SARASOTA, Fla. -- It started with boos from a sparse crowd and ended on a run set up by a balk. Not how the Cincinnati Reds wanted their Florida finale to go.
Fans booed the mayor before Cincinnati's final spring training game in Florida, and the Reds wrapped up a dozen years in Sarasota with a 6-5 loss to a Pittsburgh Pirates split squad on Thursday.
Taxpayers and politicians declined to commit money to upgrade the facilities the last few years, prompting the Reds to move to Goodyear, Ariz., next spring. During a pregame ceremony, Mayor Lou Ann Palmer was loudly booed by fans upset that there will be no major league team in Sarasota.
Only 2,935 fans showed up for the last game, less than half the capacity of Ed Smith Stadium. The Reds have trained in Florida since the 1920s, but are moving to Arizona -- the site of their first camp in 1891 -- to share a complex with the Cleveland Indians.
The Reds wanted to stay in Sarasota and offered to sign a long-term lease if the facility was upgraded. Voters rejected a stadium tax hike in 2007 and local politicians declined to commit $18 million to the facility, prompting the Reds to leave.
The small crowd vented at politicians who failed to keep the team in town and have been unable to lure a replacement. Mayor Palmer and two other local officials were booed loudly on the field before the game. When Palmer asked the crowd for a moment of silence over the Reds' departure, one man yelled: "It's your fault!"
With that, the mayor invited the fans to go ahead and express their frustration.They did, providing a long, collective boo.
"I'm glad so many of you are angry with us, I really am," she said, "because I'm angry with us, too."
Reds owner Bob Castellini presented mementos to the stadium crew and thanked residents for supporting the team for 12 years.
"This is a bittersweet day," Castellini said. "We leave a lot of memories and a lot of tradition, and it's difficult for us."
It was followed by an ugly game, one that featured five combined errors and ended after a balk by Nick Masset set up Kent Sakamoto's tiebreaking single in the eighth.
Beyond the bittersweet, the game was little more than a workout for the Reds, who have one major decision left. They have to pick between Micah Owings and Homer Bailey -- neither of whom pitched in the game -- for the final spot in the five-man rotation.
The Pirates are trying to fill the last spot in a bullpen that could be a work-in-progress even after the season starts.
Ian Snell had to skip his planned start because of an illness that has gone around the Pirates' clubhouse, but hopes to pitch in a minor league game on Friday. Right-handed reliever Jesse Chavez started and failed to help his chances to win the last spot. Cincinnati sent eight batters to the plate for three runs in the first inning.
Chavez and right-hander Evan Meek -- who has been sick the last few days -- are competing for the job. Chavez walked the first two batters he faced and three of the eight overall.
"If I am the odd man out, I'll just go down to Triple-A and work on the same thing I've been working on here," said Chavez, who has struggled with his slider. "That's always been a good pitch for me, but over the course of last year and this year, my changeup has become my best pitch. Once I get my slider back, everything else should fall into place."
Reds starter Edinson Volquez wasn't sharp, either. Volquez had allowed only two earned runs in his seven previous appearances, including two in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic. He failed to make it out of the fourth inning with a sloppy performance -- five hits, three walks, three runs.
"He's ready to go," manager Dusty Baker said. "It just seemed like his focus and concentration weren't there."
Notes
Manatee Community College of Bradenton beat Pirates minor leaguers 6-4 in the other split-squad game. ... Craig Moore hit his seventh homer for Pittsburgh. ... Reds CF Willy Taveras was hit on the right side of the chest by Joey Votto's line drive as he tried to advance from second to third base in the first inning. He suffered a bruise and left the game two innings later. ... Baker said he's confident that RH Bronson Arroyo will be able to start the season despite a case of carpal tunnel syndrome in his pitching hand.
