Pete Rose’s Three-Homer Game: Cincinnati Reds v. New York Mets 4/29/1978

Photo Credit: Fine Art Storehouse

By Zane Miller

On April 29^th, 1978, Cincinnati Reds third baseman Pete Rose was closing in on joining the exclusive 3,000-hit club, a mark set by just eight other hitters during the World Series era at the time. However, one area where Rose was not close to breaking major records was the home run category, as he had accumulated 143 home runs in his 2,346 career games played coming into the 1978 season.

This was just fine as far as the Reds were concerned, of course, considering the fact that he led MLB in hits six times to that point and had nine seasons with over 200 hits, all of which in a Reds jersey. Hitting for power simply wasn’t a major part of his game, but all of that changed on a Saturday afternoon in Shea Stadium, as the Reds visited the New York Mets in the second game of a three-game weekend series.

As they had done throughout the 1970s, Cincinnati entered the afternoon with a winning record, sitting pretty at 13-7. Meanwhile, the Mets had fallen to 9-12 on the year after losing the first game of the series by a score of 5-1. Today, they sent out starting pitcher Nino Espinosa, who had a solid showing in his first full season in 1977, pitching exactly 200 innings to an ERA of 3.42 with 10 victories. The Reds brought on the recently acquired Doug Capilla to start, coming off of a rough 1977 in which he posted a 4.47 ERA in 108 innings pitched for seven wins. Rose, as usual, was put in the leadoff spot, and the game was on.

Rose’s day at the plate got off to an inauspicious start, as Espinosa struck him out looking to begin the first inning. The Reds went down without any runs scored, but this would not be the case in the Mets’ half of the inning. After walking the first two batters, Capilla allowed both to score on an RBI single from left fielder Steve Henderson and an RBI sacrifice fly from first baseman Willie Montanez. The next two batters also walked to load the bases, prompting manager Sparky Anderson to pull Capilla from the game after getting just one out. The attempt to stop the bleeding was unsuccessful, however, as Mets second baseman Bobby Valentine drilled a two RBI single off of reliever Dale Murray to make it a 4-0 first inning.

Not looking to waste any time in getting a comeback going, Reds first baseman Dan Driessen was able to get the team on the board with a solo home run to lead off the second inning. However, Espinosa quickly regained his composure and got three strikeouts to end the inning. The score would stay at 4-1 when Rose came back up to the plate to lead off the third. He was able to strike immediately with a first-pitch line drive single, but the Reds were unable to take advantage with any runs despite eventually working the bases loaded in the inning. Meanwhile, the Mets were able to increase their lead to 6-1 in the bottom half as it seemed they could do no wrong.

Anyway, things started going wrong for the Mets in the fourth inning, with Cincinnati getting their second leadoff homer of the afternoon as center fielder Cesar Geronimo took Espinosa deep. While New York was able to get the next two outs without damage, they weren’t so lucky on Rose’s return to the dish. After working a 3-1 count, he smacked the next pitch over the right field fence for another Reds solo home run. The home run parade was far from over, though, as right fielder Ken Griffey needed just one pitch to add another solo shot, which coincidentally also went to right field. Despite still hanging onto a 6-4 lead, Espinosa was taken out of the game in favor of rookie relief pitcher and former Miami University standout Mardie Cornejo, who retired the side.

After reliever Pedro Borbon got the Mets out in order to end the fourth, the Reds offense was right back at it despite facing a new pitcher. With two runners on against Cornejo, Geronimo had another big hit with a double to deep left-center field. This was more than enough to to tie the game at six apiece, but the Reds weren’t done yet. After Geronimo stole third, he was driven in shortly after on an RBI single by catcher Don Werner, giving the team their first lead of the game. With Werner still on base, Rose drilled a hanging curveball into the Mets’ bullpen for a three-run lead and his second home run of the contest.

The offensive onslaught was on from there, as the Mets were unable to slow the Reds down as Cincinnati went up 13-7 in the top of the eighth inning. One thing they were able to do, however, was hold Rose to a single in his at-bat to open up the seventh. With one away in the eighth inning, Rose faced reliever and 1976 rookie of the year Butch Metzger. Again, Rose brought the count to 3-1, then swatted the next pitch far back into left-center field. Henderson attempted to chase the ball down, but ran out of room as it cleared the outfield fence for the fifth Cincinnati home run, and Rose’s third, of the day.

The score would hold as the Reds won it 14-7, improving to a 13-7 record in game which had been tough on both bullpens. No pitcher went more than four innings in the game, but Reds pitcher Doug Bair picked up the save after going the final three and a third innings. Rose’s five total hits brought him just four away from 3,000, which he reached less than a week later on May 5^th. About a month and a half after his three-homer performance, he would embark on his famous 44-game hitting streak, helping the Reds to finish the year at an impressive 92-69 record.