Oct 14, 1972                  1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H  E
1972 Oakland 0-1              0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 2      2  5  2
1972 Cincinnati 1-0           1 0 2   1 0 0   0 0 -      4  9  0

GWRBI-Bench
Game MVP:Gary Nolan
Riverfront Stadium     Time 2:45, 61ø, Wind: 9 MPH Right to Left     Day Game

Game 1 The Reds got to A’s starter Ken Holtzman early with 4 runs in first 4 innings, while Reds Gary Nolan shut out the A’s through 8. In the ninth, the A’s made it interesting. Against Pedro Borbon, the first three Oakland batters reached base before Clay Carroll came in to abort the comeback at 2 runs. Reds win 4-2.

Oct 15, 1972                  1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H  E
1972 Oakland 1-1              4 0 0   0 1 0   0 0 1      6  7  0
1972 Cincinnati 1-1           0 0 0   1 1 0   0 0 3      5  8  0

GWRBI-Bando
Game MVP:Catfish Hunter
Riverfront Stadium     Time 2:53, 58ø, Wind: 8 MPH In from RCF     Day Game

Game 2 It was the A’s turn to jump out to an early lead, as 5 of the first 6 A’s reached base against Reds starter Ross Grimsley. The capper was a Sal Bando grand slam to give the A’s a 4-0 lead. Teams traded a couple runs in the middle innings, but the A’s lead 6-2 as the Reds came to bat in the bottom of the 9th against ace reliever Rollie Fingers. Rose tripled followed by a Morgan homer, and all of a sudden we had a game. The Reds would ultimately load the bases with two outs, as batter Hal McRae came up to face Fingers with the game on the line. Alas, McRae’s boyhood dream went unfulfilled as he harmlessly flied to center. A’s win 6-5 to tie the series at 1-1.

Oct 18, 1972                  1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H  E
1972 Cincinnati 2-1           0 0 0   0 1 1   2 2 3      9 11  1
1972 Oakland 1-2              0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 1      1  7  1

GWRBI-Bench
Game MVP:Jack Billingham
Oakland Coliseum I     Time 3:22, 72ø, Wind: 13 MPH Out to RCF     Night Game

Game 3 Jack Billingham of the Reds and Blue Moon Odom of the A’s each held their opponents scoreless through 4, but the Reds would score in each of the next 5 innings to blow the game open. Jack Bilingham went 7 scoreless before Boorbon again came in to give up baserunners, but the Reds had built an insurmountable lead. Reds win 9-1, and now led series 2-1.

Oct 19, 1972                  1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H  E
1972 Cincinnati 3-1           0 1 0   4 0 0   0 0 1      6  8  0
1972 Oakland 1-3              2 1 0   0 0 0   0 0 2      5  9  0

GWRBI-McRae
Game MVP:Tom Hall
Oakland Coliseum I     Time 2:55, 78ø, Wind: 2 MPH In from RCF     Night Game

Game 4 Holtzman was back for the A’s, this time opposed by Reds’ Don Gullett. Sal Bando struck again with another first inning home run to give the A’s the lead. With the score A’s 3-2 headed into the 4th, Johnny Bench and Hal McRae each homered to give the Reds a 5-3 lead. Reds reliever Tom Hall took over for an ineffective Don Gullett in the 5th, and pitched 4 scoreless innings (adding to the 3 who threw in Game 2). The A’s once again made the game close against Reds relievers but Clay Carroll held off the furious charge.

Oct 20, 1972                  1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9      R  H  E
1972 Cincinnati 4-1           1 0 0   1 0 1   0 0 0      3 11  1
1972 Oakland 1-4              0 0 0   0 1 0   0 0 0      1  3  0

GWRBI-Morgan, J
Game MVP:Tom Hall
Oakland Coliseum I     Time 2:46, 76ø     Day Game

Game 5 Catfish Hunter took the mound for the A’s to try to force Game 6, opposed by Reds; Jim McGlothlin. Reds got to Hunter for single runs in each of 1st, 4th, and 6th innings, while the A’s got one back ib the 5th. Starter McGlothlin gave way to reliever Tom Hall in the 6th, and Hall held the Athletics scoreless the rest of the way to cement the Series win.