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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sometimes when a guy has caught 14 innings, his
head and feet don't always end up on the same page. That's what
happened to Cincinnati catcher Eddie Taubensee on Monday night.
Taubensee somehow failed to touch home plate on a force play andTodd Hundley scored to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 4-3 win over
the Reds.
"We should still be out there playing," Taubensee said. "It
shouldn't have ended that way."
|  | | It was an 0-for-6, two-strikeout night for Ken Griffey Jr. |
The Dodgers loaded the bases four times in the final five
innings before winning their sixth in a row. Both teams scored in
the 11th, though Los Angeles star Gary Sheffield sprained his right
ankle in the inning.
Hundley drew a leadoff walk from Manny Aybar (0-2) in the 14th
and moved up on a sacrifice. Hundley took third on a wild pitch and
pinch-hitter Chad Kreuter walked.
After a wild pitch moved Kreuter to second, Todd Hollandsworth
was intentionally walked to load the bases again.
The Reds pulled the infield in and Mark Grudzielanek hit a
grounder to shortstop Barry Larkin, whose throw home was in plenty
of time. Taubensee reached for the high throw, but his feet missed
tagging the plate and umpire Dan Iassogna called Hundley safe.
Dodgers reliever Jeff Shaw admitted feeling a few pangs of
sympathy for Taubensee, his former teammate.
"It was late in the game and everybody was getting tired,"
Shaw said. "I know Eddie was, because you could see how he was
starting to block balls in the dirt late in the game," Shaw said.
"That's a lot of work for a catcher -- him and Hot Rod (Hundley)
both -- to go all 14 innings."
Matt Herges (3-0) earned the victory with two innings of one-hit
relief.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the 10th, but Hollandsworth
grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Alex Ochoa singled with two outs in the Reds 11th off Shaw and
scored when Dante Bichette lined a double on one hop to the bullpen
gate in left field.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom half on two walks and
a single by Shawn Green, and Eric Karros made it 3-all with a
sacrifice fly.
Adrian Beltre followed with a grounder that resulted in an
inning-ending double play when Sheffield was called out for
interference for his hard slide into second baseman Pokey Reese.
"I was just trying to play hard and not think about the ankle
in that situation," Sheffield said. "I was trying to break up the
double play.
"He stayed behind the base, so I wanted to slide late. That way
I could at least clip his leg and make him overthrow first base.
Then I looked up and everyone was running off the field. But I
thought it was a legal slide."
It also was a painful slide, one that will definitely force
Sheffield to miss at least one game. He was carried off the field
by four members of the Dodgers training staff, but did a standing
interview with reporters afterward before leaving the ballpark on
crutches. He will have X-rays taken on Tuesday morning.
Darren Dreifort took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning before
Michael Tucker batted for Cincinnati starter Denny Neagle and led
off with his sixth homer.
Dreifort limited the Reds to two hits through five innings.
Reese led off the sixth with a single, advanced on a balk and
scored the tying run on Larkin's single.
Green hit his ninth home run in the first and Karros' 13th homer
in the second made it 2-0. Those were the Dodgers' only hits in the
first five innings against Neagle, who had surrendered only two
home runs in 38 innings over his previous six starts.
Neagle is 10-0 with seven no-decisions since Aug. 30, 1999. He
gave up four hits in seven innings against a lineup that scored 12
runs in each of its previous two games.
Game notes
Sheffield has started all 42 Dodgers games. ... Tucker's
pinch-hit homer was the third of his career, and his first since
May 12, 1999, against Milwaukee's Bob Wickman. ... Ken Griffey Jr.
struck out twice, giving him six strikeouts in his first nine
career at-bats against Dreifort. One of the other at-bats resulted
in a home run. ... Tucker's RBI was his 10th. He is 0-for-14 with
runners in scoring position. ... Sean Casey, who sat out Sunday's
game because of flu-like symptoms, was hitless in four at-bats and
ended his 10-game hitting streak.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Cincinnati Clubhouse
Los Angeles Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 4
Chi. White Sox 3
Milwaukee 10
Houston 9
Milwaukee 6
Houston 1
(2nd game)
San Diego 1
NY Mets 0
Los Angeles 4
Cincinnati 3
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