The Stat-O-Matic Reds Tournament presented by Press Room Pass is down to one game in the championship series after the top seeded 1975 team and No 3 seed 1940 squad split the first two contests.
The 1975 team won the opener 3-1 before the 1940 group bounced back to post an 8-6 victory to set up the showdown.
Cesar Geronimo‘s two-run single in the top of the seventh off 1940 starter Paul Derringer proved to be the difference in the first contest.
Gary Nolan went the distance for 1975 as he fanned three and allowed eight hits, with three by Frank McCormick.
After giving up a run on a double play in the second, the 1975 team tied the game in the third on a RBI single by Ken Griffey.
Derringer got the loss with seven innings of work as he limited 1975 to just four hits. Whitey Moore was perfect over the final two innings.
Game 2
Both teams scored three times in the first inning to set the tone for the high-scoring affair.
Frank McCormick hit a three-run blast for the 1940 team in the top of the frame, while for 1975 Johnny Bench had a RBI double and George Foster knocked in two more with a double.
The teams added two more runs in the fifth.
Mike McCormick had a run-scoring double and Frank McCormick drove in a run with a single.
The 1975 team answered with RBI singles by Foster and Dave Concepcion.
In the sixth, 1940 finally got to 1975 starter Fred Norman, who would leave with just one out.
Billy Myers had a single to produce a run before an error by Geronimo on a ball hit by Mike McCormick allow a pair of runs to score.
Foster, who led 1975 with four hits, had a single in the seventh to bring home the last run of the game.
Mike McCormick would top the 1940 squad with four hits.
Jim Turner tossed seven innings with five strikeouts to get the win. Moore pitched two scoreless frames to earn a save.
REDS TOURNAMENT RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Championship Series
No. 1 1975 vs. No. 3 1940 (1-1) 3-1, 6-8
Semifinals
No. 1 1975 vs. No. 4 1970 (2-0) 2-1, 6-1
No. 3 1940 vs. No. 2 1990 (2-0) 2-1, 5-3
First Round
No. 1 1975 vs. No. 8 1995 (2-0) 6-2, 6-5
No. 4 1970 vs. No. 5 1961 (2-1) 2-1, 3-4, 11-7
No. 3 1940 vs. No. 6 1981 (2-0) 3-0, 8-0
No. 2 1990 vs. No. 7 2010 (2-1) 8-9, 3-2, 4-3