Southpaw Jim Merritt pitched six innings of hitless ball and the Reds, powered by fourth-inning homers by Lee May, Bernie Carbo and Bobby Tolan, defeated the Expos, 5-1, in the National League opener at Crosley Field. Merritt, the Reds' top pitcher last year with a 17-9 record, allowed only a second-inning walk to Bob Bailey over the first six innings but lost hs bid for a no-hitter and a shutout in the seventh on a triple by Rusty Staub and a single by Ron Fairly. [upi]



Cincinnati Reds 5, Montreal Expos 1
Game Played on Monday, April     6, 1970 (Day game) at Crosley Field
Expos        0  0  0    0  0  0    1  0  0  -   1  3  1
Reds         0  0  0    4  1  0    0  0  x  -   5  8  0


Expos                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Reds                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Sutherland 2b         4   0   1   0     0   0   .250      Tolan cf              5   1   1   1     0   0   .200
Staub rf              4   1   1   0     0   1   .250      Helms 2b              4   0   0   0     1   0   .000
Fairly 1b             4   0   1   1     0   1   .250      Rose rf               2   1   2   0     2   0  1.000
Bailey lf             3   0   0   0     1   1   .000      Perez 3b              3   0   0   0     1   1   .000
Laboy 3b              3   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Bench c               4   1   1   0     0   1   .250
Phillips cf           3   0   0   0     0   1   .000      May 1b                3   1   1   3     0   0   .333
Boccabella c          3   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Carbo lf              3   1   2   1     1   0   .667
Wine ss               2   0   0   0     1   1   .000      Concepcion ss         4   0   0   0     0   2   .000
Sparma p              1   0   0   0     0   1   .000      Merritt p             4   0   1   0     0   1   .250
  Herrera ph          1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
  Morton p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Brand ph            1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
  Waslewski p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               29   1   3   1     2   8             Totals               32   5   8   5     5   5

Time of Game: 2:06   Attendance: 30,124
Left on Base: Expos 3, Reds 9
DP: Expos 0, Reds 0
Errors: Laboy
Doubles: Rose (1), Bench (1)
Triples: Staub (1), Rose (1)
Home Runs: May (1), Carbo (1), Tolan (1)
Caught Stealing: Bailey (1)
Sacrifice Flies: May (1)


Expos                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Sparma L(0-1)           5     7   5   5   3   4   3  26   9.00
Morton                  2     1   0   0   2   1   0   9   0.00
Waslewski               1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   0.00
Totals                  8     8   5   5   5   5   3  38

Reds                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Merritt W(1-0)          9     3   1   1   2   8   0  31   1.00
Totals                  9     3   1   1   2   8   0  31

Umpires: HP - Ken Burkhart, 1B - Ed Sudol, 2B - Lee Weyer, 3B - Andy Olsen


EXPOS 1ST: Sutherland grounded out (shortstop to first); Staub
was called out on strikes; Fairly struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Expos 0, Reds 0.

REDS 1ST: Tolan flied out to center; Helms grounded out
(shortstop to first); Rose doubled; Perez flied out to center; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Expos 0, Reds 0.

EXPOS 2ND: Bailey walked; Bailey was caught stealing second
(catcher to second); Laboy flied out to right; Phillips struck
out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos 0, Reds 0.

REDS 2ND: Bench lined to third; May reached on an error by Laboy
[May to first]; Carbo grounded out (second to first) [May to
second]; Concepcion grounded out (shortstop to first); Debut
game for Dave Concepcion; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Expos 0,
Reds 0.

EXPOS 3RD: Boccabella grounded out (pitcher to first); Wine was
called out on strikes; Sparma struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Expos 0, Reds 0.

REDS 3RD: Merritt singled to center; Tolan forced Merritt
(pitcher to shortstop); Helms grounded out (second to first)
[Tolan to second]; Rose walked; Perez struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Expos 0, Reds 0.

EXPOS 4TH: Sutherland flied out to center; Staub lined to first;
Fairly grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Expos 0, Reds 0.

REDS 4TH: Bench doubled to center; May homered [Bench scored];
Carbo homered; Concepcion struck out; Merritt grounded out
(first unassisted); Tolan homered; Helms grounded out (shortstop
to first); 4 R, 4 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos 0, Reds 4.

EXPOS 5TH: Bailey struck out; Laboy grounded out (third to
first); Phillips flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos
0, Reds 4.

REDS 5TH: Rose tripled to center; Perez walked; Bench struck
out; May hit a sacrifice fly to center [Rose scored]; Carbo
walked [Perez to second]; Concepcion struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Expos 0, Reds 5.

EXPOS 6TH: Boccabella grounded out (second to first); Wine
grounded out (pitcher to first); HERRERA BATTED FOR SPARMA;
Herrera struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos 0, Reds 5.

REDS 6TH: MORTON REPLACED HERRERA (PITCHING); Merritt struck
out; Tolan lined to left; Helms walked; Rose walked [Helms to
second]; Perez grounded out (catcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Expos 0, Reds 5.

EXPOS 7TH: Sutherland popped to first; Staub tripled to center;
Fairly singled to center [Staub scored]; Bailey forced Fairly
(shortstop to second); Laboy popped to first; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Expos 1, Reds 5.

REDS 7TH: Bench flied out to center; May popped to first; Carbo
singled to right; Concepcion forced Carbo (shortstop to second);
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Expos 1, Reds 5.

EXPOS 8TH: Phillips popped to catcher; Boccabella popped to
third; Wine walked; BRAND BATTED FOR MORTON; Brand was called
out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Expos 1, Reds 5.

REDS 8TH: WASLEWSKI REPLACED BRAND (PITCHING); Merritt grounded
out (pitcher to first); Tolan grounded out (second to first);
Helms popped to first; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos 1, Reds 5.

EXPOS 9TH: Sutherland singled to center; Staub grounded out
(first unassisted) [Sutherland to second]; Fairly flied out to
center; Bailey flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Expos
1, Reds 5.