Reds vs. Red Sox Game 1

The 1975 World Series is the next set of games I'll be playing with Book 3 of Diamond Legacies. Same as the historical series between Cincinnati and Boston that year, Game 1 took place at Fenway Park with Don Gullett pitching for the visitors and Luis Tiant taking the hill for the home team.

Carl Yastrzemski started the scoring early with a two-run blast into the right field bleachers in the first. Cincinnati got on the board in the third, when a Tiant error and two walks loaded the bases with one out. Johnny Bench hit a grounder to short and beat the throw to first to avoid a double play and allow Cesar Geronimo to score. Following a Joe Morgan single in the fifth, Bench doubled to drive in another run and tie the game. Morgan gave Cincinnati the lead in the seventh with an RBI single. 

With Gullett cruising, things were looking bleak for the fans at Fenway. In the bottom of the eighth, Yastrzemski batted with one out and Denny Doyle on first. With a dramatic swing, Yaz took Gullett deep again for another two-run homer into the right field seats. Tossing two scoreless innings in relief, Jim Burton was the winning pitcher for the Red Sox.

While Boston celebrates the late inning comeback, the Big Red Machine will be looking to even the series in Game 2 at Fenway.

Game 1: Red Sox 4, Reds 3

Yankees vs. Mets

The New York Mets squared off against the New York Yankees in a battle of third place teams. The pitching matchup featured NL Cy Young winner Tom Seaver against AL Cy Young runner up Catfish Hunter. The game took place at Shea Stadium, the home ballpark for both teams in 1975 while Yankee Stadium was being renovated.

Not surprisingly, this contest started out as a pitchers' duel. Rusty Staub homered in the fourth to put the Mets up 1-0. Elliott Maddox and Ed Herrmann led off the Yankee fifth with singles and Fred Stanley laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. With the Mets infield drawn in, Sandy Alomar grounded to third. Wayne Garrett fired to the plate, but Maddox slid under the tag with the tying run. The game remained deadlocked 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh. Maddox laced another single and advanced to third following a single by Alomar. With runners at the corners and two outs, Bobby Bonds connected for a deep fly that barely cleared the left field wall at Shea. 

Hunter cruised the rest of the way to close out the 4-1 win. Aside from the one mistake to Bonds, Seaver was terrific like usual--racking up 11 strikeouts and surrendering only 7 hits. Hunter was just a little better on this day, tossing a four-hit complete game with 8 strikeouts.

Yankees 4, Mets 1