July 5, 1975 Reds 6, Padres 3 (53-29)
The Reds jumped out in front 3-1 before putting three runs on the board in the top of the seventh to open the game up. Joe Morgan went two for three with two RBIs. He also stole his 37th base of the season. Pinch hitter Merv Rettenmund drove in two runs with a double.
Fred Norman had his problems as he walked six and gave up five hits through 6 2/3 innings. He even had a wild pitch and his first balk of the season. Fortunately, only three Padres crossed the plate. Rawly Eastwick was very effective in closing the game out. He threw 2 1/3 innings and gave up only two hits. He struck out three.
I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing holiday weekend. Despite getting invited to spend the weekend with a couple of different lady friends, I decided to head up north so I could get some peace and quiet and to get some work done. I know I haven’t been posting much, and Brian has been a trooper trying to keep up with his end of the site (although he’s fallen behind again). But the good news is, I got pretty well caught up, and now I’ll be fresh and ready to report on what’s looking to be an equally poor second half of the season for our Cincinnati Reds.
And one last thing on the long weekend…what I REALLY wanted to do was go down to Cincy with Brian to check out the new ballpark. I even volunteered to sleep on the floor of their hotel room with his kid, but he just grumbled something about it being a family vacation. I mean, I’m family. And I’ve been around longer then that kid of his. You’d think that’d be worth something, but he went down without me.
The Reds actually won a game today. 11-10 over the Giants and the game was actually televised around here on ESPN. And nothing against the Braves, but I really hate when their games are on ESPN. Right now they’re on three different stations. I’d much rather have another choice.
The Reds finished the first half at a 31-50 clip. That puts them on pace to lose 100 games, which probably not a lot of people thought would happen back when the season started. Only the Rockies have lost more games then the Reds (52).
Felipe Lopez gets the nod for the Reds in the All Star Game this year. I’m not going to be attending any of the festivities here at Comerica Park, but I hope Lopez gets in the game and gets a hit.
July 4, 1975 Reds 7, Padres 6 (52-29)
The Reds offense put together a balanced attack as all nine Red’s starters had hits. Five different Reds drove in runs, and six scored. Ken Griffey and Cesar Geronimo drove in two, while Dave Concepcion scored twice.
Starter Jack Billingham actually walked away with his tenth win despite giving up five runs on six hits and five walks. Will McEnaney pitched two scoreless to earn his eighth save of the season.
July 3, 1975 Padres 2, Reds 1 (51-29)
It’s not too often that your offense scores a single run and you stay in it, but that’s just what the Reds did as Gary Nolan was lights out. He threw eight awesome innings, and only gave up two hits and a single run. Sparky went to the pen in the ninth and Will McEnaney fell apart. He gave up a single and a double, and then the game winning run scored on an Ed Armbrister error.
The Reds offense was equally apathetic. It’s hard to believe they only had one hit, yet they were able to put a run on the board. Tony Perez reached base on an error and then he scored on a Bill Plummer double.
July 2, 1975 Reds 4, Astros 3 (51-28)
The Reds continued to roll as they came from behind for the third straight game. Reds starter Tom Carroll gave up three runs in the first inning, but calmed down to give hold the Astros scoreless through the next four innings. Rawly Eastwick then came in to pitch the final four innings and he was lights out. He struck out four, walked none, and he only gave up one hit to hold the Astros so the Reds could come back.
And come back they did. In the bottom of the fifth. backup shortstop Darrel Chaney drove in George Foster to shave the lead to 3-1. Then in the bottom of the sixth, George Foster had a huge three run shot to put the Reds in front for good.
July 1, 1975 Reds 8, Astros 7 (50-28)
If yesterday’s game did a number on Reds’ fans blood pressure, this one was even better. Down 7-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Reds rallied for three runs to tie the game at seven a piece. Two of the runs were scored on sac. flies by Johnny Bench and Ken Griffey, and Cesar Geronimo drove in one of the runs with an RBI double.
The Reds bullpen then shutout the Astros over the next six innings to allow Joe Morgan to single home Pete Rose in the bottom of the fifteenth to win the game.
Will McEnaney, Pedro Borbon and Pat Darcy combined to throw the final six innings. They gave up no runs on a mere three hits to allow the Reds a chance to win the game.


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