1985 Game 29 - 1984 Fleer #63 Reds Reunited

Reds 7, Phillies 3
Game 29 - Monday Night, May 13th in Cincinnati
Record - 10-19, 5th Place, 9 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  A Tony Perez grand slam in the sixth off Dave Rucker sealed the Phillies fate in this 7-3 loss to the Reds.

What It Means:  The Phillies were getting dangerously close to falling into the basement of the N.L. East, and only the equally poor play of the Pirates kept the team in fifth place.  This was the Phillies seventh loss in a row.

What Happened:  Heading into the bottom of the sixth, the score was knotted at 3-3.  A fading John Denny walked the first two Reds batters, allowed a single to Dave Van Gorder and was lifted for reliever Dave Rucker.  Rucker allowed the grand slam to pinch-hitter Perez.

Earlier in the game, Mike Schmidt hit his third home run of the season off Reds starter John Stuper.  Darren Daulton started behind the plate for the second game in a row, and his last back-to-back starts until August, doubling and scoring a run.  Juan Samuel also had a double and an RBI groundout.

Reds player/manager Pete Rose had a pair of hits leaving him 71 hits shy of Ty Cobb's all-time record.

Featured Card:  Perez was now 43 and playing in his 22nd season in the majors.  Used primarily as a pinch-hitter, he'd enjoy a solid 1985 season, hitting .328 with six home runs and 33 RBIs.  He hit his sixth career and his final grand slam in this game.  At the time, he was also the oldest player in baseball history to hit a grand slam.  The previous record had been held by Cap Anson, who was 42 when he hit his last grand slam in 1894.  Julio Franco would break Perez's record with a slam in 2005 when he was 46 years old.