1972 World Series Game 4 @ baseball-reference.com
Cincinnati scored in the 9th inning in 8 of 35 timelines.
In 5 of those 8 games, the 9th-inning runs tied the game or gave Cincinnati the lead. Cincinnati won all 5.
In the other 3 games, the 9th-inning runs fell short. Cincinnati scored 2, 2, and 4 runs in the 9th inning and lost all three times.
The Big Red Machine was a team that arrived late. Sometimes just in time. Sometimes one inning too late.
The line score:
CIN: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 - 4
OAK: 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 - 5
For eight innings, Cincinnati did not score. Not a single run. Oakland scored 2 in the 1st and 3 in the 5th. After eight innings, the score was 0-5. Cincinnati had been shut out for twenty-four consecutive half-innings.
Then the 9th inning happened.
Johnny Bench hit a grand slam. Four runs, four RBIs, one swing. The score went from 0-5 to 4-5, and Cincinnati was right back in it.
For comparison that is the most runs Cincinnati scored in any single inning across 35 timelines. The biggest inning they ever had. And it happened while they were trailing by five runs in the bottom of the 9th.
It still wasn't enough - they needed 5, they got 4. So it didn't matter.
The line score:
CIN: 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 - 6
OAK: 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 5
Oakland scored 4 runs in the 1st inning. They tacked on another in the 3rd. After three innings, the score was 0-5. Cincinnati was being demolished.
Cincinnati scored 3 in the 4th, making it 3-5, and then four more innings of total silence from Cincinnati's ice cold bats.
Top of the 9th. Cincinnati scored 3 runs. CIN 6, OAK 5. Game over.
This game is Timeline 28's twin. Same deficit. Same 0-5 hole. Same team clawing back. But this time, they racked up runs in the 4th before their 9th inning spurt. And that gave them exactly the boost they needed to erase the deficit in the 9th and win the game.
The line score:
CIN: 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 - 4
OAK: 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 - 5
Cincinnati trailed 2-5 going into the 9th. When they scored 2 runs, they were within striking distance of Oakland. The tying run was on base!
But Cincinnati couldn't get the runner across home plate, the inning ended, and Oakland won the game.
The line score:
CIN: 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 - 3
OAK: 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 - 4
Different timeline. Different strategy engine. Same ending.
Oakland scored 4 in the 5th and led 4-1. Cincinnati scored 2 in the 9th, and pulled to within one run of Oakland. The tying run was on base!
But Cincinnati couldn't get the runner across home plate, the inning ended, and Oakland won the game.
This is the game where Gullett pitched 8 innings of 1-earned-run ball and lost. It already appears on the Curse of Don Gullett page. But it belongs here too, because it is also a game about the 9th inning. Gullett held Oakland to 1 earned run for 8 innings. For 8 innings, Cincinnati's offense was asleep. They waited til the 9th, when Gullett was already gone, to finally wake up and score two runs - still one short.
The line score:
CIN: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 1 - 7
OAK: 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 - 6
This game appears on the Cincinnati in the Fifteenth page. It is the greatest comeback in 35 timelines. But it belongs here too, because it is the purest expression of Cincinnati's late-arriving offense.
Twelve consecutive half-innings of scoreless baseball. Then Oakland scored 6 in the bottom of the 7th. The score was 0-6 with 9 outs remaining.
In an incredible burst, Cincinnati powered their comeback with 4 runs in the 8th, then another 2 rulns in the 9th to tie the game and send it into extras. They scored 1 run in the top of the 10th, just enough to put them over the top and win the game.
Cincinnati scored 4 in the 8th. Then 2 in the 9th. Then 1 in the 10th. It took being 3 outs from extinction for the machine to fire up and drive Cincinnati to victory.
The line score:
CIN: 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 - 3
OAK: 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2
Tied 2-2 going into the 9th. Cincinnati scored 1 run. Oakland could not answer.
Gullett pitched a complete game - 9 innings, 10 strikeouts, 2 earned runs. One of only three complete games he threw across 35 timelines. His offense gave him 1 run in the 1st, 1 in the 8th, and the winning run in the 9th. The last run came just in time. Not one inning too late. Exactly on time.
This is the version of the story where Cincinnati arrives at the last possible moment and it works. One more run. One more inning. Just enough.
The line score:
CIN: 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 - 4
OAK: 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 3
Oakland led 3-2 going into the 9th. Cincinnati scored 1. Tied. Three more scoreless innings. Then Cincinnati scored in the 12th. Oakland could not answer.
Cincinnati arrived late twice. Once in the 9th to stay alive. Once in the 12th to win. The Machine did not sprint. It ground its way through twelve innings, always trailing or tied, never leading until they had won the game.
Cincinnati scored in the 9th inning in 8 of 35 games. They scored a total of 16 runs in those 8 ninth innings.
Five of those games, they won. Three of those games, they lost.
The three losses: they scored 2, 2, and 4 in the 9th. Eight total runs in losing 9th innings. Eight runs that arrived too late to change the outcome. Eight runs that proved Cincinnati could hit - just not soon enough.
The five wins: they scored 1, 1, 1, 2, and 3 in the 9th. Eight total runs in winning 9th innings. The same number. The same eight runs. But these eight arrived on time.
Oakland scored in the 9th inning in 5 games. All 5 were one-run walk-offs. Oakland did not need to tie it up to send it into extra innings, Oakland did not need to mount big ninth-inning comebacks. Cincinnati kept serving up one-run games on a platter, kept tying it up in the top of the ninth, only to hand a gift-wrapped walk-off to Oakland.
Cincinnati's Big Red Machine was not built for surgical strikes, it needed eruptions. Oakland's lineup thrived on one-run games, small ball, and errors from Cincinnati's defense, allowing them to consistently bring the winning run across home plate in the ninth.