Phillies clinch second place in the NL East

Jason LaRue took a called third strike, froze in the batter's box for a few seconds, then slowly headed for the dugout as fans booed.

The Reds catcher had just made the kind of history that no one wants.

Omar Daal pitched seven shutout innings Saturday and the Philadelphia Phillies held on for a 2-1 victory that gave the Reds a franchise record for home-field futility.

The Phillies were eliminated from the NL East race on Friday night, when their series opener was rained out and Atlanta rolled to a clinching 20-3 victory over Florida.

The makeup doubleheader Saturday left few things on the line. By winning the opener, the Phillies clinched second place in the NL East, their best finish since they tied for second in 1995.

There was a little bit of history for the Reds, who are finishing off their worst season since 1982. When LaRue took Jose Mesa's final pitch for a strike, the Reds had their 52nd loss at Cinergy Field, the most home losses in their 133-year history.

"It's pretty devastating," manager Bob Boone said of the misery. "You don't plan on something like this, but all you have to do is look at the lineup we had out there today."

The Reds are finishing one of their worst seasons with a patchwork lineup due to the latest rash of injuries in a season full of them. They fell to 66-94 overall, one of the nine worst seasons in franchise history.

Neither team did much on a sunny, 48-degree afternoon. The Reds got only three hits in seven innings off Daal (13-7), who was still fuming that manager Larry Bowa skipped over him for a decisive series in Atlanta last week.

Daal's contract includes a team option for next year at a base salary of $4.5 million. He was noncommittal about whether he hopes to come back.

"If I come back here, I think I deserve a little more respect," Daal said. "The last few months, I don't think I got that respect from the manager. If I come back here, I need him to have confidence in me."

Bowa again defended his pitching choices for the series in Atlanta, where the Phillies lost two of three to all but end their chances.

"I think I showed him a lot of respect by naming him the Opening Day starter, by sticking with him when things went bad, when his ERA was around 6.00," Bowa said. "If that's not respect, I don't know what is."

Dmitri Young reached after he struck out on Ricky Bottalico's wild pitch in the eighth, then took second on another wild pitch. Young scored on ground outs by Adam Dunn and Todd Walker.

Mesa pitched the ninth for his 41st save in 45 chances, the second-highest total of his career. He saved 46 while helping Cleveland reach the World Series in 1995.

Johnny Estrada hit a second-inning sacrifice fly and Brian Hunter singled home a run in the third off Elmer Dessens (10-14), the Reds' only 10-game winner. Tomas Perez had a career-high three hits.

Reds manager Bob Boone reconsidered his decision to give Ken Griffey Jr. the rest of the series off once the Phillies were eliminated. Griffey started in center field and went 0-for-4.

Boone also gave LaRue his first big league start at third base. LaRue was a third baseman in college and regularly takes grounders in practice, but had played only four games at third as a pro -- all for Double-A Chattanooga in 1998.

LaRue handled the two grounders hit his way and tripled off the wall in right-center with two outs in the seventh and was stranded.

Game notes:
Phillies LF Pat Burrell left for a pinch hitter in the third inning because he had an upset stomach. ... Jimmy Rollins was caught stealing for the eighth time. Rollins leads the NL with 46 steals, two more than Colorado's Juan Pierre. ... LaRue also appeared at first base this season. He was one of four Reds to play the position in a May 28 game against the Cubs, tying the major league record. ... Dessens became the first Reds pitcher to top 200 innings in a season since 1998. ... Dessens gave up nine hits in seven innings. No Reds starter has pitched into the eighth inning since Aug. 25. ... The 1982 Reds set the franchise record by losing 101.

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Author: 6 - ABC, Action News