Reds Not Ready to Celebrate After Sweep of Padres

There was no sighting of champagne. No one was divvying up playoff tickets. And not a soul cared to utter words Saturday night that could later haunt them.

But the Cincinnati Reds, after shrugging off challenger after challenger these past few months, appear to be on the verge of putting the National League West race on ice.

The Reds swept a doubleheader from the San Diego Padres, winning 6-4 in the first game and 9-5 in the second.

The second-game victory reduced their magic number to seven and opened a four-game lead over the Dodgers with 10 games remaining.

It was an excruciating doubleheader to watch for the Dodger fans in the crowd of 27,524 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The Padres led, 4-1, through five innings in the first game. The Padres led 2-0 through five innings in the second game.

They were the kind of victories that are supposed to make managers giddy, make them joke with reporters, laugh about their own inadequacies and just act silly.

But you’d have thought Manager Lou Piniella was about to be blindfolded and given last rites.

Piniella, in his first year as manager of the Reds, paced his office floor between games. He puffed harshly on one cigarette, snuffing out another and began reaching into a pack of cigarettes for another.

“It’s just that we’re so close, we’re getting so damn close, I don’t want to lose it now,” Piniella said. “It’s been one tough year, let me tell you.”

The Reds, who appeared that they would spend September ordering playoff tickets for all of the relatives, instead have found themselves unable to shake the Dodgers.

Cincinnati led the National League West by 11 games on July 24, but in the two months since, the Reds have played eight games under .500. Since June 3, when they led the division by nine games and the Dodgers by 11, the Reds have gone 52-55.

Yet, each time someone has challenged the Reds, daring to knock them off, they have responded.

San Diego climbed to within five games of the Reds in June, fell apart and have been eliminated.

The San Francisco Giants climbed to within 3 1/2 games in August, fell apart and have been eliminated.

The Dodgers, after climbing to within 3 1/2 games Thursday, could get no closer.

“It’s been in our hands,” Piniella said, “but it’s been in our hands for a long time. But I’m confident we can get the job done, just like we did in April. And I’m convinced this will make us a better team.

“We’ve been sniped at all year. We’ve had our detractors. But so far, we’ve proven everybody wrong, haven’t we?”

The Reds certainly have been making it interesting, and their doubleheader Saturday proved to be a microcosm of their pennant stretch.

In the first game, the Reds were facing Bruce Hurst, with 27 consecutive scoreless innings, only three shy of the franchise record.

So what happens?

The Reds snapped Hurst’s scoreless skein in the first inning, fell behind 4-1 by the fourth, crept to within one run in the sixth, took the lead in the eighth and put the game away in the ninth.

It was the seventh time this season the Reds have overcome at least a three-run deficit.

In the second game, the Reds were facing Atlee Hammaker, who was released this season by the Giants and was 0-3 with a 5.11 ERA for the Padres.

So what happened?

The Reds manage only two baserunners in the first 5 2/3 innings. They awaken in the sixth inning, Glenn Braggs driving in the go-ahead run with the last of five consecutive two-out singles for a 3-2 lead.