77 Phillies take 2 of 3 from 76 Cincinnati

GAME 1 @ Cincinnati 

77 Philadelphia wins 3-2

Steve Carlton vs Gary Nolan

WP: Steve Carlton (1-0) 9 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K

LP: Pedro Borbon (0-1) 2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K

SV: None

HR: Bob Boone (1), Joe Morgan (1), Tony Perez (1)

GW RBI: Richie Hebner

GAME MVP: Bob Boone (77 PHI) - 3-4, R, RBI, 2 2B, HR

Both teams scored in the 1st but then each pitcher settled in and threw up zeroes until the 7th.  The Phillies scored one in the 7th but the Reds matched it in the bottom of the inning to tie it up at 2.  The Reds bullpen struggled in the 8th and the Phils pushed across what turned out to be the game winner when Richie Hebner (1-4, RBI) drove home Garry Maddox (2-4, R).  Steve Carlton was not at the top of his game but was able to pitch his way out of trouble all night.

GAME 2 @ Cincinnati

77 Philadelphia wins 5-4

Larry Christenson vs Pat Zachry

WP: Larry Christenson (1-0) 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K

LP: Pat Zachry (0-1) 6 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 6 BB, 1 K

SV: Ron Reed (SV 1) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

HR: Bake McBride (1)

GW RBI: Larry Bowa

GAME MVP: Ted Sizemore (77 PHI) - 3-5, 2 RBI

The Reds jumped out to an early lead but the Phillies were able to take advantage of Pat Zachry's lack of command to come back in th emiddle innings.  The big inning for Philly was the 5th when they plated 3 on 3 hits and a walk.  The Philly bullpen was strong once they were handed the ball with Tug McGraw, Gene Garber and Ron Reed keeping the lead over the final 3 innings.  

GAME 3 @ Philadelphia

77 Cincinnati wins 4-3

Jim Lonborg vs Fred Norman

WP: Rawley Eastwick (1-0) 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

LP: Tug McGraw (0-1) 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K

SV: Pedro Borbon (SV 1) 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K

HR: Joe Morgan (2), Tony Perez (2), Larry Bowa (1)

GW RBI: Cesar Geronimo

GAME MVP: Joe Morgan (76 CIN) - 2-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, HR

The Phillies were 6 outs away from completing the series sweep but the bullpen could not close it out.  The Reds lineup came up big in the 8th and 9th to push across 3 runs with Cesar Geronimo (2-4, R, RBI, BB) and Joe Morgan the biggest contributors.  Philly looked to have 1 last comeback in them but after Larry Bowa drove home Richie Hebner with a triple in the 9th to pull within 1, Pedro Borbon settled in to get pinch hitter Ollie Brown to ground out to short to end the game.

--submitted by P.Daly--