October 3, 1890: Reds owner Aaron Stern sells the Reds to a group of investors, headed by Albert Johnson, who are tied to the newly formed Players League. The Reds temporarily withdraw from the National League just one year after being readmitted to the league following their 1890 banishment.
October 3, 1891: John Reilly smashes three triples in a game for the second time in his career as the Reds defeat the Chicago Colts, 15-9, in Chicago. Reilly is one of only four players, and the only Red, to hit three triples in a game twice in their careers. The win keeps the Reds out of last place as they finish the season 56-81, one game ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
October 3, 1919: The Reds lose the first World Series game in their history, 3-0, to the Chicago White Sox in Chicago. The Reds now lead the White Sox in the Series, two games to one.
Rookie Dickie Kerr pitched a three-hitter and walked one to pitch the White Sox to victory. Kerr retired the last 15 batters of the game allowing only three runners to reach second base during the game.
Dolf Luque pitches one inning in the game for the Reds, becoming the first Hispanic American to appear in a World Series game.
October 3, 1940: The Reds win the second game of the 1940 World Series against the Detroit Tigers to tie the Series at one game apiece.
The Tigers opened with two runs in the top of the first inning off Reds starter Bucky Walters, who settled down after walking the first two batters he faced. The Reds countered with two runs in the second, two runs in the third, and one more in the fourth to take control of the game. In the second inning, the Reds scored on rbi-singles by Eddie Joost and Billy Myers. Jimmy Ripple connected for a two-run homer in the third, and the Reds’ fifth run came when Billy Werber doubled home Walters. Ripple’s homer was the Reds first home run ever in World Series play.
Meanwhile, after the shaky first inning, Walters was all business on the mound, allowing the Tigers only three hits in going the distance.
October 3, 1948: The Reds avoid last place as Johnny Vander Meer hurls a two-hit shutout on the last day of the season as the Reds defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0. The Reds finish the season 64-89, one-half game ahead of the Chicago Cubs (64-90).
The only run of the game came with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning when Steve Filipowicz singled home Bobby Adams with the winning run. Filipowicz, a backup outfielder, only played seven games with the Reds, going 9-26. This was his last major league game. He played parts of three seasons in the majors, batting .223 in 57 games.
Vander Meer allowed two hits and walked four in improving his record to 17-14 with a 3.41 ERA despite leading the league with 124 walks.
October 4, 1964: The Reds are off this day, but are now tied for first place as the St. Louis Cardinals lose to the last place New York Mets, 15-5, in St. Louis. The Reds and Cardinals are now tied for first with identical 92-69 records, with the Phillies 1 game behind at 91-70, with one game to play. The Phillies and Reds will play again on October 5 with the Cardinals again playing the Mets. In the Mets-Cardinals game, the Mets crash five home runs and rookie pitcher Tom Parsons wins his first major league game as the Mets successfully play the spoiler role. Parsons will only win one other major league game. He will finish his career, 2-13 with a 4.72 ERA (75 ERA+).
October 3, 1970: The Reds open the 1970 League Championship Series with a 3-0 extra inning shutout victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh.
Reds starter Gary Nolan and Pirates starter Dock Ellis held the game scoreless through nine innings before the Reds broke through in the top of the tenth with three runs. Pinch hitter Ty Cline led off with a triple and scored on a Pete Rose single to right field. Lee May then doubled home Rose and Johnny Bench, who had been intentionally walked after Rose had advanced to second base on a flyball. Clay Carroll retired the Pirates in order in the bottom of the tenth to preserve the Reds’ win.
October 3, 1976: Ken Griffey goes 0-2 and loses the batting title on the last day of the season in a Reds 11-1 romp over the Atlanta Braves.
Griffey entered the day leading the Cubs’ Bill Madlock .338 to .333 in the batting race. On the final day of the season, the Reds started Dan Driessen in right field instead of Griffey. Griffey entered the game, pinch hitting for Driessen, when the Reds saw that Madlock was going 4-4 that night against he the Montreal Expos. Griffey batted twice, but struck out both times and finished the season at .336. Madlock won the title with a .339 average.
October 3, 1979: The Reds fall behind two games to none in the League Championship Series as they lose to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2, in 10 innings. The Pirates won it in the top of the tenth when Dave Parker singled off Doug Bair to score Omar Moreno.
October 3, 1995: The Reds take a 7-0 lead and then hold on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2, in the first game of the National League Division Series. Hal Morris goes 3-4 with two rbi and Benito Santiago slugs a three-run homer. Reds starter Pete Schourek pitches seven innings of five-hit baseball to earn the win.
October 3, 1999: After losing three consecutive games, the Reds defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-1, in the last regular seaon game of the year to force a one-game playoff versus the New York Mets to determine the Wild Card winner. The Reds’ record improved to 96-66 on this day, one game behind the division winning Houston Astros.
Pete Harnisch and Ron Villone combined on a six hitter to pitch the Reds to victory. The Brewers did not score until there was one out in the ninth inning. For the Reds, Greg Vaughn and Michael Tucker homered to provide the power for the win.
too bad ty cline did not hit the ball far enough against the orioles so that cardo was not out/safe at home