Dodgers Advance to World Series

Game 1
The Dodger's, Burt Hooten, and the Phillies, Larry Christenson, were stellar as the NLCS kicked off.  As it turned out Ron

Dodgers celebrate as they move
on to the World Series.

Cey's lead off HR in the 2nd was all the runs that LA would need as Hooten threw 8 shutout innings and Bob Welch closed the game out.  The Dodgers added an unearned insurance run in the 8th on a Reggie Smith double.  Christenson was the hard luck loser as he went 8 innings.  Los Angeles 2  Philadelphia  0     Series  Los Angeles 1-0

Game 2
Game 2 featured Tommy John against Dick Ruthven and the Dodgers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a Bill Russell single and increased the lead to 3-0 in the 5th on a 2 out Davey Lopes double.  Both teams put up run in the 6th and the Dodgers added one more in the 7th on Lopes' 3rd RBI.  Larry Bowa's 2 run single in the 8th made it a 2 run game but Bob Welch came on for John to record the last 6 outs.  Los Angeles 5  Philadelphia 3   Series  Los Angeles  2-0

Game 3
The series moves to LA and it is a premier match up of Steve Carlton for Philadelphia and Don Sutton for LA.  The Phillies take their first lead of the series in the 2nd inning on a Ritchie Hebner HR.  The Dodgers tied it up in the 4th on 3 consecutive singles by Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and Dusty Baker.  Carlton and Sutton continued to put up the goose eggs.  Carlton was removed in the 8th after a Reggie Smith one out double and Ron Reed kept the game tied at 1.  Sutton got the first 2 outs in the 9th and was removed after a Mike Schmidt single.  Bob Boone followed with a single moving Schmidt to 3rd and when the usually sure handed Davey Lopes misplayed a groundball the Phillies had a 2-1 lead.  Warren Brusstar came on for the save and promptly game up singles to Baker and Russell putting baserunners at the corners.  Tug McGraw came on and PH Leon Lacy doubled to tie the score but Russell was out at home and the game went to extra innings tied at 2.  Neither team could score until the 13th when Hebner led of the inning with his 2nd HR of the series for a 3-2 Phillies lead and Jim Kaat, who had come on in the 12th, pitched the 13th to get the win.
Philadelphia 3  Los Angeles 2     Series  Los Angeles  2-1

Game 4
Two lefties started game 4, Randy Lerch for the Phillies and Doug Rau for the Dodgers.  Lerch gave up a lead off HR to Davey Lopes in the first but Mike Schmidt got one of his own in the 3rd to knot the score at 1.  Lerch didn't have his best stuff this game and in the 3rd Lopes had a lead off double followed by a Bill Russell single.  Reggie Smith then doubled both runners home before Steve Garvey plated runs 3 and 4 of the inning and a HR and Lerch's day was done as the Dodgers lead 5-1 after 3 innings.  Los Angeles added one more in the 4th and Philadelphia 2 in the 5th to cut the deficit to 3.  Lopes hit his 2nd HR of the game in the 7th for a Dodger 7-3 lead.  Rick Rhoden pitched 3 scoreless innings and Bob Welch through a scoreless 9th as the Dodgers win the deciding 4th game.
Los Angeses  7  Philadelphia  3       Los Angeles wins the series 3-1.

Giants club Reds

Cincinnati,

Game 1,

Red killer Marc Hill banged out 3 hits to lead San Francisco past the Reds in the opener.  Jack Clark and shortstop Roger Metzger drove in two runs to aid in the offensive surge. Bob Knepper scattered 11 hits over 9 innings to improve his record to 15-12.  The loser was Bill Bonham (6-8). Giants 6...Reds 2.

Jack clouts lead Giants to a sweep.

Game 2,

Tom Terrific was far from that today as he lacked his usual overpowering stuff.  San Francisco roughed up Seaver for 8 runs over 3.2 innings. Seaver watched as his ERA ballooned to 3.38 and his record fall to 13-9.  Offensive heros in the game were Jack Clark, who clouted his 22nd, and 23rd homeruns of the season and drove in 4 runs.  Leadoff man Bill Madlock added 2 more RBI and 3 hits.  Ed Halicki pitched the second complete game for the Giants as he improves to a remarkable 18-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.73.  Giants 9...Reds 1.

Reds Sweep Friars.

Cincinnati,

Game 1,

DeFreites drives in 3 and clouts first homerun

Arturo Defeitas hit his first homerun of the year and drove in three runs to help lead the Reds past the Padres in the first of a short two game set.  George Foster connected for his 37th dinger of the year to send south paw Bob Owchinko to his 13th loss. Reds 8...Padres 4.

Drives in winning run with booming double.

Game 2,

Cincinnati took the second game of the series but needed the bottom half of the ninth to work their magic.  The game was tied entering the bottom half of the ninth, when Dan Driessen doubled high off the right field wall to score Doug Bair with the winning tally.  Reds 6...Padres 5.

Pitching Prevails as Pale Hose Post Pair from Tribe

Game 1 – Rick Waits goes the distance to beat the White Sox 5-1. The Keystone combo of Tom Veryzer (4) and Duane Kuiper (3) banged out 7 hits.

Game 2 – Steve Stone wins his 15^th of the season, yielding just 1 run on 4 hits. Lerrin LaGrow got the 27^th out and earned his 12^th save. Sox will 3-1.

Game 3 – Mike Squires goes 4-for-4 and ChiSox get good pitching again from Ross Baumgarten (2-1) and Jim Willoughby (8) to win 2-1 and take the series.

Royals Reign in Two in ChiTown

Game 1 – Hal McRae’s 473-foot monster shot with a man aboard provided all the offense KC would need. Larry Gura twirled the 4-0 complete-game shutout.

Game 2 – Two Sox errors lead to 3 runs in the Royals 11^th as they win 5-2. “The Mad Hungarian” Al Hrabosky (1-5) notches his first W. Clint Hurdle bangs out 4 hits for the victors.

Game 3 – Eric Soderholm accounted for both ChiSox runs in a 2-1 win for the home team. He homered in the 2^nd and then his single in the B9 plated Mike Squires with the game winner.

Phillies and Dodgers play 3 one run games.

Game 1: Los Angeles 3 Philadelphia 2
W: Rau (9-11)  L: Ruthven (9-1)
Dodgers led 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th when Hebner got thrown out at the plate by Lee Lacy, and Schmidt grounded out with the bases loaded.

Game 2: Philadelphia 5 Los Angeles 4
W: Brusstar (6-0)  L: Hough (5-3)
Winning run scored in the bottom of the 9th on a sac fly by Bob Boone.

Game 3: Philadelphia 5 Los Angeles 4
W: Lerch (9-7)  L: Hooton (15-4)
Phillies capped a 4 run 7th with a 3 run pinch hit blast by Tim McCarver.  LA scored one in the 9th and had the bases loaded with no outs, but they were only able to score one more run before Tug McGraw got the final out.

Philadelphia wins 3 of 4 against Pittsburgh

Game 1: Philadelphia 8 Pittsburgh 3
W: Brusstar (5-0)  L: Jackson (1-3)
Pirates led 3-2 after 6, but a 3 run 7th and a 3 run homerun by Schmidt in the 8th put the game away for Philadelphia.

Game 2: Philadelphia 2 Pittsburgh 0
W: Carlton (14-6)  L: Kison (1-2)
Steve Carlton handcuffed the Bucs with a 4-hit shutout.  Larry Bowa drove in both runs with a single in the 5th.

Game 3: Philadelphia 11 Pittsburgh 6
W: Lerch (8-7)  L: Bibby (10-5)
Phillies knocked out Bibby with a 6 run 2nd inning.  Pirates chased Lerch with a 4 run 7th to cut the lead to 8-6, but a base clearing double by Schmidt in the 8th salted it away for the home team.

Game 4: Pittsburgh 4 Philadelphia 3
W: Robinson (10-10)  L: Christenson (11-8)
Don Robinson held the Philles to 3 hits over 7-1/3, then Kent Tekulve came in and slammed the door to salvage the series finale.