Gopher balls continued to plague Tom Seaver, who struck out 13 batters in seven innings, but was tagged for two homers as the Reds defeated the Mets, 6-1. Johnny Bench connected for the circuit in the sixth inning to snap a 1-1 tie and Pete Rose padded the Reds' lead with a two-run smash in the seventh.

Seaver had yielded only nine runs in 47 innings over six starts and all but one run had come as the result of homers. After Seaver departed, Ray Sadecki got into the act and was the victim of a two-run round-tripper by Dave Concepcion in the ninth. [The Sporting News]



Cincinnati Reds 6, New York Mets 1
Game Played on Wednesday, May       2, 1973 (Night game) at Shea Stadium
Reds         0  0  0    1  0  1    2  0  2  -   6  7  1
Mets         0  0  0    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   1  9  2


Reds                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Rose lf               5   1   1   2     0   2   .317      Martinez lf           4   0   1   1     1   0   .314
Morgan 2b             3   0   0   0     0   2   .316      Millan 2b             5   0   2   0     0   0   .173
Tolan cf              4   0   0   0     0   1   .256      Mays cf               3   0   0   0     1   1   .108
Bench c               3   1   1   1     1   1   .178      Staub rf              4   0   1   0     0   0   .164
Perez 1b              3   1   0   0     1   1   .291      Beauchamp 1b          3   0   1   0     1   1   .333
Hague rf              3   0   0   0     0   2   .200      Fregosi 3b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .200
  Geronimo rf         1   1   1   0     0   0   .225      Grote c               4   0   1   0     0   0   .267
Concepcion ss         4   1   2   3     0   2   .365      Harrelson ss          3   1   3   0     1   0   .215
Menke 3b              3   0   0   0     1   2   .213      Seaver p              1   0   0   0     0   0   .083
Grimsley p            3   1   1   0     0   1   .056        Theodore ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .261
  Borbon p            1   0   1   0     0   0   .500        Sadecki p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Boswell ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .222

Totals               33   6   7   6     3  14             Totals               33   1   9   1     4   3

Time of Game: 2:14   Attendance: 19,163
Left on Base: Reds 4, Mets 10
DP: Reds 3, Mets 2
Errors: Morgan, Beauchamp, Seaver
Doubles: Concepcion (3), Millan (4)
Home Runs: Bench (4), Rose (1), Concepcion (3)
Stolen Bases: Geronimo (4)
Sacrifice Hits: Seaver (2)
GIDP: Tolan (1), Rose (2), Millan (2), Seaver (1), Fregosi (1)
Hit by Pitch: Morgan (1,by Seaver)


Reds                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Grimsley W(4-1)         6     7   1   1   4   1   0  26   2.38
Borbon SV(4)            3     2   0   0   0   2   0  12   0.53
Totals                  9     9   1   1   4   3   0  38

Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Seaver L(2-3)           7     4   4   4   3  13   2  29   1.71
Sadecki                 2     3   2   2   0   1   1   8   3.75
Totals                  9     7   6   6   3  14   3  37

Hit by Pitch: Seaver (1)

Umpires: HP - Chris Pelekoudas, 1B - Nick Colosi, 2B - John McSherry, 3B - Ed Sudol


REDS 1ST: Rose grounded out (second to first); Morgan struck
out; Tolan reached on an error by Beauchamp; Tolan was picked
off first but was safe on an error by Seaver [Tolan to second];
Bench walked; Perez grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 2
E, 2 LOB.  Reds 0, Mets 0.

METS 1ST: Martinez walked; Millan grounded into a double play
(third to second to first) [Martinez out at second]; Mays popped
to shortstop in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 0,
Mets 0.

REDS 2ND: Hague grounded out (second to first); Concepcion was
called out on strikes; Menke walked; Grimsley flied to left; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 0, Mets 0.

METS 2ND: Staub popped to catcher in foul territory; Beauchamp
flied to left; Fregosi popped to first; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Reds 0, Mets 0.

REDS 3RD: Rose was called out on strikes; Morgan was hit by a
pitch; Tolan grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to
first) [Morgan out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 0,
Mets 0.

METS 3RD: Grote flied to right; Harrelson walked; Seaver
grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first)
[Harrelson out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 0, Mets 0.

REDS 4TH: Bench struck out; Perez walked; Hague struck out;
Concepcion doubled to center [Perez scored]; Menke was called
out on strikes; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 1, Mets 0.

METS 4TH: Martinez grounded out (shortstop to first); Millan
doubled to left; Mays walked; Staub grounded out (first
unassisted) [Mays to second, Millan to third]; Beauchamp walked;
Fregosi flied to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Reds 1, Mets 0.

REDS 5TH: Grimsley struck out; Rose struck out; Morgan struck
out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 1, Mets 0.

METS 5TH: Grote flied to center; Harrelson singled to shortstop;
Seaver out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Harrelson to
second]; Martinez singled to right [Harrelson scored]; Millan
singled to center [Martinez to third]; Mays struck out; 1 R, 3
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Reds 1, Mets 1.

REDS 6TH: Tolan struck out; Bench homered; Perez was called out
on strikes; Hague struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 2,
Mets 1.

METS 6TH: GERONIMO REPLACED HAGUE (PLAYING RF); Staub flied to
right; Beauchamp singled to center; Fregosi grounded into a
double play (shortstop to second to first) [Beauchamp out at
second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 2, Mets 1.

REDS 7TH: Concepcion struck out; Menke grounded out (pitcher to
first); Grimsley singled to right; Rose homered [Grimsley
scored]; Morgan flied to center; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 4,
Mets 1.

METS 7TH: Grote singled to center; Harrelson singled to left
[Grote to second]; THEODORE BATTED FOR SEAVER; BORBON REPLACED
GRIMSLEY (PITCHING); Theodore struck out; Martinez lined to
right; Millan forced Grote (third unassisted); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Reds 4, Mets 1.

REDS 8TH: SADECKI REPLACED THEODORE (PITCHING); Tolan grounded
out (first unassisted); Bench flied to left; Perez grounded out
(third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 4, Mets 1.

METS 8TH: Mays grounded out (shortstop to first); Staub singled
to left; Beauchamp struck out; Fregosi forced Staub (shortstop
to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 4, Mets 1.

REDS 9TH: Geronimo singled to right; Geronimo stole second;
Concepcion homered [Geronimo scored]; Menke was called out on
strikes; Borbon singled to right; Rose grounded into a double
play (shortstop to second to first) [Borbon out at second]; 2 R,
3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 6, Mets 1.

METS 9TH: Grote grounded out (second to first); Harrelson
singled to left; BOSWELL BATTED FOR SADECKI; Boswell reached on
an error by Morgan [Harrelson to second]; Martinez grounded out
(first unassisted) [Boswell to second, Harrelson to third];
Millan grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.
Reds 6, Mets 1.