Hey, Vern! Reynolds Wraps Up a Victory

Shane Reynolds didn’t know what was wrong, so he decided to get back to basics.

The Houston Astro right-hander worked often with pitching coach Vern Ruhle during the final week of the regular season, focusing on arm angles and positioning on the mound. The result?

Reynolds pitched six strong innings Tuesday during the Astros’ 6-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the National League division series.

“I really took the last three days to throw off the mound with Vern, trying to find out if it was a mechanical problem,” said Reynolds, who lost four in a row from Aug. 10 to Aug. 30. “The second half of the season, I seemed to have lost the sink on my ball, the sharpness of the split-finger and a little bit of control out there.

“I am a control-type pitcher, and I need my control because I’m not overpowering. I thought I had pretty good movement today and sink on my balls. I got some ground balls when I needed to, so I think hopefully, knock on wood, that may have been something that we may have found.”

TODAY’S PITCHERS

ASTROS’ JOSE LIMA (21-10, 3.58 ERA) vs. BRAVES’ KEVIN MILLWOOD (18-7, 2.68 ERA)

Turner Field, 1 p.m. PDT

TV--ESPN.

* Update--Lima is working on three days’ rest for the second time in as many starts. He pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings Saturday during a 3-0 victory over the Dodgers at the Astrodome. That victory was key in helping the Astros win their third consecutive National League Central title. Now, the flamboyant right-hander tries to help the Astros take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five division series. Not surprisingly, Lima is excited about the opportunity. Of course, he’s usually excited. “The last couple of games [of the regular season], we played real well,” said Lima, who pitched on three days’ rest three times during the season. “We scored a lot of runs and our pitching staff came together. I think it’s a time now that we can beat the Braves.” Millwood was bumped from the playoff rotation last season despite his 17 victories, and the right-hander didn’t pitch in the postseason. Now, the Braves are counting on Millwood to help them even the series before traveling to Houston for Game 3 on Friday. “Obviously, I would have liked to have pitched in a couple of those games [in 1998], but my name wasn’t called,” Millwood said. “I think it would have been real easy for me, after the season was over, to go home and whine or complain about not getting to pitch, but I didn’t do that. I decided I’d come back this year and do what I had to do to get a chance this year.”