BIG RED MACHINE ROLLS ON, CRUSHES GIANTS
Morgan Hits, 7th HR, Drives in 6; Darcy Fires Shutout
CINCINNATI, Apr. 16 (AP) - Joe Morgan homered for the seventh time in six games
thus far this season and drove in six more runs as the Cincinnati Reds pummeled
the San Francisco Giants, 15-0, at Riverfront Stadium. Pete Rose was
4-for-4 and scored four times, George Foster tripled twice and drove home four
runs and Pat Darcy tossed a complete game shutout for the Reds, who are laying
waste to the National League thus far. Cincinnati leads the NL West with a
5-1 record and the club's offense has scored an almost incomprehensible 77 runs
to date--just under 13 runs per contest. No other team in all of baseball
has scored more than 33 runs. The Reds' lowest offensive output in a
single game thus far is eight runs.
The Giants, by contrast, are 0-6 and have scored a grand total of 11 runs.
They have also committed a major league worst 16 errors, twice as many as the
next worst club. San Francisco was charged with four more miscues in this
shellacking, leading to three unearned runs. But the mismatch was so
complete, the defensive shortcomings scarcely seemed to register.
The Reds effectively put the game away in the bottom of the first inning.
After Darcy retired the Giants in order, Pete Rose led off with a single, moved
to second when San Francisco starter Jim Barr walked Ken Griffey and then both
runners advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch. Morgan then drove home both
runners with a base hit. The damage seemed as though it would be limited
to two runs when Morgan was thrown out trying to steal second base, but, after
Johnny Bench popped to third, Tony Perez singled and scored on George Foster's
triple. Mike Lum, playing in place of Cesar Geronimo, who was being given
the day off, then singled home Perez to give Cincinnati a 4-0 lead.
If the first inning didn't conclusively put the game away the second inning
did. Rose singled with one out and moved to second on Griffey's base
hit. Morgan then launched a bomb that hit off the facade of the second
deck in right field. The three-run home run, the seventh home run of the
season for the Reds second baseman, put Cincinnati on top 7-0. The shell
shocked Giants let Barr surrender another hit--a single off the bat of
Bench--before lifting Barr from the game, replacing him with John D'Acquisto,
but it hardly mattered. Perez doubled Bench to third and Foster followed
with his second triple in as many plate appearances, scoring both runners for a
9-0 lead. Lum's grounder to short scored Foster, capping a six-run inning.
The game was effectively over at this point but the scoring wasn't. Rose
scored on a throwing error in the third, upping the Reds advantage to 11-0 and
Cincinnati put the final touches on their victory with four more runs in the
fifth, which included Morgan's sixth RBI on a double to right-center.
In the final three frames both teams cleared their benches. The only
question was whether Darcy would secure the shutout, and he did, scattering six
hits and a pair of walks. The Cincinnati defense assisted him by turning
three double plays.
The Reds have now outscored their opponents by a ridiculous 51 runs. The
next best mark by any team in either league is +13 runs.
4/16/1976, SF 76-Cin76, Riverfront Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Giants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 5 1 1976 Reds 4 6 1 0 4 0 0 0 x 15 17 0 9 3 Giants AB R H BI AVG Reds AB R H BI AVG Joshua cf 4 0 1 0 .250 Rose 3b 4 4 4 0 .440 Thomas,De 2b 3 0 0 0 .227 Bailey ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Thomasson 1b 0 0 0 0 .000 Griffey rf 3 3 2 0 .417 Murcer rf 4 0 0 0 .227 Flynn 2b 1 0 1 0 1.000 Matthews lf 2 0 0 0 .278 Morgan,J 2b 4 2 3 6 .640 Adams,G ph 2 0 1 0 .333 Plummer c 1 0 0 0 .500 Montanez 1b 2 0 1 0 .304 Bench c 4 2 1 0 .500 Arnold ph 2 0 0 0 .333 Youngblood cf 0 0 0 0 .000 Speier ss 1 0 1 0 .235 Perez,T 1b 3 2 2 1 .250 Robinson,C ph 1 0 1 0 1.000 Armbrister lf 1 0 1 0 .500 Reitz 3b 2 0 0 0 .250 Foster,G cf 4 2 2 4 .429 Ontiveros ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Driessen 1b 1 0 0 0 .333 Rader,Da c 2 0 0 0 .083 Lum lf 5 0 1 3 .143 Sadek c 1 0 1 0 .500 Concepcion ss 5 0 0 0 .370 Barr,J p 0 0 0 0 .000 Darcy p 5 0 0 0 .111 D'Acquisto p 1 0 0 0 .000 42 15 17 14 Williams,C p 1 0 0 0 .000 Hill ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Lavelle p 0 0 0 0 .000 30 0 6 0 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Barr,J L 0-2 1.1 9 8 8 1 0 42 26 14.73 D'Acquisto 3.0 5 7 4 5 0 77 38 9.00 Williams,C 2.2 2 0 0 0 1 42 27 0.00 Lavelle 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 14 10 0.00 8.0 17 15 12 6 2 175 101 Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Darcy W 2-0 9.0 6 0 0 2 3 120 75 0.00 9.0 6 0 0 2 3 120 75 SF : Adams,G batted for Matthews in the 7th Arnold batted for Montanez in the 7th Robinson,C batted for Speier in the 7th Ontiveros batted for Reitz in the 7th Thomasson inserted at 1b in the 7th Adams,G moved to lf in the 7th Arnold moved to ss in the 7th Robinson,C moved to 2b in the 7th Ontiveros moved to 3b in the 7th Sadek inserted at c in the 7th Hill batted for Williams,C in the 8th Cin: Flynn inserted at 2b in the 7th Plummer inserted at c in the 7th Youngblood inserted at cf in the 7th Armbrister inserted at lf in the 7th Driessen inserted at 1b in the 7th Lum moved to rf in the 7th Bailey batted for Rose in the 8th Bailey moved to 3b in the 9th E-Murcer, Montanez, Williams,C 2. 2B-Montanez(2), Robinson,C(1), Morgan,J(1), Perez,T(2). 3B-Foster,G 2(2). HR-Morgan,J(7). RBI-Morgan,J 6(24), Perez,T(7), Foster,G 4(11), Lum 3(3). CS-Morgan,J. K-Rader,Da 2, Williams,C, Darcy, Plummer. BB-Speier, Thomasson, Rose, Griffey 2, Morgan,J, Bench, Perez,T. WP-Barr,J, Darcy. GWRBI: Morgan,J Temperature: 63, Sky: clear, Wind: in from center at 9 MPH. Attendance: 31,940 Game Time: 2:47