‘76 Reds take 2 of 3 from ‘03 Fish

9/17-9/18 - Riverfront Stadium
GAME 1 - Reds 11, Marlins 4
Josh Beckett (0-2, 4.97) didn't even make it out of the 2nd inning as the Big Red Machine put a hurt on him.  Beckett gave up 6 runs (5 earned) and only got 4 outs for his trouble.  Gary Nolan (2-4, 4.41) pitched to the level of his competition and easly went the distance for the win.  The only blemish against his record was a 4 run 4th inning that made the score 6-4 Cincy at the time.  The Reds backed Nolan up with 5 more insurance runs on a day when HOF'ers Joe Morgan and Tony Perez had identical 3 hit 4 RBI days.  Morgan hit 2 homers to run his season total to 4 and "Doggie" hit his 7th homer.

GAME 2 - Marlins 10, Reds 8
Fred Norman (5-1, 3.35) had his first rough outing of the season going 6 innings and giving up 5 runs.  With that said the Reds were only down by 2 until the Marlins seemingly blew the doors right off the cupboard with a 5 run outburst in the top of the 9th.  The Reds never gave up hope and returned the favor in the bottom of the frame, which forced the Marlins to bring in Ugeth Urbina to get the final out of the game in the form of Pete Rose popping out to shallow right.  4 of Florida's 5 runs came from a one swing when Miguel Cabrera hit a grand slam.  Cincy actually outhit the Fish by a count of 13-10, but runs, not hits win games.

9/19- Pro Player Stadium
GAME 3 - Reds 3, Marlins 2
In a battle of rookie hurlers, Pat Zachry (2-2, 2.98) bested Dontrelle Willis.  Willis actually got a no decision having gone 7 1/3 innings and allowing only 1 run and fanning 9.  Zach went 8 1/3 and gave up 2 and looked to be the loser in this pitcher's duel until Urbina gave up a 2 run homer to a struggling Johnny Bench with 1 out in the 9th.  Zach would get the first out in the 9th when Mike Lowell popped out to Griffey Sr. in right, but Gonzalez singled and that meant Rawly Eastwick would come on to get the fianl 2 outs.  Lenny Harris, pinch hitting for Urbina, popped out to Eastwick and Juan Pierre was thrown out by Rose on an ill advised bunt attempt for the final out of the game.