Cincinnati Reds 8 Oakland Athletics 0
LONG BEACH, Calif. — The Cincinnati Reds didn’t start the 2009 Area Code Games with many nationally known stars or with a lot of fanfare. The team, which consisted of players from the Rocky Mountain region and one player from Hawaii, got the job done in workmanlike fashion.\
Thanks to quality pitching and an early lead, the Reds rolled to an 8-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the unofficial Area Code championship game. Both teams entered the game with event-best 3-0-1 records.
In Monday’s seven-inning game, seven different Reds’ pitchers threw a single scoreless inning and combined to give up only three scattered hits. The hits were all singles: one in the first by A’s leadoff hitter D’Monte Grissom (Whitewater / Fayetteville, Ga.), an infield hit in the fifth by Jacob Harper (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and one in the bottom of the seventh by Ty Linton (Charlotte Christian / Matthews, N.C.).
"All the pitchers came in and threw strikes," said winning lefty pitcher Sam Wilson (El Dorado / Albuquerque, N.M.), who did not give up a hit and struck out the side in the second inning. "When we got the lead, it gave the rest of the pitchers a little. FULL STORY
