[jg2977]

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL — CINCINNATI REDS AT PITTSBURGH PIRATES, OCTOBER 5, 1922
“Baseball, like life itself, often provides a sense of symmetry. Just a year ago, it was the Pirates who stunned Cincinnati in the Division Series, sending the Reds home with the bitter taste of unfinished business. Now, in the autumn of 1922, the Reds arrived at PNC Park with a chance to turn the tables. And in Game 1, they did just that.
The final score: Cincinnati 8, Pittsburgh 5. But the box score alone doesn’t tell you the whole story.
The Reds’ offense attacked early, putting up runs in each of the first three innings. Pittsburgh countered, their bats lively in those same frames, and by the end of the third, the game was tied 5-5. It felt, for all the world, like a continuation of last October’s upset — the Pirates poised to strike again.
But then came Ruben Soto. In the seventh inning, with the score tied, Soto delivered the swing of the game — a thunderous two-run homer to right-center off reliever Mike Hodgson. It was the kind of moment that tilts not just a game, but sometimes an entire series. For the day, Soto drove in four runs, a performance that will be remembered in Cincinnati as one of the signature efforts of this postseason, however long it lasts.
On the mound, A. Miranda was gritty if not brilliant, working seven innings despite three hit batsmen and five earned runs. What mattered more was that he held the line after the third, giving his team the chance to rally. And in the bullpen, T. Plascencia was unflappable, retiring six of the seven batters he faced to lock down the save.
The Pirates, for their part, had their moments — D. Verni’s home run in the third, a pair of hits from J. Gonzales — but after the fireworks of those early innings, their bats fell silent. Six straight scoreless frames to close the night proved too much to overcome.
And so, the Reds stand one win away from exorcising the ghosts of last October. For Pittsburgh, the path is narrower now, the margin for error gone. But as baseball teaches us, one day’s triumph is tomorrow’s challenge — and nothing is guaranteed, especially in October.”