Game 1 October 4, 1975 @ Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
Philadelphia 5
Cincinnati 6
Cincinnati leads series 1-0
The Reds built themselves a 5-0 lead only to have to hang on for a narrow one run win. Gary Nolan got the start for the Reds against Steve Carlton. The Reds offense got things going in the 2nd inning. An RBI single by Ken Griffey and a two run single by Nolan made it 3-0. It stayed that way until the 6th when the Reds added two more. Nolan again helped his cause by tripling in a run. He then scored on a single by Pete Rose and the Reds had a comfortable 5-0 lead. In the 7th Mike Schmidt and Tony Perez exchanged solo homers. Perez hit his off of new Phillie pitcher Ron Schueler, making it a 6-1 game. The Phillies added another run in the 8th on an RBI triple by Larry Bowa. So the Reds took a 6-2 lead into the 9th. Nolan took the mound to start the inning but ran out of gas quickly. Greg Luzinski led off with a double. Willie Montanez tripled him in and Jay Johnstone followed with a single to make it a 6-4 game. That was all for Nolan. Pedro Borbon was summoned from the bullpen. Larry Cox greeted him with a run scoring double and now it was a one run game with the tying run on 2nd base and nobody out. Mike Anderson popped out to short and Tony Taylor fouled out to short. That left it up to Dave Cash and Borbon got him to ground out to Joe Morgan to end the game. Nolan gets the win, Carlton the loss, Borbon a save. Nolan also had two hits and three RBIs.
Game 2 October 5, 1975 @ Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
Philadelphia 13
Cincinnati 11 (10 Innings)
Series tied 1-1
This one was a wild one. Jack Billingham started for Cincinnati and Tom Underwood for Philadelphia. Neither pitcher made past the 3rd inning. Greg Luzinski put the Phillies up 2-0 in the first thanks to his two run homer, but the Reds tied it in the bottom half on a two run single by Tony Perez. In the bottom of the 2nd some shaky fielding by the Phillies opened the door to a five run outburst, chasing Underwood out of the game. George Foster led off with a double. Ken Griffey reached on an error by Larry Bowa. Foster to 3rd. Billingham attempted a sacrifice bunt but Underwood booted it to load the bases. Pete Rose walked to score a run and then Underwood uncorked a wild pitch for another run. Dave Concepcion singled in a run and Joe Morgan doubled in two more. That was all for Underwood and it was 7-2 Cincinnati. Tom Hilgendorf came in to get out of the inning. The 7-2 lead didn't last long for Cincy as the Phillies got to Billingham in the 3rd. Dave Cash led off with a walk. He stole 2nd and went to 3rd on Johnny Bench's throwing error. Bowa singled him in to make it 7-3. Then after getting the next two hitters, Willie Montanez and Jay Johnstone hit back to back doubles to make it 7-5. Bob Boone then singled in Johnstone and it was suddenly 7-6. An RBI single by Perez in the 4th and a sac fly by Bench in the 6th gave the Reds some cushion at 9-6. The cushion then evaporated in the 7th. Clay Kirby was on the mound and with one out he walked Johnstone, wild pitched him to 2nd, walked Bob Boone and then threw another wild pitch. Mike Rogodzinski was called on to pinch hit for Mike Anderson and he came through with a two run double. Rawly Eastwick replaced Kirby. He walked Tom Hutton and gave up a game tying double to Cash. Tug McGraw took the mound in the bottom of the 7th and it took just two batters for the Reds to regain the lead. Foster led off with a triple and Griffey's sac fly made it 10-9 Reds back on top. The Reds took that 10-9 lead into the 9th. Will McEnaney came on to close out the game. Jerry Martin led off with a single, he was bunted over to 2nd by McGraw and then Cash struck out. It was left up to Bowa and he came through with a game tying single. The Reds did nothing in the bottom of the ninth so on to extra innings. In the 10th, Mike Schmidt led off with a single. Luzinski followed with a single and Montanez hit into a fielders choice with Schmidt out at 3rd. That brought up Johnstone and he put the Phillies on top with a two run double. On the play, Johnstone took 3rd on the throw home. This was big because he was then able to score on Boone's ground out. Three runs in and a 13-10 lead. Gene Garber came on for Philly and did give up a solo homer to Bench with two outs, but that would be it. The Phillies win game two 13-11. Cash, Bowa, Montanez and Johnstone all had three hits. Johnstone knocked in three and scored three. Foster was 4-5, Morgan and Perez each had thee hits. Perez knocked in three. Garber the win, McEnaney the loss.
Game 3 October 7, 1975 @ Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
Cincinnati 7
Philadelphia 8
Philadelphia leads series 2-1
Fred Norman takes to the hill against Larry Christenson. Greg Lusinski's two run homer in the first gives Philly and early lead. George Foster answers with a solo shot in the 2nd and an RBI double by Pete Rose later in the inning ties it 2-2. Philly again took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd on a sac fly by Dave Cash. It stayed 3-2 until the 5th. Johnny Bench gave the Reds the lead with a two run homer, 4-3 and in the 6th Joe Morgan hit a two run homer, the Reds third homer of the game, off of reliever Ron Schueler to make it a 6-3 game. Norman however could not make the lead stand up. In the bottom of the 6th he got the first two batters, but then trouble hit. Jay Johnstone singled and Mike Schmidt was hit by a pitch. Bob Boone and Mike Anderson followed with RBI singles to make it 6-5. Terry Harmon walked and Dave Cash singled to tie the game. That was finally all for Norman and Clay Kirby came on. In the bottom of the 7th, Dick Allen led off and reached on an error by Rose. Luzinski walked and Johnstone reached on an error by Tony Perez to load the bases. Schmidt's ground out scored the go ahead run and it was 7-6. Typical for this game, the Reds fought back to tie it off of Gene Garber. Morgan led off with a walk, he stole 2nd, went to 3rd on a single by Bench and scored on a sac fly by Perez. Rawly Eastwick came on to pith the 8th for Cincy. Cash led off with a single and Larry Bowa bunted him to 2nd. Allen struck out but Luzinski came through with run scoring single to put the Phillies up 8-7. The Reds did not threaten against Tug McGraw and the Phillies rally to win and take a 2-1 series lead.
Rose was 4-6 with two doubles. Bench and Caesar Geronimo each had 3 hits. Morgan walked three times, stole two bases, scored three times and knocked in two. Luzinski had three RBIs.
Rose was 4-6 with two doubles. Bench and Caesar Geronimo each had 3 hits. Morgan walked three times, stole two bases, scored three times and knocked in two. Luzinski had three RBIs.
Game 4 October 8, 1975 @ Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
Cincinnati 9
Philadelphia 4
Series tied 2-2
Just as in game one, it was Gary Nolan against Steve Carlton. The Reds tried to take some of the wind out of Philadelphia's sails early. The struck for three in the 1st inning. Johnny Bench doubled in two and he scored on a double by Tony Perez. To the Phillies credit, they bounced back with two in their half of the first. RBI singles by Greg Luzinski and Jay Johnstone made it 3-2. However Carlton didn't have it today and he gave up three more in the 2nd before being pulled. Pete Rose singled in a run, Joe Morgan doubled in run and Bench singled in one to make it 6-2. Carlton was pulled for Tom Hilgendorf at that point. The Reds added another run in the 4th to make it 7-2. Meanwhile, Nolan was in complete control and didn't allow Philadelphia anything else through seven innings of work. RBI singles by Rose and Morgan in the 8th made it 9-2. The Phillies added a couple of runs in the 9th off of Pedro Borbon, but the Reds get a season saving 9-4 win and return home to Cincinnati for a deciding game five. Rose, Dave Concepcion and Ken Griffey all had three hits. Concepcion's were all doubles. Morgan and Bench each drove in three. Larry Bowa and Dave Cash each had three hits. Nolan is 2-0, Carlton 0-2.
Game 5 October 10, 1975 @ Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
Philadelphia 6
Cincinnati 5
Philadelphia wins series 3-2
Tom Underwood against Jack Billlingham just as in game two. Dave Concepcion's RBI double put the Reds up 1-0 in the first. The Phillies came right back in the 2nd. Jay Johnstone led off with a double. Mike Schmidt's ground out moved him the 3rd. Bob Boone followed with a pop out and Billingham now had a chance to escape damage. He issued an intentional walk to Mike Anderson to face Underwood. The plan backfired as Underwood singled in Johnstone and Anderson scored when Ken Griffey threw wild to third trying to get him. Making things worse, Concepcion then misplayed a ground ball by Dave Cash and it was now 3-1 Phillies. In the bottom of the 3rd, the Reds rallied to tie the game. Griffey led off with a triple. Billingham struck out, but Pete Rose doubled to make it 3-2. Concepcion grounded out and then Joe Morgan delivered a game tying single. We are knotted up at 3-3. After that, neither team really could moutn any offense as the game chugged along through the 7th. The pressure began to mount more and more after each inning. In the top of the 8th Rawly Eastwick replaced Billingham. With one out, Dick Allen tripled. Greg Luzinski followed with a double off the wall in left to put Philadelphia up 4-3. Eastwick then got out of the inning without allowing anymore runs. Philadelphia sent Underwood back out for the 8th inning Concepcion struck out Morgan singled, stole 2nd and then stole 3rd. The stolen bases rattled Underwood and he made a mistake to Johnny Bench and Bench jumped all over it. He sent a long homer into the seats in left. A two run homer to put the Reds back in front 5-4. Gene Garber then came on to finish the inning, but the damage was done. Eastwick returned to the mound in the 9th with the Reds three outs away from a trip to the World Series. Willie Montanez grounded out. Tom Hutton walked. Garber then bunted him over to 2nd. Two outs and the tying runner was on 2nd for Cash. Cash came through with double down the line in right. Game tied 5-5. Eastwick was removed for Pedro Borbon to face Larry Bowa. Bowa came through with single up the middle to put the Phillies in front 6-5. The Phillies were the team now three outs away from the World Series. Garber got Griffey and Dan Driessen to start the 9th. Rose kept the Reds alive by getting hit by a pitch. Terry Crowley pinch hit for Concepcion and singled Rose to 3rd. With the tying run on 3rd, league MVP Morgan came to the plate. But this time, with everything on the line, Garber coaxed an easy ground ball to Bowa. The Phillies win 6-5 and head to the World Series. Luzinski had two hits. Garber won his second game of the series. Morgan had three more hits. Eastwick lost his second game.
1975 NLCS MVP - Greg Luzinski, Philadelphia
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Greg Luzinski was named the MVP of the 1975 NLCS. In five games, Greg batted .391 with 3 doubles and 2 home runs. He scored four runs and had a team high 8 RBIs.