BUCS LONG BALLS UPEND REDS
Parker, Zisk, Robinson Go Back-to-Back-to-Back
PITTSBURGH, June 9 (AP) - The Pittsburgh Pirates belted five home runs off
Cincinnati starter Gary Nolan, backing a complete game effort by Jerry Reuss,
and defeated the Reds, 7-2, at Three Rivers Stadium. The Pirates took a
4-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning and then cemented the advantage
when Dave Parker, Richie Zisk and Bill Robinson hit back-to-back-to-back home
runs with two outs and the bases empty. For Parker, who entered the
contest with one home run on the season, it was his second long ball of the
game.
The Pirates drew first blood when Rennie Stennett led off the bottom of the
first inning with a home run--his first of the year--off Nolan. Pittsburgh
then upped the advantage with a three-run bottom of the third. Nolan got
himself in trouble immediately by walking his counterpart, Reuss, to open the
frame. Stennett's infield roller forced Reuss at second but Richie
Hebner's opposite field double put runners on second and third with one
out. Al Oliver followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Stennett, and Parker
belted a long home run into the second level in right field to give the Pirates
a 4-0 lead.
The Reds got back in the game with a pair of runs off Reuss in the fourth.
Tony Perez led off the inning with his seventh home run of the season to cut the
deficit to 4-1. Back-to-back walks to George Foster and Johnny Bench put
runners on first and second and Bob Bailey's single to right loaded the bases
with none out. Dave Concepcion became the fifth straight batter to reach
base safely when he dropped a single into shallow left. Foster scored
easily but Zisk cut down Bench at the plate for the first out of the
inning. Reuss seemed to get a lift from that and escaped the inning with
no further damage.
Cincinnati, despite threatening on occasion, wouldn't score again, and the 4-2
lead held up until the bottom of the eighth when the Pirates drove Nolan from
the game with the three consecutive home runs.
It was only the second time in the major leagues this season that a team had hit
three home runs in a row. The New York Mets turned the trick in the second
inning of a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium on May 25.
6/9/1976, Cin76-Pit76, Three Rivers Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Reds 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0 9 0 1976 Pirates 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 x 7 9 0 3 2 Reds AB R H BI AVG Pirates AB R H BI AVG Rose 3b 5 0 2 0 .336 Stennett 2b 4 2 1 1 .201 Griffey rf 4 0 0 0 .311 Hebner 3b 4 1 1 0 .274 Morgan,J 2b 4 0 0 0 .381 Oliver cf 3 0 0 1 .316 Perez,T 1b 3 1 3 1 .220 Parker,D rf 4 2 3 3 .349 Foster,G cf 2 1 0 0 .292 Zisk lf 4 1 1 1 .308 Bench c 3 0 0 0 .270 Kirkpatrick 1b 0 0 0 0 .267 Bailey lf 4 0 2 0 .270 Robinson,Bi 1b 4 1 1 1 .328 Eastwick p 0 0 0 0 .000 Sanguillen c 4 0 1 0 .348 Concepcion ss 4 0 1 1 .275 Taveras,F ss 3 0 1 0 .285 Nolan p 2 0 0 0 .065 Reuss p 2 0 0 0 .345 Youngblood lf 1 0 1 0 .190 32 7 9 7 32 2 9 2 Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Nolan L 5-4 7.2 9 7 7 1 4 108 75 3.99 Eastwick 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3.16 8.0 9 7 7 1 4 110 77 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Reuss W 5-5 9.0 9 2 2 5 7 130 80 3.12 9.0 9 2 2 5 7 130 80 Cin: Youngblood inserted at lf in the 8th Pit: Kirkpatrick inserted at 1b in the 9th Robinson,Bi moved to lf in the 9th 2B-Hebner(12). 3B-Parker,D(2). HR-Perez,T(7), Stennett(1), Parker,D 2(3), Zisk(4), Robinson,Bi(10). RBI-Perez,T(40), Concepcion(26), Stennett(12), Oliver(30), Parker,D 3(20), Zisk(23), Robinson,Bi(23). K-Rose, Morgan,J 2, Foster,G, Bench, Concepcion, Nolan, Hebner, Parker,D, Robinson,Bi, Reuss. BB-Griffey, Perez,T, Foster,G 2, Bench, Reuss. SH-Nolan. SF-Oliver. GWRBI: Stennett Temperature: 67, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 12 MPH. Attendance: 21,173 Game Time: 2:10