Reds take battle of 1st place teams with 2 over Phightin’s

8/29-8/30 - Crosley Field
Reds 13, Phillies 5
Chris Short vs Tom Seaver
Tom Terrific returned from the DL to give his team 5 solid innings.  While "the franchise" was scraping off the rust he was still more than effective.  The Big Red Machine supplied more than enough runs to chase Chris Short after 5.  A 3 for 5 day by "Doggie", Tony Perez, resulted in 2 RBI's and 3 runs scored.  Johnny Bench would got 2 for 4 and score 3 runs himself as the Reds cooled off the ever so hot Phightins.

Reds 5, Phillies 3
Curt Simmons vs Jose Rijo
A 2 run double in the top of the first would be all the runs that Rijo would allow in his 7 innings of work.  Rijo would also fan 7 then hand the ball off to the "Nasty Boys", who gave up just 1 unearned run.  Dave Concepcion's 3rd inning lead off homer was followed up by an RBI double by Frank Robinson to tie the game a 2-2.  A two run shot by Eric Davis in the 5th gave Cincy a 2 run lead.  Perez' RBI double bumped the lead to 3 runs.  Rob Dibble earned the save by getting the final 2 outs to break up Phillies rally.

8/31 - Veterans Stadium
Jim Maloney vs Terry Mulholland
Phillies 10, Reds 5
After scoring 3 runs in the top of the 7th the Reds looked poised to go for the sweep.  Their 1 run lead would not last long as the Phightin's torched relievers Don Gullett and Bob Purkey for 5 huge runs.  A two run homer by Bob Boone set the stage for a two run single by Larry Bowa.  Reliever Woodie Fryman would pitch to one batter to end the 7th and wind up with the win.  Mulholland had his first bad outing of the year which saw his ERA "balloon" to 2.80 after giving up 5 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings.  Pete Rose, doing double duty for both teams, would go 1 for 5 for Cincy and 3 for 5 for Philly.  The "secretary of defense" Garry Maddox would go 3-6 in the lead off spot and score 2 runs.  Barry Larkin would post a 3 for 4 day in vain.