Gooden's Bat Smacks Reds

After a couple of weeks of bragging, Dwight Gooden proved he does indeed belong in the majors' most dangerous lineup.

Gooden hit his eighth career homer, the most by any active pitcher, and Richie Sexson hit a tie-breaking solo shot in the ninth inning as the Cleveland Indians overpowered the Cincinnati Reds 8-6 Friday night.

Kenny Lofton and Manny Ramirez also homered as the Indians showed off their might against their intrastate rival. Cleveland came into the game with a .301 team average, best in the majors.

Lofton opened the game with a homer for the fourth time this season and Ramirez returned from a three-game suspension for charging the mound by hitting a two-run homer in the fifth.

They weren't alone. The Indians' bench erupted in admiration as well.

"That was the most excited we've been all year, probably," Sexson said. "You have to understand, Doc's been walking around for the last two weeks with bats over his shoulder, talking about his power. He's been trying to hit home runs in batting practice for the last two weeks."

"We said, `No way, you can't go deep.' Sure enough ..."

Gooden, a .196 career hitter, pulled a high 2-1 fastball to left-center for a 3-0 lead in the second. It was Gooden's first homer since 1993, when he surpassed Tom Seaver and set the New York Mets' career record for homers by a pitcher.

For one night, he was as good as a designated hitter.

"I never did like that, to be honest," Gooden said. "I think pitchers should hit. As a pitcher, I like facing the other pitcher rather than the DH, anyway."

Reds starter Steve Parris showed his disgust at giving up only the third homer by a pitcher in interleague play by yanking off his red-and-black cap and muttering to himself.

"I didn't have my best stuff tonight and when you're pitching against a good-hiting team like that, you'd better have your best stuff," Parris said. "I didn't, and it showed."

Gooden circled the bases with his head down, hiding his glee.

"Whether it's your first or your eighth, it's like a dream come true," Gooden said. "You want to round the bases as quickly as possible."

Bobby Witt hit a homer in 1997 and Cleveland's Dave Burba homered off Cincinnati's Scott Klingenbeck at Cinergy Field last June 7 for the other homers by pitchers in interleague play.

Ramirez hit his 15th homer with two outs, pushing his major league-leading RBI total to 70, to make it 5-1 in the fifth. Then things got windy, wet and wild.

The Indians blew a four-run lead before Sexson, a late-inning replacement on a double switch, won it with his 12th homer off Scott Williamson (5-2), a rookie who's been the Reds' most dependable reliever so far.

"I remember looking up at the scoreboard when he came in and I saw his numbers and wasn't too encouraged," said Sexson, who has four homers in his last 11 at-bats. "I was looking for a fastball a little down and in and got it."

Williamson walked Lofton and let him come around on an errant pickoff throw and a wild pitch for the final run. It was the first time the Reds' bullpen lost a game since April 27.

Steve Reed's wild pitch and catcher Chris Turner's wild throw home after retrieving it let in two runs on one play that tied it 6-6 in the seventh. Paul Shuey (4-2) induced a threat-ending double play in the eighth, and Mike Jackson pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 13 chances.

With lightning flashing in the distance and the stadium's red, white and blue bunting flapping wildly, the Reds loaded the bases in the sixth, got Gooden out of the game and got the lead down to one. Mike Cameron's soft opposite-field double off Steve Karsay drove in two runs and Aaron Boone's sacrifice fly cut it to 5-4.

Omar Vizquel's RBI double off Scott Sullivan made it 6-4 minutes before a cloudburst sent the crowd sprinting for cover and forced a 49-minute delay in the seventh.

When the rain stopped, the Indians' relievers couldn't throw strikes and Reed's first-pitch wild pitch led to the tie.

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