Johnny Bench belted three homers, giving him four in as many official trips to the plate, but the Reds also needed a two-run wallop by Dave Concepcion in the ninth inning to defeat the Phillies, 9-7. Bench, who homered in his last time at bat in the previous night's game, resumed his slugging with a two-run drive in the first inning.

After walking in the third, All-the Star catcher smashed a three-run homer in the fifth and two-run shot in the seventh for a total of seven RBIs. All three blows came off Steve Carlton, who also was the victim of a similar explosion by Bench while the southpaw was with the Cardinals June 26, 1970. However, Barry Lersch, the Phillies' third pitcher, was the loser when Pete Rose singled and Concepcion homered in the ninth. [The Sporting News]

Cincinnati Reds 9, Philadelphia Phillies 7

Game Played on Wednesday, May 9, 1973 (Night game) at Veterans Stadium

Reds         2  0  0    0  3  0    2  0  2  -   9 11  2
Phillies     0  0  4    0  1  1    0  1  0  -   7 12  1


Reds                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Phillies             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Rose lf               5   4   4   0     0   0   .321      Tovar 3b              4   1   1   0     1   0   .279
Concepcion ss         5   2   2   2     0   1   .340      Bowa ss               5   0   1   1     0   0   .235
Bench c               4   3   3   7     1   0   .252      Montanez 1b           3   2   1   2     2   0   .233
Perez 1b              5   0   1   0     0   1   .275      Luzinski lf           4   1   1   0     1   1   .220
Tolan cf              4   0   0   0     0   2   .252      B. Robinson cf        5   1   3   2     0   2   .294
Gagliano 3b,2b        3   0   0   0     1   1   .207      Anderson rf           5   0   2   1     0   2   .292
  Morgan 2b           0   0   0   0     0   0   .322      Ryan c                2   0   0   0     1   1   .250
Geronimo rf           4   0   1   0     0   1   .207        Rogodzinski ph      1   0   1   0     0   0   .273
Chaney 2b             3   0   0   0     0   2   .111        Boone c             1   0   0   0     0   0   .211
  Borbon p            1   0   0   0     0   1   .250      Harmon 2b             1   0   0   0     0   0   .233
  Hall p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Doyle ph,2b         3   1   1   0     0   0   .232
Gullett p             1   0   0   0     0   1   .133        Schmidt ph          1   0   0   0     0   1   .217
  Sprague p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Carlton p             2   0   0   0     0   0   .115
  Locklear ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .167        Wilson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Carroll p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Unser ph            1   1   1   1     0   0   .277
  Plummer 3b          1   0   0   0     0   0   .111        Lersch p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Menke 3b            1   0   0   0     0   1   .226

Totals               38   9  11   9     2  11             Totals               38   7  12   7     5   7

Time of Game: 2:41   Attendance: 11,992
Left on Base: Reds 4, Phillies 10
DP: Reds 0, Phillies 0
Errors: Concepcion, Borbon, Bowa
Doubles: Anderson 2 (5)
Home Runs: Bench 3 (9), Concepcion (5), Montanez (2), B. Robinson (2), Unser (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Carlton (2)


Reds                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Gullett                 2.2   5   4   4   2   1   2  15   3.20
Sprague                 1.1   0   0   0   1   0   0   5   0.00
Carroll                 1.1   4   2   2   1   3   0   9  10.80
Borbon                  2     3   1   1   0   1   1   9   0.71
Hall W(3-1)             1.2   0   0   0   1   2   0   6   4.85
Totals                  9    12   7   7   5   7   3  44

Phillies               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Carlton                 6.2   9   7   7   2   6   3  31   3.77
Wilson                  1.1   0   0   0   0   3   0   4   1.65
Lersch L(1-1)           1     2   2   2   0   2   1   5   3.57
Totals                  9    11   9   9   2  11   4  40

Umpires: HP - John Kibler, 1B - Frank Pulli, 2B - Ken Burkhart, 3B - Lee Weyer


REDS 1ST: Rose singled to center; Concepcion grounded out (third
to first) [Rose to second]; Bench homered [Rose scored]; Perez
grounded out (third to first); Tolan struck out; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Reds 2, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 1ST: Tovar flied out to right; Bowa popped to first in
foul territory; Montanez flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Reds 2, Phillies 0.

REDS 2ND: Gagliano grounded out (shortstop to first); Geronimo
singled to center; Chaney struck out; Gullett was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 2, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 2ND: Luzinski walked; B. Robinson singled to third
[Luzinski to second]; Anderson struck out; Ryan flied out to
right; Harmon flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Reds 2,
Phillies 0.

REDS 3RD: Rose grounded out (pitcher to first); Concepcion
struck out [Concepcion out at first (catcher to first)]; Bench
walked; Perez forced Bench (shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Reds 2, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 3RD: Carlton flied out to center; Tovar walked; Bowa
lined to third; Montanez homered [Tovar scored]; Luzinski
singled to left; B. Robinson homered [Luzinski scored]; Anderson
doubled; SPRAGUE REPLACED GULLETT (PITCHING); Ryan walked; DOYLE
BATTED FOR HARMON; Doyle grounded out (second to first); 4 R, 4
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Reds 2, Phillies 4.

REDS 4TH: DOYLE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Tolan popped to
second; Gagliano popped to second; Geronimo struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 2, Phillies 4.

PHILLIES 4TH: Carlton flied out to center; Tovar grounded out
(shortstop to first); Bowa grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 2, Phillies 4.

REDS 5TH: Chaney struck out; LOCKLEAR BATTED FOR SPRAGUE;
Locklear grounded out (second to first); Rose singled to right;
Concepcion singled to left [Rose to second]; Bench homered [Rose
scored, Concepcion scored]; Perez popped to first in foul
territory; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 5, Phillies 4.

PHILLIES 5TH: CARROLL REPLACED LOCKLEAR (PITCHING); Montanez
walked; Luzinski struck out; B. Robinson struck out; Anderson
doubled to center [Montanez scored]; Ryan struck out; 1 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 5, Phillies 5.

REDS 6TH: Tolan grounded out (pitcher to first); Gagliano
walked; Geronimo forced Gagliano (second to shortstop) [Geronimo
to second (error by Bowa)]; Chaney grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 5, Phillies 5.

PHILLIES 6TH: Doyle singled to shortstop; Carlton out on a
sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Doyle to second]; Tovar
singled to left [Doyle to third]; Bowa singled to right [Doyle
scored, Tovar to second]; PLUMMER REPLACED CARROLL (PLAYING 3B);
BORBON REPLACED CHANEY (PITCHING); GAGLIANO CHANGED POSITIONS
(PLAYING 2B); Montanez popped to shortstop; Luzinski popped to
second; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Reds 5, Phillies 6.

REDS 7TH: Plummer popped to catcher in foul territory; Rose
singled to right; Concepcion flied out to right; Bench homered
[Rose scored]; Perez singled to center; WILSON REPLACED CARLTON
(PITCHING); Tolan struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 7,
Phillies 6.

PHILLIES 7TH: B. Robinson singled to center; Anderson struck
out; ROGODZINSKI BATTED FOR RYAN; Rogodzinski singled to right
[B. Robinson out at third (right to third), Rogodzinski to
second (on throw)]; Doyle popped to shortstop; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Reds 7, Phillies 6.

REDS 8TH: BOONE REPLACED ROGODZINSKI (PLAYING C ); Gagliano
struck out; Geronimo grounded out (shortstop to first); Borbon
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 7, Phillies 6.

PHILLIES 8TH: MORGAN REPLACED GAGLIANO (PLAYING 2B); MENKE
REPLACED PLUMMER (PLAYING 3B); UNSER BATTED FOR WILSON; Unser
homered; Tovar reached on an error by Concepcion; Tovar was
picked off first but was safe on an error by Borbon [Tovar to
second]; Bowa grounded out (second to first) [Tovar to third];
HALL REPLACED BORBON (PITCHING); Montanez walked; Luzinski
reached on a fielder's choice [Tovar out at home (third to
catcher), Montanez to second]; B. Robinson struck out; 1 R, 1 H,
2 E, 2 LOB.  Reds 7, Phillies 7.

REDS 9TH: LERSCH REPLACED UNSER (PITCHING); Menke was called out
on strikes; Rose singled to right; Concepcion homered [Rose
scored]; Bench grounded out (second to first); Perez struck out;
2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 9, Phillies 7.

PHILLIES 9TH: Anderson grounded out (shortstop to first); Boone
flied out to left; SCHMIDT BATTED FOR DOYLE; Schmidt struck out;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 9, Phillies 7.

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