ALCALA RETIRES 22 STRAIGHT LEADING REDS PAST PADS
Jones tosses 17th CG in Losing Effort
CINCINNATI, Aug. 1 (AP) - Santo Alcala retired 22 consecutive batters at one
point to lead the Cincinnati Reds past the San Diego Padres, 3-2, at Riverfront
Stadium. The 22 straight hitters retired is the second longest single-game
mark of the season to date; Ray Burris of the Chicago Cubs retired 23 straight
New York Mets batters in a losing effort on June 25 at Wrigley Field.
The Padres tallied the game's first run before Alcala's consecutive batters
retired string began in the very first inning. Johnny Grubb led off the
game with a base hit and, after Alcala retired the next two hitters, a wild
pitch moved Grubb to second base. Willie Davis drew a walk and Mike Ivie
dropped a single into right field, scoring Grubb to give San Diego a 1-0
lead. Alcala then retired Ted Kubiak on an infield pop fly.
The single off the bat of Ivie was the last baserunner the Padres managed until
the ninth inning.
Meanwhile, the Reds pecked their way into the lead against Padres starter Randy
Jones. Cincinnati put runners on second and third with one out in the
bottom of the first inning when Ed Armbrister's one-out single was followed by a
Dave Concepcion double. But George Foster's screaming line drove was
speared by third baseman Doug Rader who doubled off Armbrister for an
inning-ending double play.
Cincinnati knotted the game in the second. Back-to-back singles off the
bats of Johnny Bench and Tony Perez opened the inning, giving the Reds runners
on the corners with none out. Doug Flynn followed by lining a single to
right-center, scoring Bench with the tying run and chasing Perez to third but
Grubb cut down Flynn trying for second for the first out. Cesar Geronimo
grounded out with Perez holding at third and Alcala rolled out to end the inning
with the score tied at one.
The Reds took the lead in the fourth when Foster led off with a double, advanced
to third on Bench's ground out and scored on Perez's sacrifice fly.
Cincinnati added a run in the fifth when Pete Rose led off with a single, took
second on Armbrister's sacrifice and scored one out later on Foster's base hit
to left to give Cincinnati a 3-1 advantage.
Meanwhile, Alcala was mowing down the Padres, setting San Diego down in 1-2-3
fashion from the second inning through the eighth.
In the top of the ninth, with the score still 3-1, the streak came to an end
when Grubb lined a 3-1 pitch for a lead-off single. Willie McCovey pinch
hit for Enzo Hernandez but struck out. But Alcala walked Jerry Turner,
bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Dave Winfield,
pinch hitting for Davis. Winfield rolled into a fielder's choice, forcing
Turner at second. But Ivie singled to right, scoring Grubb to make it 3-2,
with Winfield advancing to third. A meeting at the mound ensued and Reds
manager Sparky Anderson uncharacteristically stuck with Alcala rather than
calling on Rawley Eastwick or Will McEnaney, both of whom were ready in the
Cincinnati bullpen. Alcala rewarded Anderson's confidence by retiring
Kubiak on a first-pitch weak fly to Armbrister in right field to end the game.
Jones recovered after his mid-innings struggles to hold the Reds scoreless after
the fifth inning and, despite the loss, recorded his National League leading
17th complete game of the season.
8/1/1976, SD 76-Cin76, Riverfront Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Padres 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 1 4 1 1976 Reds 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 x 3 11 0 7 0 Padres AB R H BI AVG Reds AB R H BI AVG Grubb rf 4 2 2 0 .271 Rose 3b 3 1 0 0 .322 Hernandez,E ss 3 0 0 0 .309 Morgan,J 2b 0 0 0 0 .329 McCovey ph 1 0 0 0 .165 Armbrister rf 3 0 1 0 .370 Turner lf 3 0 0 0 .325 Concepcion ss 4 0 1 0 .273 Davis,W cf 2 0 0 0 .229 Foster,G lf 4 1 2 1 .339 Winfield ph 1 0 0 0 .244 Bench c 4 1 2 0 .266 Ivie 1b 4 0 2 2 .269 Perez,T 1b 3 0 1 1 .247 Kubiak 2b 4 0 0 0 .205 Flynn 2b 4 0 3 1 .296 Rader,Do 3b 3 0 0 0 .263 Geronimo cf 3 0 1 0 .289 Kendall c 3 0 0 0 .249 Alcala p 3 0 0 0 .114 Jones, Ra p 3 0 0 0 .032 31 3 11 3 31 2 4 2 Padres INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Jones, Ra L 14-10 8.0 11 3 3 1 5 97 70 1.97 8.0 11 3 3 1 5 97 70 Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Alcala W 5-5 9.0 4 2 2 2 7 129 77 4.74 9.0 4 2 2 2 7 129 77 SD : McCovey batted for Hernandez,E in the 9th Winfield batted for Davis,W in the 9th Cin: Morgan,J inserted at 2b in the 9th Flynn moved to 3b in the 9th E-Turner. 2B-Concepcion(20), Foster,G(16). RBI-Ivie 2(25), Foster,G(89), Perez,T(73), Flynn(12). SB-Bench(3). K-Hernandez,E, Kubiak, Rader,Do, Kendall 2, Jones, Ra, McCovey, Rose, Concepcion 2, Foster,G, Alcala. BB-Turner, Davis,W, Rose. SH-Armbrister. SF-Perez,T. WP-Alcala. GWRBI: Perez,T Temperature: 75, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 7 MPH. Attendance: 51,970 Game Time: 2:04