Doran’s Sacrifice Fly in 16th Gives Reds Five-Hour Victory Over Padres

Those who stayed around for five hours Friday night and into early Saturday morning at San Diego saw Bill Doran’s sacrifice fly in the 16th inning give the Cincinnati Reds a 7-6 victory over the Padres in a game that ended at 12:37 a.m.

The Reds’ Tim Belcher had a no-hitter until Tony Gwynn opened the seventh inning with a bloop single. Then, the former Dodger figured to be the loser when the Padres knocked him out during a four-run eighth and went into the ninth with a 5-1 lead. But the Reds took Belcher off the hook, scoring four runs in the ninth.

After both scored in the 11th, there were no more runs until Doran’s fly ball drove in Bip Roberts. Steve Foster, who had a bunt single during the winning flurry, pitched four scoreless innings for the victory.

There were 26 hits yielded by 13 pitchers, seven of them Reds.