Reds Down Phillies in Series

May 31, 1968
Nolan vs Jackson
Philadelphia 2 Cincinnati 0
Gary Nolan and Larry Jackson both came today to pitch and neither one deserved to lose. The Phillies got the only run they would need in the second inning without the benefit of a hit. Johnny Callison led off the inning with a fly ball to deep center field that Vada Pinson dropped for a 2 base error. One out latter Callison advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on a ground ball to second base giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The only other run scored in the game was a solo homerun by Callison in the seventh which also happened to be Philadelphia's first hit of the game. Their only other hit was a Roberto Pena single in the eighth. Jackson pitched a terrific game of his own as he tossed a 4 hit complete game shutout striking out 5 and not issuing a walk. After giving up a hit in each of the first 3 innings Jackson retired 19 out of the next 20 batters before giving up a single to Chico Ruiz in the 9th. The only batter he failed to get during that stretch was safe on a Pena error.
June 1, 1968
Pappas vs Fryman
Cincinnati 8 Philadelphia 1
Like Gary Nolan the previous day, Reds pitcher Milt Pappas threw a great game to beat the Phillies 8-1. Unlike Larry Jackson the previous day, Phillies starter, Woody Fryman was horrible and took an early shower after 1.2 innings of work in which he gave up 7 hits and 6 runs. Like Philadelphia in the first game of the series, Cincinnati got all the runs they would need in the first inning when they scored 3 times by putting together 3 singles, a walk and a SF. They duplicated that run production again in the second with 4 singles and 2 walks and took a 6-0 after 2 innings The Phillies only run came in the 5th on a Callison homerun. The Reds added 2 meaningless runs in the 9th on a 2 run double by Lee May. In throwing the complete game Pappas gave up 1 run, 6 hits while walking 1 and striking out 9.

June 2, 1968
Maloney vs Wise
Cincinnati 5 Philadelphia 3
Cincinnati catcher, Johnny Bench, led his team to a win in the get-a-way game for both teams. Bench hit his 16th double of the season in the second and came around to score when Pete Rose did the same. Later in the game, Bench banged a 2 run homerun in the 6th that gave the Reds the lead for good 4-3. They added an insurance run in the 8th when Vada Pinson led off with a single, stole second and scored two batters latter on a Fred Whitfield single. Philadelphia had taken a 3-1 lead after 5 when they scored 2 in the 4th on a pair of singles, a pair of walks, a wild pitch and a SF and 1 in the 5th on a Bill White homerun. After seeing such great starting pitching the first 2 games Maloney and Wise seemed disappointments in this game. Fact of the matter is they both pitched well and both went 6 innings with Maloney giving up 8 hits and 3 runs (2 earned) in getting the win while Wise gave up 6 hits 4 runs (1 earned) and suffered the loss.