By Jay Morrison
The Dayton Daily News
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds went a little too far with the special effects on Star Wars Night at Great American Ball Park.
One of the smokestacks in center field began malfunctioning in the top of the sixth inning and ended up catching on fire and burning for nearly 20 minutes before the Cincinnati Fire Department got a ladder truck high enough to extinguish the blaze.
The San Francisco Giants did their part in paying homage to the legendary science fiction movie by lighting up the Marquis, torching Reds starter Jason Marquis for six runs in the first three innings on the way to a 10-2 victory before a near-capacity crowd of 39,867.
Marquis gave up a three-run home run to Brandon Belt in the first inning and two-run shot to Buster Posey in the third as part of his shortest outing since May 20, 2012. He allowed six earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
“I’m just not very good right now,” said Marquis, who has given up five or more runs in three of his five starts. “I’m not able to make consistent pitches like I want. Obviously they were squaring balls up tonight a little bit, and I helped. I’ve got to figure something out here quick, because it’s not fun.”
The smokestack wasn’t fun, either, for anyone involved with the Reds.
The trouble began in the top of the sixth when the stack on the right began spewing flames, as is accustomed each time a Reds pitcher strikes out a batter. Only this time the fire came when the count was 0-2 and continued far longer than usual in sputtering, short-bust fashion.
“In those tubes to get the flames up for the strikeouts, they’re tubes and they’re fed by propane,” said Tim O’Connell, Reds vice president of stadium operations. “One of the valves apparently failed on it. And quite frankly, the actions of the attendant really saved us from a disaster.”
One batter later, red fireworks erupted from the stack, a display reserved for the final out of a Reds win and the “rockets red glare” portion of the national anthem.
After the fireworks stopped, a small flame continued to flicker atop the stack. It continued to grow as black smoke billowed and the smell of burnt plastic wafted throughout the stadium.
“I’ve seen some weird things,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “The lights shutting off one time and some other funky stuff, the plane on fire one time going from New York to Seattle, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smokestack on fire in the middle of a ballgame. But I guess they handled it OK. Obviously it wasn’t a huge concern for safety or they truly would have done something differently.”
Play was never interrupted, and the Giants hitters didn’t seem bothered by the distraction in center field as they tacked on three more runs in the seventh while fire fighters were dousing the flames and climbing atop the smokestack to ensure the flames were out.
Meanwhile, San Francisco starter Madison Bumgarner extinguished a hot Reds offense to snap the team’s three-game win streak.
Bumgarner (4-2) gave up solo home runs to Zack Cozart and Billy Hamilton for Cincinnati’s runs.
The reigning World Series MVP went seven innings and allowed eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
The Reds and Giants resume their four-game series tonight at 7:10. The first 20,000 fans will receive a Johnny Bench bobblehead.
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