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Rosales nub is enough in win

Pinch hitter gets it done in 11th with roller to third; Reds’ pitching, defense earn 4-3 win.

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By Hal McCoy, Staff Writer Updated 1:00 AM Sunday, June 7, 2009

CINCINNATI — Sometimes the last resort is the best resort and that’s what it came down to Saturday night in Great American Ball Park for Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker.

Adam Rosales, 2 for his last 21 and one of the few Reds left unused by the time the 11th inning rolled around, was sent up to pinch-hit and all he did was tap a nub up the third base line, barely put the ball into play.

And it was a winning nub against the Chicago Cubs.

His roller was fielded by third baseman Mike Fontenot, who had time to throw out Jay Bruce at home plate, but his throw was high and Bruce scored to end the game, a 4-3 Reds victory.

Bruce, 2 for 33, drew an inning-opening walk from lefthander Sean Marshall, took second on a wild pitch, moved to third on Alex Gonzalez’s sacrifice bunt and scored on the Rosales roller.

Nick Masset pitched two scoreless innings to get the win, a win that looked as if it might go to Matt Maloney.

The Reds put a defensive cocoon around Maloney, a 25-year-old lefthander making his major-league debut and he turned a 3-2 lead over to the bullpen in the seventh, a lead that David Weathers turned into a 3-3 tie by giving up a run in the eighth.

That didn’t wipe the smile off Maloney’s face after making 99 minor-league starts prior to his debut under the big tent.

“You can’t top that feeling, the best feeling I’ve had in my whole life,” he said after holding the Cubs to two runs, six hits, one walk and one hit batter over six-plus innings. “Chris Dickerson made some great plays and made a great throw and there was that big double play (in the sixth inning),” said Maloney.

With 40,914 on hand, many of them Cubs fans, Maloney displayed an unflappable demeanor, as if the GABP mound was his second home.

“Honestly, I did not feel nervous at all,” he said. “I went out there and tried to do what I’ve been doing (at Class AAA Louisville) — get ahead of guys, minimize damage and get out of it.”

Center fielder Dickerson made an astounding catch and an outstanding throw to record two important outs and catcher Ryan Hanigan made an astute and accurate throw to keep Maloney out of boiling oil when the Cubs had leadoff hits in five of the first seven innings.

Maloney’s first two innings were littered with Cubs base runners but he escaped damage with a dazzling changeup.

His first major-league pitch was a strike, but his second was ripped for a double by Alfonso Soriano and his third hit Ryan Theriot.

That put Cubs on first and second with no outs, but Dickerson made a diving, skidding catch and Hanigan threw Theriot out at second on a double steal attempt, bailing out Maloney.

Maloney loaded the bases in the second with one out, but a pair of strikeouts saved him as he perplexed the Cubs with that dancing change-up.

“Ted Power (Louisville pitching coach) and I have been working on that at Louisville, trying to stay consistent with it,” said Maloney.

The Reds gave Maloney some breathing space in the bottom of the first against Ryan Dempster with three runs, one on Dickerson’s double and two more on Ramon Hernandez’s fourth homer.

Another piece of Dickerson defensive work saved Maloney a run in the fourth. Reed Johnson led with a double, the third inning of the first four that the Cubs started with a double. But when Geovany Soto flied to center, Johnson tried to take third after the catch and Dickerson threw him out.

That saved a run because the next hitter, Bobby Scales, homered into the left field seats, cutting the lead to 3-1.

Maloney’s last pitch was a 2-and-0 offering in the seventh that Soto crushed for a home run off the left field foul pole to make it 3-2 and Daniel Ray Herrera replaced Maloney.

Weathers pitched the eighth and the Cubs tied it on back-to-back one-out hits by Theriot and Derrek Lee and rookie Jake Fox’s sacrifice fly to center.

Masset’s two scoreless innings followed scoreless one-inning performances by Daniel Ray Herrera and Coco Cordero.

“My job is to keep us in the game, so I gave it all I had, especially the last inning, the best I could throw,” said Masset “You know when you play the Cubs you better bring your ‘A’ game.”

Of Rosales’ game-winning tap, ruled a fielder’s choice and an RBI, manager Dusty Baker said, “We lost a game earlier in the year on a tapped ball, so maybe it was our turn to win a one-run game and an extra-inning game.”

The Reds were 5-9 in one-run games and 1-3 in extra innings.

“It was a good game to watch, a good game to manage, a good game to win,” Baker added. “Matt pitched outstanding — good change-up and well-located fastball. It was his advantage because they hadn’t seen him. But he showed outstanding poise and savvy.”

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