'76 Big Red Machine outlasts '27 Murders Row in 5

Marvin and I played a fantastic series that was very competitive and full of excitement.

Game 1 at Yankee Stadium,

Waite Hoyt and Gary Nolan matched one another in the first game of this best of 5 series. The Yanks got the best of the Big Red Machine early when they struck for 3 quick runs in the bottom half of the first inning. The big blow was a laser shot homerun to leftcenter by Pat Collins. Cincinnati came back with 2 runs in the third inning when Joe Morgan doubled off the rightcenter field fence. However, Murderers Row exacted revenge with a Tony Lazzeri bomb to deep left that plated 2 more runs in the fourth. The Sultan of Swat added two more runs in the seventh with a booming blast to rightfield that smashed off the upper deck. The final score was Yankees 7....Reds 2. Hoyt went the distance surrendering only 6 hits and striking out two batters.

Game 2 at Yankee Stadium,

Cincinnati looked to even the series in game two as they started youngster Pat Zachary. Everything looked to be heading in the right direction when Ed Armbrister got all of a Herb Pennock hanging slider and made it souvenier in the leftfield bleachers. Another run was added by the Reds. Cincinnati had a 3 run lead moving into the bottom of the 2nd. Tony Lazzeri hit a solo homerun(his second of the series) to get the Yanks 2 runs closer. That was all for the Reds as Murderers Row got rolling. Babe Ruth hit homeruns in the 5th and 8th innings. New York plated single runs in the 5th and 7th, and a 5 spot in the 8th inning, including 3 runs coming off Ruth's second homerun of the game.
Final score: Yankees 11...Reds 4. New York holds a 2 game edge.

Game 3 at Riverfront Stadium,

New York looked as though they were going to put matters away early and sneak away
with a 3 game sweep. Babe Ruth struck again as he hit solo homeruns in the 1st and 3rd innings. That makes 5 homeruns in 3 games and back to back multi-homer games. The Reds, a very resilient team, would not go without a fight. Cesar Geronimo hit a homerun of Dutch Ruether early in the game then Tony Perez tied the game with a solo homerun in the fourth. The game stayed tied until the bottom of the seventh when shortstop Doug Flynn led the inning off with a triple, following by a pinch walk to Dan Driessen. Pete Rose popped up to the pitcher trying to bunt. Morgan bunted in Flynn to give the Reds a 3-2 lead with Driessen going to second. Ken Griffey singled but it was hit too hard for Driessen to score. George Foster hit a deep fly ball to score the fourth run of the game for Cincy. Relief specialist Eastwick came in the 8th inning and worked the final two frames for the save and another day for the Big Red Machine. Final score....Reds 4....Yankees 2

Game 4 at Riverfront,

Fred Norman pitched 7 strong innings for the Reds and he got help by three triples by George Foster, Ken Griffey, and Pete Rose to upend the Yankees and even the series at 2 games apiece. Pedro Barbon pitched the last two innings in relief for the Reds to seal the victory and send the series back to New York for a deciding 5th game. The pitching matchups for the game will be a rematch of game 1...Gary Nolan for the Reds and Waite Hoyt for the Yankees. Final score...Reds 6....Yankees 3.

Game 5 at Yankee Stadium,

Cincinnati took an early 1-0 in the third inning when Joe Morgan hit homerun to rightcenter off Hoyt. The game remained that score until the bottom of the eighth inning when that man again, The Big Bambino came up and launched a ball into the crisp Bronx sky that still has not landed. This bomb tied the game. After Nolan retired the next batter, Lou Gehrig doubled and Tony Lazzeri smashed his 3rd homerun of the series to give New York a 3-1 lead. With two outs in the Reds seventh, Hoyt surrendered a single to Dave Concepcion. Manager Joey Scigliano sent up pinch hiter supreme Dan Driessen to bat for the pitcher. The old pro rewarded his manager's decision with a line drive double up the rightfield alley. Next batter was Pete Rose. Rose made a bet with the team that if he came to bat in the inning, he would tie the game. He came through with a double to right to tie the game at 3 apiece. New York had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning as Pat Collins singled followed by a Dugan hit to put runners on 1st and third. That brought up pinch hitter Ben Paschal. Paschal went down of strikes as Rawly Eastwick allowed the Reds to survive. The game stayed tied inning after extra inning. The Yankees put runners on base but clutch Red pitching by Sarmiento and Borbon prevented them from getting that all important winning hit. Moore pitching his 7th inning of relief for the Yankees gave up a lead single to Joe Morgan. Morgan stole second base and scored when Tony Perez singled him in. All the Reds needed was three outs to move to the second round. Barbon got the first batter to ground out to short. The next two batters were retired and the game and series was firmly in the hands of the 1976 Big Red Machine. Winning pitcher...Pedro Borbon...Final score in 16 innings....Reds 4....Yankees 3.
--submitted by Joey Scigliano--