Celebrating the 70s - Divisional Series Game 2

 A Grand Seventh Sinks Reds

The Montreal Expos snapped a 3-3 tie in the seventh on an RBI single by Warren Cromartie and kicked the door in with a two-out grand slam by Ron Fairly as they cruised to an 11-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds to even their ALDS at a game apiece.  

Rodney Scott singled to lead off the seventh and stole second which enabled him to score easily on Cromartie's base hit. Reds' reliever Manny Sarmiento then retired Andre Dawson and Gary Carter, but Ellis Valentine and Bob Bailey chipped in with singles to load the bases for Fairly's blast.

Cincinnati jumped out to a 2-0 lead early on an RBI double by Bobby Tolan and a sacrifice fly by Cesar Geronimo. After Tolan's two-bagger, he stole third which allowed him to glide home on Geronimo's fly out. Montreal answered back with a three-run homer by Andre Dawson to make the score 3-2. 

Cincinnati threatened on two occasions to take control of the scoreboard. In the fourth back-to-back free passes were issued to Tony Perez and Bobby Tolan by Montreal starter Mike Torrez. After a grounded out back to the pitcher, the runners advanced to second and third. The Expos intentionally walked number eighth hitter Dave Concepcion to load the bases and bring Reds' starter, Jack Billingham, to the plate. Torrez punched him out, and this missed opportunity was a pivotal turning point. The Reds did manage to tie the game at 3-3 in the fifth, but they left runs on the table here as well. Pete Rose led off with a double, and Joe Morgan follow with a walk. George Foster lined a single into left field to score Rose, and Cincinnati was in business with runners on first and second with no one out. The Reds had the right man stepping into the box in clean-up hitter Johnny Bench, but the result was a 6-4-3 twin killing. Tony Perez grounded out to first to end the inning.

Mr. October Strikes in Seventh

Oakland right fielder Reggie Jackson smoked a two-out three-run missile for the game-winning blow as the Athletics bounced the Kansas City Royals 7-3 to take a commanding 2-0 ALDS lead.

The A's were clinging to a 2-1 lead going into the seventh inning. Royals' starter Steve Busby turned in an admirable outing but gave way to the Kansas City bullpen. Bill North drew a walk from Royals' reliever Marty Pattin. He then swiped second and was bunted over to third by Dick Green. Pattin surrendered his second walk of the inning to pinch hitter Mitchell Page, and North came in courtesy of a Bert Campaneris RBI single. That ended the day for Pattin, and Doug Bird came on to face Sal Bando. He set him down swinging and was one out away from escaping danger before Reggie Jackson added to his mythical October resume by drilling an opposite-field shot to give the A's an insurmountable 6-1 advantage.

Oakland starter Ken Holtzman was the difference-maker in this game tossing 7 innings of one-run ball on six hits and did not issue any free passes. A's star closer Rollie Fingers ran into trouble in the ninth, but the hill was too high for Kansas City to climb. Holtzman's only difficult inning came in the fifth when Hal McRae and Frank White connected for consecutive singles. Al Cowens brought McRae around to count tying the game at 1-1. Joe Rudi put the A's in front for good with a titanic solo shot in the sixth.

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