she listens.
The Cincinnati Reds were within one out of losing both ends of Monday’s doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals in Great American Ball Park.
After losing Game One, 2-1, the Reds trailed by a run with two outs in the ninth inning in Game Two.
Myers pinch-hit and crushed a game-tying home run, then the Reds won it in the 10th, 6-5.
It ended with a walk-off single by a struggling Elly De La Cruz leading off the tenth, his first walk-off contribution.
Myers hit a home run in the first game, Cincinnati’s only run on an adventurous 11-pitch at bat. Before dropping the bat, he had a little chat with it.
“It has been a while since I hit my last homer, missing a lot of pitches I should hit homers on,” he said. “I told her it was about time. Yeah, it’s a her. That way I don’t treat her too bad.
“Yeah, same bat,” he said. “I didn’t have to talk to her too much for that one.
“It was a great position to be in and I’m happy I was able to come through,” he added. “I trust in myself an my teammates trust me as well.”
And it was the same bat that he used to dramatically tie the game to avoid the Reds getting swept.
De La Cruz struck out all four times in Game one and was enmeshed in a 2 for 34 dark slide with 13 strikeouts.
Manager Tito Francona installed him at designated hitter for Game Two and played Matt McLain at shortstop and Sal Stewart at second base.
De La Cruz gave early indications that me might be coming out of it with a single in the first inning and a walk in the third.
Tyler Stephenson was the ghost runner at second when Elly led the 10th. He worked the count to 3-and-2, then scalded his game-winning single past third baseman Blaze Jordan.
De La Cruz was out breath when he did his post-game on-the-field interview and said, “I’m tired, man. I’m tired. But it felt great. Good vibes right now.
“I was looking for a good pitch to hit and execute,” he said.
He gave credit to Myers and said, “That’s how we won the game. Two outs and he came through with the homer. That’s how we won right there.”
They also won by wiping out a 4-1 St. Louis lead with three runs in the sixth to tie it, 4-4, as Michael Toglia drove in his first run in a Reds uniform and Hector Rodriguez tied it with a two-run double, his first MLB runs batted in
In Game One, the Reds sent 34 year-old lefthander Kent Emanuel to the mound for his first major league start.
Who?
The Reds found him pitching for the High Point Rockers of the independent Atlantic League, where he had pitched for two seasons after pitching for the Diablo Rojos del Mexico in the Mexican League.
And he displayed early nerves when his second pitch hit rookie Joshua Baez in the foot. Then he walked Ivan Herrera.
He struck out Jordan Walker, but Alec Burleson doubled to right center for two runs, two RBI that pushed Burleson past Sal Stewart for the RBI lead, 92-91.
And that was it for the Cardinals. They stranded runners in seven of the nine innings and were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
It didn’t matter because Cincinnati’s bats were as silent as the ‘k’ in knock. The Reds had only three knocks, two by Dane Myers that included his first homer of the day.
The Reds had one scoring opportunity and it came in the second inning against St. Louis lefthander Quinn Mathews, making his second major league start.
They loaded the bases on Myers’ one-out single and walks to Michael Toglia and Matt McLain. But Noelvi Marte popped up and Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded out.
After Myers’ homer, 14 Reds in a row were sent back to the dugout.
Elly De La Cruz struck out for the fourth straight time with one out in the eighth and was 2 for 34 with 13 strikeouts.
Sal Stewart pulled a two-out double into the left field corner, the potential tying run, but Tyler Stephenson grounded meekly to the mound.
Of De La Cruz’s hibernation, Francona said, “It’s kind of telling when he challenged (on a called strike three for his fourth strtikeout). The ball had the whole plate. Sometimes you kinda lose where you are. He is just going through a tough time right now.”
But De La Cruz turned it all upside down in Game Two.
Emanuel gave the Reds five innings of two-run, five-hit pitching with three walks and four strikeouts.
“The way the game started, he hits the first guy in the foot, then the walk and he has first and second before he can even breathe,” said Francona.
“He gives up the double (to Burleson), then hung in there like. . .I’m very proud of him. He gave us everything he had..”
With a high pitch count, St. Louis starter Mathews only gave the Cardinals four innings, but held the Reds to one run and two hits and pitched around three walks while striking out seven.
“Their kid, their guy, had a good change-up,” said Francona. “We made him throw a ton of pitches (95 in four innings), but we only had the one run to show for it, Myers’ home run.
“We got into their ‘pen, but we just weren’t able to get anything going,” he added. referring to five St. Louis relief pitchers held the Reds to no runs, one hit, no walks and eight strikeouts. And for the game, the Reds struck out 15 times.
Myers isn’t giving up hope on the fast-dwindling season.
“It’s tough right now where we are, but it’s part of the game,” he said. “I think everybody in the clubhouse still has confidence to make a run. Obviously we’re kinda running out of time. But we still believe in ourselves in the clubhouse.”
Everybody certainly believes in Dane Myers. . .and his bat that listens.