(CP)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Derrek Lee’s presence in the batter’s box made his former manager a little queasy.
Imagine Dusty Baker’s relief when his struggling Cincinnati Reds held on for a big victory over Lee’s Chicago Cubs.

Lee grounded out to first baseman Joey Votto, preserving a 5-3 win last night that ended the Reds’ five-game losing streak and left them feeling like they’d barely dodged something awful.
“You’re trying to be cool, and inside you’re churning,” Baker said. “Boy, that was a big win. That would have been a devastating loss right there.”
Instead, the Reds came away hoping they’ve finally bottomed out.
Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer deep into the seats in right field while rookie Johnny Cueto got back to hitting the corners with his 95 m.p.h. fastball—a pair of hopeful signs for 13-20 Cincinnati.
The 22-year-old Cueto (2-3) left his pitches over the middle of the plate in his last two starts, when he gave up seven runs in only 8 2/3 innings.
Mario Soto, a former Reds’ pitcher who worked with Cueto in the minors, joined the team and helped him repair his change-up and his confidence.
It showed right away.
Cueto struck out five in the first two innings around a solo homer by Geovany Soto. The right-hander gave up three runs and six hits in six innings, striking out eight.
“He had better command of his breaking ball and his fastball,” Baker said. “He concentrated on keeping it low and away. And he had a decent change-up when he needed it.
“He’s a kid with a lot of will and desire,” Baker added. “You could tell tonight he was focused.”
The host Reds took advantage of a pair of errors that led to five unearned runs off Ryan Dempster of Gibsons, B.C. (4-1), who lost for the first time since switching from closer to starter.
Then, it came down to the wild ninth.
The Cubs loaded the bases with one out off Francisco Cordero. Mike Fontenot was out at the plate when he tried to score from third on a pitched that bounced away from catcher Paul Bako—not far enough.
“I thought the ball went farther than it did,” Fontenot said. “I wanted to get home. It was a bad decision.”
Cordero walked Ryan Theriot to load the bases again, then retired Lee to remain perfect in five save chances and give the Reds a reprieve from their misery.
“You feel like you’re climbing a cactus,” said David Weathers, who pitched the eighth. “It’s hard.”
There were several impressive defensive plays.
Felix Pie stretched above the yellow padding atop the wall in centre and stole a homer from Ken Griffey Jr. in the fifth inning. The 20,289 fans had risen in anticipation of Griffey’s 598th career homer, then let out a collective groan when Pie made the play.
Baker planned to give Griffey the night off after one of the outfielder’s childhood friends died of cancer earlier in the day. Griffey talked Baker into letting him play, and went 1-for-4 with an infield single.
Griffey also slammed into the right-field fence in front of the Cubs’ bullpen to steal an extra-base hit from Alfonso Soriano in the third inning—drawing an ovation.
Elsewhere in the NL yesterday, St. Louis nipped Colorado 6-5, Philadelphia dumped Arizona 11-4, and the L.A. Dodgers beat the N.Y. Mets 5-1.