The 1974 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five series in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

’s 1974 postseason that matched the East Division champion

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

against the West Division champion

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. It was the sixth

NLCS The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a Playoff format#Best-of-seven playoff, best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Major League Baseball po ...

in all. The Dodgers won the Series three games to one and lost the

1974 World Series The 1974 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1974 season. The 71st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion (and two-time defending World ...

to the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

Summary

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Game summaries

Game 1

The Dodgers had been winless in six games played at Pittsburgh during the regular season but they remedied that situation in postseason play. In the opening game,

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sutton won a total of 324 games, pitched 58 s ...

of the Dodgers was opposed by Jerry Reuss. The Pirate lefty yielded just one run in seven innings (on a bases-loaded walk to Davey Lopes in the second), but left the game in favor of an ineffectual pinch-hitter.

Dave Giusti David John Giusti, Jr. (born November 27, 1939) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1962 to 1977, most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won ...

came on in the eighth inning and gave up two insurance runs in the ninth on

Jim Wynn James Sherman Wynn (March 12, 1942March 26, 2020), nicknamed "the Toy Cannon", was an American professional baseball player. He played 15 seasons as a center fielder; he spent ten of his fifteen seasons with the Houston Colt .45s / Astros befor ...

's RBI double with one on, followed by

Joe Ferguson Joseph Carlton Ferguson Jr. (born April 23, 1950) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football fo ...

's RBI single. Meanwhile, Sutton set the Pittsburgh club down on four hits and no runs.

Game 2

The Dodgers struck first in Game 2 on

Steve Garvey Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948) is an American former professional Major League Baseball player who played first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. Garvey began his major league career wit ...

's RBI single in the first with two on off

Jim Rooker James Phillip Rooker (born September 23, 1942) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and broadcaster. A left-hander, Rooker pitched for the Detroit Tigers (1968), Kansas City Royals (1969–1973) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1974–198 ...

Ron Cey Ronald Charles Cey (; born February 15, 1948), nicknamed "the Penguin," is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from through , most notably as an integral member of the Los Angel ...

's leadoff home run in the fourth extended their lead to 2–0. The Pittsburgh string of scoreless innings was extended to 15 before the Pirates finally got on the board in the seventh inning off

Andy Messersmith John Alexander "Andy" Messersmith (born August 6, 1945) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 12-year baseball career, he pitched for the California Angels (1968–72), Los Angeles Dodgers (1973–75 and 1979) ...

. After two leadoff singles and sacrifice bunt, one run came in on a Richie Hebner groundout and the other on an

Al Oliver Albert Oliver Jr. (born October 14, 1946) is an Americans, American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and first baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams ...

high bouncer that escaped third baseman Cey's glove and was scored a single. With the game tied going into the eighth inning, it was a battle between ace relievers Mike Marshall, of Los Angeles, and

. Giusti could not retire even one batter. After a leadoff double and subsequent single, back-to-back RBI singles by

Willie Crawford Willie Murphy Crawford (September 7, 1946 – August 27, 2004) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1964–1975), St. Louis Cardinals (1976), Houston Astros (1977) and Oak ...

and

Manny Mota Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo, more commonly known as Manny Mota (born February 18, 1938), is a Dominican Republic, Dominican former Major League Baseball outfielder who played 20 seasons for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Montr ...

aided by an error by catcher

Manny Sanguillén Manuel De Jesus Sanguillén Magan (born March 21, 1944) is a Panamanians, Panamanian former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher in 1967 and from 1969 through 1980, most notably as a member of the Pittsbu ...

put the Dodgers back in front 4–2. Davey Lopes's RBI single off Larry Demery extended their lead to 5–2 while Marshall retired six straight batters in the last two innings to give the Dodgers a 2–0 series lead heading to Los Angeles.

Game 3

A record crowd for Dodger Stadium (55,953) showed up for Game 3 with the home team one win away from the World Series, but the Pirates hammered starter Doug Rau in the top of the first. After a leadoff single and one-out walk,

Willie Stargell Wilver Dornell Stargell (March 6, 1940 – April 9, 2001), nicknamed "Pops" later in his career, was an American professional baseball left fielder and first baseman who spent all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1962– 1982 ...

's three-run home run put the Pirates up 3–0. One out later, an error, the first of five the Dodgers committed in the game, allowed

Bob Robertson Robert Eugene Robertson (born October 2, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman between and , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won five Nation ...

to reach base before Richie Hebner's two-run home run extended the lead to 5–0. In the fourth, back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Hebner and

Mario Mendoza Mario Mendoza Aizpuru (born 26 December 1950) is a Mexican former professional baseball infielder who is currently the manager of Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican League. Mendoza, a lifetime .215 hitter, is best known for being the source ...

with two on off

Charlie Hough Charles Oliver Hough (; born January 5, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) knuckleball pitcher and coach who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Florida Marlins from 1970 to 1994. Pl ...

made it 7–0 Pirates. Bruce Kison gave up only two hits in the innings he worked and his reliever

Ramón Hernández Ramón José Hernández Marin (; born May 20, 1976) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher and current major league staff assistant for the Athletics (baseball), Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB with the ...

, slammed the door on the Dodgers the rest of the way as the Pirates staved off elimination.

Game 4

and Jerry Reuss, as in the opener, were the opposing pitchers in the fourth game. Sutton was just as good as he ever was, permitting but one run (on

's home run in the seventh) and three hits and striking out seven in eight innings of work before allowing the ubiquitous Mike Marshall to close. Reuss and three relievers, on the other hand, were hammered. Davey Lopes walked to lead off the first, stole second and scored on

's double. In the third,

's home run after a walk made it 3–0. In the fifth, Garvey's second home run of the game, also after a walk off

Ken Brett Kenneth Alven Brett (September 18, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yank ...

, extended the lead to 5–0. Next inning,

Steve Yeager Stephen Wayne Yeager (born November 24, 1948) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Yeager spent 14 of the 15 seasons of his Major League Baseball career, from 1972 through 1985, with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His last year, 1986, ...

drew a leadoff walk off Larry Demery, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a triple by Davey Lopes, who himself scored on second baseman

Rennie Stennett Reinaldo Antonio Stennett Porte (April 5, 1949 – May 18, 2021) was a Panamanian professional baseball second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1971–79) and San Francisco Giants (1980–81). He bat ...

's errant throw to third. Next inning, after a leadoff single and walk,

relieved Demery and allowed RBI singles to

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

and

to extend the Dodgers' lead to 9–1. In the eighth, Giusti allowed a one-out single and walk before

's RBI single made it 10–1 Dodgers. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Russell's two-run single capped the game's scoring at 12–1 as the Dodgers advanced to the

with the largest margin of victory in a championship series game at that time. It would eventually be broken in Game 3 of the

2020 NLCS The 2020 National League Championship Series was the best-of-seven series in Major League Baseball’s 2020 postseason between the two National League Division Series winners, the second-seeded Atlanta Braves and the overall #1 seed Los Angeles ...

, where the Dodgers won by a twelve run margin of victory.

Composite box

1974 NLCS (3–1):

over

References

External links

Baseball-Reference.com
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National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Natio ...

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1970s in Pittsburgh

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