October 11, 1968: The Reds trade popular centerfielder Vada Pinson to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Bobby Tolan and reliever Wayne Granger.
October 11, 1970: The Reds lose Game 2 of the 1970 World Series to the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 6-5, blowing an early lead for the second consecutive day. The Orioles now lead the World Series, two games to none.
The Reds scored three times in the bottom of the first inning off Orioles pitcher Mike Cuellar to take the lead. Pete Rose reached on shortstop Mark Belanger’s error, but was forced out at second base by Bobby Tolan. Tony Perez singled to centerfield with Tolan stopping at second base. Tolan moved to third on a Johnny Bench flyout. Lee May then doubled to centerfield, scoring both Tolan and Perez and with May advancing to third base on an error by Orioles centerfielder Paul Blair. May scored on a Hal McRae squeeze bunt to give the Reds a 3-0 lead. Tolan made it 4-0 in the third with a solo home run.
The Orioles got one run back in the fourth on a Boog Powell home run and then erupted for five runs in the fifth inning to take a 6-4 lead. With one out, three straight singles from pinch hitter Chico Salmon, Don Buford, and Blair scored Salmon and chased Reds starting pitcher Jim McGlothlin. Powell greeted Reds rookie pitcher Milt Wilcox with another single, scoring Buford and making the score 4-3. Frank Robinson flied to right, but Brooks Robinson singled home Blair and then an Elrod Hendricks double scored both Powell and Brooks Robinson, giving the Orioles a 6-4 advantage. Clay Carroll relieved Wilcox on the mound and then he and Don Gullett pitched 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. The Reds added one more run in the sixth inning on a Johnny Bench home run.
October 11, 1972: The Reds come from being down two games to one to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3. The Reds score two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs to win the game and the National League Championship Series.
The Pirates chased Reds starter Don Gullett early with two runs in the second inning and after the Pirates had led off the fourth inning with two singles. Pedro Borbon relieved Gullett and gave up a run-scoring single to Dave Cash before stopping the bleeding. For the game, Reds relievers Borbon, Tom Hall, and Clay Carroll pitched six innings of two-hit baseball, allowing no runs, and striking out five.
The Reds scored once in the third on a Pete Rose double and scored once in the fifth on a Cesar Geronimo home run. Down by one, Johnny Bench opened the Reds’ half of the ninth with a solo home run off Pirate reliever Dave Giusti tie the score at 3-3. Tony Perez singled to centerfield and George Foster was sent into the game to run for Perez. Denis Menke singled to left with Foster stopping at second base. Bob Moose relieved Giusti and induced Geronimo to fly to right, with Foster advancing to third base. Darrel Chaney popped up to the shortstop and the Reds sent Hal McRae up to bat for Clay Carroll. Moose uncorked a wild pitch and Foster scored the winning run, sending the Reds to the 1972 World Series.
October 11, 1975: The Reds lose the first game of the 1975 World Series to the Boston Red Sox, 6-0, as Luis Tiant hurls a five-hitter for the Red Sox.
The game was a 0-0 pitcher’s duel through the middle of the seventh between Tiant and Reds starter Don Gullett. But, things changed in the Red Sox home half of the seventh inning. Tiant led off with a single and Dwight Evans reached base with Tiant moving to second on Evans’s bunt attempt as Gullett unsuccessfully tried to get Tiant at second. Denny Doyle then singled to load the bases. Carl Yastrzemski singled home Tiant with the first run of the game, leaving the bases loaded, and Gullett was replaced on the mound by Clay Carroll, who walked Carlton Fisk with the bases loaded to force in a run and give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. Carroll was replaced by Will McEnaney and McEnaney gave up singles to Rico Petrocelli and Rick Burleson and then a sacrifice fly to Cecil Cooper before retiring Tiant to end the inning. The Red Sox had exploded for the only six runs in the game.
For the Reds, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan had two hits apiece, with Ken Griffey getting the only other Reds safety as Tiant went the distance.
October 11, 1995: The Reds lose to the Braves in extra innings for the second consecutive day and fall behind two games to none in the best of seven National League Championship Series. The Braves scored four runs in the top of the 10th to win the game, 6-2.
The Braves had taken a 2-0 lead over the Reds and John Smiley by scoring once in the first inning and scoring once more in the fourth. The Reds tied it in the fifth when Benito Santiago singled to start the rally. Bret Boone reached on a bunt single with Santiago advancing to third base on a throwing error by Braves pitcher John Smoltz. Santiago was thrown out at home on a ground ball to first base by Jeff Branson, but pinch hitter Lenny Harris singled home Boone with the Reds’ first run with Branson advancing to third base. The Reds tied it on a successful double steal attempt with Harris stealing second and Branson stealing home.
The game remained 2-2 until the 10th when a Mark Portugal wild pitch scored Mark Lemke. The Braves put it out of range when Javier Lopez lined a three-run homer off Portugal to give the Braves a 6-2 lead. Boone had two hits in the game and Barry Larkin had two singles and a double for the Reds. Reds cleanup hitter Reggie Sanders struck out four times in the game. Just two games before, Sanders had struck out five times in the National League Divisional Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.