REDS RIDE LONG BALL TO ROUT OF CUBS
6 HRs Set New NL Season High
CHICAGO, Aug. 12 (AP) - The Cincinnati Reds set a new National League season
high with six home runs, whipping the Chicago Cubs 9-0 at Wrigley Field,
avoiding a series sweep in the process. Johnny Bench hit two of his team's
long balls and Ken Griffey, Joe Morgan, George Foster and Pete Rose added one
apiece. The only other major league club to hit six home runs in a single
game this year is Boston; the Red Sox turned the trick as part of a 15-4 pasting
of the Kansas City Royals on July 15.
Rose set the tone for the day when he drove Rick Reuschel's third pitch of the
game into the right field bleachers for his 10th home run of the season.
After Griffey reached on second baseman Manny Trillo's error, Morgan drilled a
towering two-run shot that cleared the catwalk, just inside the right field foul
pole, and landed on Sheffield Avenue, giving Cincinnati a 3-0 lead.
The Reds belted two more home runs in the third, ending Reuschel's day in the
process. Griffey opened the inning with a shot into the bleachers in
right-center. After Morgan flied out, Foster cracked his second double of
the game and Bench followed with a bomb that carried out to Waveland Avenue,
beyond the left field stands, making it 6-0. Mike Garman replaced Reuschel
and avoided further difficulty.
But the Reds weren't done. Bench greeted new reliever Joe Coleman with his
second round-tripper of the contest to open the fifth inning and Foster cracked
his 30th home run of the year, tying Rick Monday of the Cubs for the NL lead,
off Coleman with two outs and the bases empty in the sixth.
Cincinnati capped the scoring with their first run scored by a means other than
the long ball--Foster's two-out single in the eighth plated Griffey, who had
walked two batters earlier.
Santo Alcala (6-5) got the win, tossing six scoreless innings. Alcala was
effective, but was constantly in trouble allowing five hits and walking
six. Three double plays helped him keep the Cubs off the scoreboard.
Pedro Borbon threw three shutout innings in relief to close out the game.
Morgan and Foster each drove in a pair of runs, giving them 106 and 100
respectively--ranking first and second in the NL.
8/12/1976, Cin76-ChN76, Wrigley Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Reds 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 9 16 2 9 3 1976 Cubs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 13 3 Reds AB R H BI AVG Cubs AB R H BI AVG Rose 3b 5 1 2 1 .318 Monday cf 3 0 1 0 .306 Flynn 3b 0 0 0 0 .305 Cardenal lf 5 0 3 0 .283 Griffey rf 4 3 1 1 .322 Madlock 3b 5 0 0 0 .327 Morgan,J 2b 4 1 1 2 .323 LaCock 1b 3 0 0 0 .253 Foster,G lf 5 2 4 2 .337 Wallis rf 4 0 0 0 .216 Bench c 5 2 2 3 .260 Trillo 2b 1 0 1 0 .228 Perez,T 1b 5 0 2 0 .257 Swisher c 4 0 2 0 .266 Geronimo cf 5 0 2 0 .284 Kelleher ss 4 0 1 0 .224 Concepcion ss 3 0 1 0 .275 Reuschel,R p 0 0 0 0 .186 Alcala p 3 0 0 0 .103 Garman p 0 0 0 0 .000 Borbon p 2 0 1 0 .333 Biittner ph 1 0 0 0 .252 41 9 16 9 Coleman p 0 0 0 0 .125 Summers ph 1 0 0 0 .172 Reuschel,P p 0 0 0 0 .500 Sperring ph 1 0 0 0 .308 32 0 8 0 Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Alcala W 6-5 6.0 5 0 0 6 1 111 61 4.82 Borbon S 5 3.0 3 0 0 1 1 32 21 3.96 9.0 8 0 0 7 2 143 82 Cubs INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Reuschel,R L 12-14 2.1 6 6 5 0 3 44 29 4.03 Garman 1.2 2 0 0 1 1 32 18 5.29 Coleman 2.0 3 2 2 1 2 36 22 5.23 Reuschel,P 3.0 5 1 1 2 0 40 23 4.07 9.0 16 9 8 4 6 152 92 Cin: Flynn inserted at 3b in the 9th ChN: Biittner batted for Garman in the 4th Summers batted for Coleman in the 6th Sperring batted for Reuschel,P in the 9th E-Rose, Alcala, Trillo. 2B-Rose(26), Foster,G 2(20), Cardenal(16). HR-Rose(10), Griffey(6), Morgan,J(26), Foster,G(30), Bench 2(10). RBI-Rose(55), Griffey(41), Morgan,J 2(106), Foster,G 2(100), Bench 3(59). K-Bench, Perez,T, Concepcion, Alcala 3, Monday, Sperring. BB-Griffey, Morgan,J, Concepcion 2, Monday 2, LaCock 2, Trillo 3. SH-Reuschel,R. WP-Garman. GWRBI: Rose Temperature: 70, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to right at 14 MPH. Attendance: 19,310 Game Time: 2:28