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Time for a recap of tonight’s titanic Strat-O-Matic Dream struggle….
FINAL
1990 Cincinnati Reds 2
1975 Cincinnati Reds 4
WP: J. Billingham (1-0)
LP: D. Jackson (0-1)
S: F. Norman (1)
PLAY BY PLAY
Player of the Game
–Jack Billingham. Billingham pitched seven strong innings, allowing no runs while scattering 6 hits. Billingham struck out four, and walked two. At the plate, he also had a triple and a walk in two at-bats, with an RBI.
Heroes
–Pete Rose (1 RBI) and George Foster (1 run scored) each went 2-4. No other 1975 Red had more than one hit.
–Billy Hatcher went 3-5 for the 1990 Reds, with two doubles. He continues his hot hitting from the actual 1990 World Series.
–Todd Benzinger hit a two-run homer in his only at-bat, the only runs the 1990 Reds would score on the night.
–Rob Dibble was, well, Rob Dibble. In his only inning of work, Dibble allowed the first two batters to reach via hit and walk. In typical fashion, however, Dibble promptly struck out the next three hitters.
ETC.
–This was a game that the 1990 Reds could easily have won. They equaled the hit total of the 1975 Reds, and had twice as many extra-base-hits. As they were known to do, however, the Big Red Machine put together timely hits and got some runs across.
–Danny Jackson was pitching a pretty strong game until the seventh inning. Perhaps manager Lou Piniella should have pulled Jackson after six, and turned the final third of the game over to The Nasty Boys. Yes, it’s possible that a managerial misstep may have cost the 1990 Reds a chance of tying up the series.
–Unlike the actual game 2 of the 1990 series, the game didn’t go into extra innings, Billy Bates didn’t make an appearance, and Marty Brennaman didn’t have to send out a call over the radio for Tom Browning to return to the stadium in case he might have to pitch.
–The 1975 Reds lead this best-of-seven series, two games to zero.
–Game three starting pitchers: Gary Nolan (15-9, 3.16 ERA in 1975) vs. Tom Browning (15-9, 3.80 ERA for the 1990 Reds).
–The series will resume at 1990 Riverfront Stadium for Game Three.