CINCINNATI -- The Reds' last man standing led them to one final win.
Brandon Phillips - the lone Cincinnati regular who avoided the disabled list in 2009 - drove in three runs Sunday, and Homer Bailey shut out Pittsburgh for six innings, setting up a 6-0 victory as the NL Central's two forlorn franchises ended the season together.
The Pirates finished their 17th straight losing season, while the Reds completed their ninth in a row.
Phillips was the Reds' only regular starting player who wasn't caught up in the run of nonstop injuries. He had an RBI double in the first off Jeff Karstens (4-6), a run-scoring groundout and another RBI double.
Phillips finished with 98 RBIs. He had a chance to get those last two to reach 100, but grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the sixth.
"It was a great journey trying to get to 100. I just fell short," Phillips said. "You learn from your mistakes. I had plenty of chances early in the season. I'm happy with the year I had. I'm very satisfied."
Bailey (8-5) finished his breakout season by improving to 4-0 career against the Pirates. The 23-year-old pitcher went 6-1 with a 1.70 ERA down the stretch, making him a top candidate for next year's rotation.
"The way we've been playing the last month and a half made it a lot easier for me to go out there," Bailey said. "I think everybody here has a lot of confidence and a lot of potential, but 'potential' means you haven't done anything."
The Pirates' 17 consecutive losing seasons are a record for a major professional team in North America. They underwent another near-total makeover at midseason and wound up losing 99 games with a cast of young players that collapsed down the stretch.
After Pittsburgh moved out of the basement on Aug. 22 - a game ahead of Cincinnati - the Pirates went 11-29 the rest of the way, clinching last place.
They found an appropriate way to finish it - their 17th shutout loss, the most in the majors.
"It was kind of the season wrapped up into a game," manager John Russell said, referring to the 13 stranded runners. "It will be a big emphasis next year - getting RBIs when they're out there."
The Reds extended their deepest slump in more than a half-century, done in by the never-ending injuries that set up a July meltdown. Four-fifths of the starting rotation and seven of the eight opening-day regulars spent time on the disabled list.
Cincinnati finished on an upswing, winning 27 of its last 40 games to finish 78-84, four games better than last season. Pitching coach Dick Pole was fired on Friday, but manager Dusty Baker has one season remaining on his three-year deal.
The years of losing and the economic downturn took a toll on attendance at Great American Ball Park. The Reds sold 1,747,919 tickets this season, their smallest gate since 1986.
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Phillips Drives In 3, Reds Beat Pirates 6-0
The Reds' last man standing led them to one final win.
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NBC4i.com
Published: October 05, 2009
Published: October 05, 2009
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