Editor’s note: How good were the 1975 Cincinnati Reds? The best way to end the speculation is to challenge the team with a 162-game season against some great teams. This is a series that will include each game played with the Strat-o-Matic cards and dice, while hoping to reach the 108-54 record that the Reds had that season. Game stories will be published periodically on Press Room Pass through out the year. What’s your predicted victory total?
Cincinnati needed some heroics in the 11th inning as the Reds were able to pull out a 9-8 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
George Foster‘s two-out walk-off double scored Johnny Bench with the winning run to send the Riverfront Stadium crowd home with smiles after the first night contest of the season.
Steve Howe was trying to complete his fourth inning of relief when Bill Russell bobbled a grounder by Bench, which would have ended the frame. Instead it extended the inning for Foster who slammed Howe’s first pitch into the centerfield wall that bounced away from Ken Landreaux allowing Bench to race home from first base.
Will McEnaney (1-0) worked the final three innings for the Reds to get the win as he gave up two hits and fanned two.
Fast Start
Bench led the charge for Cincinnati against Dodgers starter Jerry Reuss with a three-run homer in the first and a two-run blast in the third to give the Reds a 5-0 advantage.
The Dodgers were able to get going against Reds starter Gary Nolan with a pair of runs in the fourth on a RBI double by Ron Cey and triple by Rick Monday that scored Cey.
Cey closed the gap to 5-3 in the sixth with a run-scoring single in what would be Nolan’s final inning.
Tony Perez hit a solo shot to make it 6-3, which was the begining of the end for Reuss as Dave Stewart would come on to prevent the Reds from adding more runs in that inning.
Derrel Thomas, who entered the contest as part of a double switch when Stewart took the mound, led off the seventh with a single against Pedro Borbon. A single by Landreaux moved Thomas to third and he would score as Lopes grounded into a double play, which made it 6-4.
Bench drove in his sixth run of the night with a single off Stewart in the bottom of the seventh to put the Reds in front 7-4.
Dodgers Take Lead
The top of the eighth was nearly fatal for the Reds as the Dodgers loaded the bases against Borbon.
Pedro Guerrero was the choice by Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda to hit for Stewart, while Sparky Anderson of the Reds countered by bringing in Clay Carroll.
Lasorda’s decision proved to be correct as Guerrero drilled a Carroll offering into the green seats in left for a grand slam and an 8-7 Dodgers lead.
After leaving two runners stranded in the bottom of the eighth against Howe, the Reds were able to tie the contest in the ninth.
Ken Griffey reached second base on an error by Landreaux in centerfield to begin the ninth. Two batters later Foster singled to send the game into extra innings.
Bench led the way for the Reds with three hits, while Cey also had three hits for the Dodgers.
In the series finale of the three-game set, Fred Norman takes the mound for the Reds as Burt Hooton is slated to work for the Dodgers as they try to prevent a sweep.
National League Standings
(Records involve games only with Reds)
East Division
1967 Cardinals (0-0)
1969 Mets (0-0)
1971 Pirates (0-0)
1975 Expos (0-0)
2008 Phillies (0-0)
2016 Cubs (0-0)
West Division
1975 Reds (2-0)
1954 Giants (0-0)
1957 Braves (0-0)
1975 Padres (0-0)
2017 Astros (0-0)
1981 Dodgers (0-2)