Frank Robby and Big Klu hit back to back jacks to break a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 3rd. Milwaukee made it 2-1 in the 4th when Larry Hisle doubled home Cecil Cooper with nobody out. The Brew Crew failed to plate Hisle and tie the game thanks to Joe Nuxhall's stingy ways. "Nuxie" would stay stingy the rest of the way to close out the series in 6. Along the way the Reds offense shifted into high gear with 4 runs in the 6th and 3 in the 8th to make this a laugher. Brewer starter Lary Sorensen was victimized by his defense (2 errors) and then by the potent Red lineup. Sorensen gave up 6 runs (3 earned) on 12 hits in 7 innings. Bob McClure was the victim for the final 3 Red runs in the 8th that put the game totally out of reach and set off a love fest in Crosley field to the likes that the Queen City had not seen in decades. Gus Bell (4-5)
scored 2 runs and had 2 doubles. Frank Robinson (2-4) also scored 2
runs and had a solo blast, but the true hero this day was Big Klu, Ted
Kluszewski. The master ofthe sleeveless shirt was 3 for 4 with 4 RBI's, 2 runs scored and 2 tape measure homers.
For the first 4 games of the series went to the road team and game 5 would continue that trend. Milwaukee was a friendly host making 3 huge errors and spotting the Reds to a 3-0 lead after one half inning of play. With 2 in the 2nd and 1 in the 3rd the Brew Crew battled back to tie the game at 3-3. An error by catcher Buck Martinez put Gus Bell on second with nobody out. A 1 out RBI single by Ray Jablonski scored Bell to make it 4-3. Jablonski's solo blast in the 6th made it a 2 run game. A Robin Yount triple and a run scoring ground out by Cooper in the bottom of the 8th made it a 1 run game again, but a perfect 9th inning by closer Hersh Freeman locked the door on the Brew Crew as Cincy won it's 3rd straight in the series.
In what might turnout to be a colossal mistake in judgement Milwaukee's manager decided to bring Mike Caldwell back on short rest so that he might be available 3 times (if needed) in the series. After being staked to a 2-0 lead Caldwell was battered to the tune of 6 runs in the top of the 2nd and had to be replaced before the frame ended. The Brewer pen did a masterful job allowing just 1 run the rest of the way, but the 6-2 deficit was awful hard to come back from. The Brewers posted solo runs in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings but failed to get that crooked number on the board when they needed it the most. Smoky Burgess' 2 run blast in the 2nd wound up being the difference maker. Milwaukee put a scare into the Reds by putting runners on the corner against Jim Acker in the 9th, but Ben Oglivie lined out to third to end it.
A must win for the Redlegs if they were going to stay in the series. Cincy jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Jerry Augustine, who eventually go real stingy. The Brew crew chipped away and finally tied it up with a solo run in the 8th when Larry Hisle doubled home Cooper. On a 1 out single by Gorman Thomas, Hisle attempted to score from second. In what was surely the turning point of the game and quite possibly the series Frank Robinson pegged Hisle at the plate to prevent the go ahead run. In the top of the 10th the Reds victimized reliever Bill Castro for 3 singles in a row, with Ed Bailey providing the go ahead RBI. Acker set the Brew Crew down in the bottom of the 10th to protect the much needed win for the Reds.
Lary Sorensen continued to sparkle this post season with another economical yet dominant performance. Milwaukee's #2 guy left the game with a 2 hit shutout going after 7 innings because his team was up 11-0 and his manager wanted to save his arm. That strategy almost backfired when mop up man Andy Replogle gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Cincy went quietly in the 9th so the scare was premature. MVP candidate Gorman Thomas was 4 for 5 with 3 RBI. Thomas had a double and hit his 27th homer of the season. Yount (3-6) and Cecil Cooper (2-6) each had 3 RBI's of their own. Milwaukee hit 4 long balls on the day to Cincy's 2.
Both Mike Caldwell and Joe Nuxhall locked up in a classic pitcher's duel until the Brew Crew erupted for 4 unanswered runs in the top of the 9th off reliever Jim Acker. Catcher Charlie Moore and secondbaseman Paul Molitor each knocked in 2 runs with RBI singles to provide Bill Castro and Eduardo Rodriguez with more than enough cushion to protect. Mike Caldwell got the win allowing just 1 run on 5 hits in 7 innings of work. Castro and Rodriguez each pitched scoreless innings in relief. Nuxhall tired in the 9th and couldn't get help from Acker to put the fire out. Molitor and Robin Yount were both 2 for 5.