The Reds, 11 games behind the Dodgers at the beginning of the day, stage two dramatic comebacks to snatch a doubleheader win from Los Angeles. Hal King’s clutch 3-run pinch home run with two outs wins the first game, 4 – 3, against Don Sutton, while Tony Perez’s 10th-inning hit wins the second, 3 – 2. This day will be looked upon as the turning point of the National League’s Western Division race.

hal king 1973

On July 1, 1973, Don Sutton was one strike from putting the Reds 12 games out of first place when third-string catcher Hal King hit a stunning homer for a 4-3 win over the Dodgers in the first game of a doubleheader at Riverfront. King stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter with two on and two out and the Dodgers leading 3-1. His three-run homer came on a two-strike fastball and sailed over the right field wall. King began the year in Indianapolis and made his Reds debut only two weeks earlier. The Reds also won the second game 3-2 in ten innings with Tony Perez driving in the winning run with a double. The heroics by King and Perez turned the season around. The Reds record from July 1 through the end of the regular season was 60-26.

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