5/3/75 ATL @ CIN

Well, wonder of wonders, Ken Griffey came through for the Reds.  Ken’s been hitting in the low .200’s for most of the season, but a solo home run in the bottom of the 7th put the Reds up 1-0.  Darrell Evans, pinch hitting for Braves starter Roric Harrison, tied it up in the top of the 8th with a solo shot of his own.  Evans normally starts at 3rd base for Atlanta, but has been hitting so poorly (currently .198), he was benched up until his appearance in the 8th.  To be honest with you, since I was managing the Reds, I was kind of excited to see him come up, but then pretty ticked off when he hit it.

The Reds would take the lead back in the bottom of the 8th when JB-Johnny Bench singled to lead off the inning off new pitcher Max Leon.  George Foster then hit a triple down the right field line to score him.  That was it for Leon, who was replaced by Pedro Torrealba.  I was a bit disappointed that nobody was able to score Foster from third with nobody out (Perez popped out to first, Geronimo struck out, and Griffey popped out).

The Braves did have some chances early, but double plays ruined their chances in the 1st, 2nd, and 6th.  Reds starter Fred Norman went the whole way for Cincy, improving his record to 3-1.  Leon took the loss.  The win moved the Reds up by 2-1/2 games over the Giants in the NL West, pending the results of the Astros-Giants game later.