1963 Rd1 – Cincy sweeps Phightin’s

Game 1 - Cincinnati 7 Philadelphia 5

Cincinnati jumped out to a 7-2 lead, then held on to defeat the Phillies 7-5 in game one.  Vada Pinson was the hitting star for the Reds, going 2 for 5 with a triple and 3 RBIs.  Gordy Coleman knocked in 2 runs with a 3rd inning shot to right field.  Jim Maloney went put in 7 innings of work giving up 2 runs and 4 hits.  The Philly bats really didn't come to life until the 9th when Johnny Callison parked a Bill Henry pitch in the right field bleachers, but the Reds were able to hold on for the final out.  The game did get a little testy with 4 batters getting hit by pitches (2 from each team).
Game 2 - Cincinnati 11 Philadelphia 1

This one started out bad for the Phillies when leadoff hitter Leo Cardenas hit the first  pitch of the game out to left for a homerun.  The Reds scored again in the 2nd on a perfectly executed squeeze play and then 5 times in the 3rd on two out homeruns by Tommy Harper and Marty Keough.  Cincinnati added 4 more runs in the 8th keyed by Vada Pinson's bases loaded triple.  Jim O'Toole scattered 6 hits in 8 innings while giving up just one run.  He walked 2 and struck out 10 batters.
Game 3 - Philadelphia 2 Cincinnati 3

With their backs to the wall, the Phillies came out swinging against Joe Nuxhall in game three.  Wes Covington's double drove in Tony Taylor in the first and when Gene Freese booted Don Demeter's grounder, Philadelphia had runners at the corners with one out.  But luck turned against them again  when Roy Sievers flied out to left and Frank Robinson gunned down Covington at the plate to get Nuxhall out of the jam.  In the bottom of the 2nd, everything went wrong for the Phillies.  They committed 3 errors behind Cal McLish allowing Cincinnati to score two runs without a hit.  Both pitchers settled down after that and the score remained 2-1 after 8 innings..  Nuxhall had given up just 3 hits since the 1st, and McLish matched him with 3 hits in his 8 inning of work.  In the top of the 9th, Nuxhall retired the first batter, but Johnny Callison tied the game with his second 9th inning homerun of the series.  The Reds had two outs in the bottom of the 9th when Dick Hoak committed his 2nd error of the game allowing Cardenas to reach base.  Pinch hitter Marty Keough was hit by a Jack Baldschun pitch moving the winning run to 2nd base.  Pete Rose then lined a double into the right field corner off of Ryne Duren, driving in the winning run and sending Cincinnati into the next round.

--submitted by Brandon Hayes--