Atlantic City Press - May 12, 1980

Rufus Leads Phillie Win

Phil. 7, Cinn. 3

CINCINNATI (AP) – Pitcher Dick Ruthven drove in a pair of run with a second-inning single as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Cincinnati Reds 7-3 Sunday. 

The Phillies scored twice in the second on a single by Ruthven, 3-2, and scored three more in the third to chase Mike LaCoss, 3-3. 

The Phillies added a run in the seventh when Pete Rose walked and stole second, third and home, and another in the eighth on consecutive doubles by Larry Bowa and Manny Trillo. 

Cincinnati scored a run in the sixth on an RBI double by Dan Driessen. Harry Spilman homered in the seventh for the Reds, his first major league homer, and the Reds added a run in the ninth on Cesar Geronimo’s RBI single, his fourth hit of the game. 

Ruthven pitched seven innings, giving up 10 hits. 

The Philadelphia victory ended the Reds’ four-game winning streak. 

It also prevented a Cincinnati sweep of the three-game weekend series, which Philadelphia Manager Dallas Green said would have been a disaster. 

“It’s hard to pin down one win as being the most important, especially this early in the season, but this one ranks up there among them,” Green said. 

Both Philadelphia runs in the second inning were unearned because of an error by Reds second baseman Junior Kennedy. The third-inning runs scored on a pair of fielder's choices and on an RBI single by Trillo.