July 9, 1969, San Diego: Reds 4, Padres 3 (box score)
Another day, another home loss to the Reds. Clay Kirby and left-hander Jim Merritt hooked up in this one, and although neither pitched particularly well, both kept their team in the game.
Cincinnati struck first. Pete Rose led off the game with a single to left. After Rose stole second, Bobby Tolan beat out a bunt single to put runners at the corners. Alex Johnson then flied to right, scoring Rose and advancing Tolan to second. With Tony Perez up, Tolan stole third and then was caught trying to steal home. (I can’t imagine a scenario in which it makes sense to try and steal home with Perez up and one out, but maybe this is another sign that the times have changed.)
The Padres responded in the third. Ivan Murrell led of with a single to left. With one out, Kirby sacrificed him to second. John Sipin followed with a single that scored Murrell. Unfortunately, Sipin was thrown out trying to take second on the play. Still, San Diego had tied the game.
The Reds scored twice in the fifth inning. Johnny Bench singled and Tommy Helms tripled to bring home the first run. Chico Ruiz, a weak-hitting infielder (there are no contemporary comparables; the closest I could find is Onix Concepcion), followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Helms.
The two teams traded runs in the seventh. Cincinnati scored on a sac fly by starting pitcher Merritt. The Padres scored on singles by Ollie Brown and Ed Spiezio, wrapped around an Al Ferrara double. With runners at the corners and one out, Pedro Ramos replaced Merritt and induced Murrell to rap into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
The Padres had one final opportunity in the eighth. Roberto Pena singled in a run to cut the deficit to 4-3. With two on and one out, though, Brown and Colbert grounded out to end the threat. Reds left-hander Wayne Granger, who had put out the fire that inning, went on to work a perfect ninth and seal the victory.
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