The1976 National League Championship Series was a postseason series inMajor League Baseball’s1976 postseason between the two division champions of theNational League in theCincinnati Reds and thePhiladelphia Phillies. This was the eighthNLCS held in baseball history. For the fourth time in seven seasons, the Reds won the best-of-five series to reach the World Series. They did so in a three-game sweep, winning easily in the first two games before ending the series in their lastat bat in Game 3.

Stars of the series for the Reds includedbattersJohnny Bench (4 for 12,HR),Dave Concepción (4runs scored),George Foster (2 H, both home runs),Ken Griffey (5 for 13,triple),Pete Rose (6 for 14, 2RBIs, 3 runs scored), andpitchersDon Gullett (win, 8IP, 2 hits),Pedro Borbón (4+1⁄3 IP, 0.00ERA), andPat Zachry (win, 5 IP, 3SO).

Cincinnati won the series, 3–0.

Reds starterDon Gullett held the Phils to two hits in eight strong innings, but allowed them to score first whenDave Cash hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a groundout and scored onMike Schmidt's sacrifice fly. Gullett then walked three to load the bases, but gotTim McCarver to fly out to end the inning. The Reds tied the game in the third onTony Perez's sacrifice fly offSteve Carlton, then took the lead in the sixth onGeorge Foster's home run. After a double and error put two on, Gullett's RBI single made it 3–1 Reds. After allowing a leadoff double and walk in the eighth, Carlton was replaced byTug McGraw, who allowed a one-out two-run double to Gullett and RBI double toPete Rose. The Phillies attempted to rally in the ninth offRawly Eastwick.Garry Maddox hit a leadoff single and scored onGreg Luzinski's double. AfterDick Allen singled,Jay Johnstone's RBI single made it 6–3 Reds, but Eastwick retired the next two batters to end the game and give the Reds a 1–0 series lead.

Buoyed by an RBI single byBob Boone in the second after two leadoff singles and a homer byGreg Luzinski in the fifth offPat Zachry, Phils starterJim Lonborg no-hit the Reds until the sixth. After giving up a leadoff walk, one-out RBI single toPete Rose, followed by another single byKen Griffey, Lonborg was removed from the game by managerDanny Ozark.Gene Garber came in relief and after an intentional walk loaded the bases, two runs came across on an error by first basemanDick Allen on a ball hit byTony Pérez, thenGeorge Foster's RBI groundout made it 4–2 Reds. They added to their lead next inning on Griffey's RBI single offTug McGraw and Perez's sacrifice fly offRon Reed.Pedro Borbon pitched the last four innings to close to give the Reds a 2–0 series lead heading home.

Once again, the Phillies got a strong starting pitching performance that went for naught.Jim Kaat held the Reds to one hit after six innings. Meanwhile, his teammates provided him a 3–0 lead via a consecutive doubles in the fourth byMike Schmidt andGreg Luzinski offGary Nolan and RBI doubles byGarry Maddox and Schmidt in the seventh after a leadoff walk offManny Sarmiento.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Kaat began to lose it.Ken Griffey led off with a single,Joe Morgan walked.Ron Reed then replaced Kaat to faceTony Pérez, who promptly singled home Griffey.George Foster followed with a sacrifice fly. After a walk toJohnny Bench, Reed retiredDave Concepción, but then surrendered a two-run triple toCésar Gerónimo to put the Reds ahead 4–3.

In the eighth, the Phillies rallied against Reds closerRawly Eastwick.Jay Johnstone led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch asBob Boone walked.Larry Bowa doubled in Johnstone andDave Cash hit a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies the lead at 5–4. The Phillies added another run in the top of the ninth on an RBI triple by Johnstone to make it 6–4.

With Reed still on the mound in the ninth, Foster and Bench hit back-to-back homers to tie the game.Gene Garber relieved and promptly gave up a single to Concepción.Tom Underwood came on to surrender a walk to Geronimo. Pinch-hitterEd Armbrister sacrificed the runners to second and third. Underwood then intentionally walkedPete Rose to load the bases. With the infield drawn in, Griffey hit a high bouncer towardBobby Tolan playing first. Tolan charged, but the ball got past him and Concepción scored to send the Reds to their second straight World Series; they would sweep the Yankees in four games, becoming the only team in the divisional era (to date) to go undefeated in the postseason.

1976 NLCS(3–0):Cincinnati Reds overPhiladelphia Phillies

• 1976 NLCS at Baseball-Reference.com

• National League Championship Series
• 1976 Major League Baseball season
• Cincinnati Reds postseason
• Philadelphia Phillies postseason
• 1976 in sports in Ohio
• 1976 in sports in Pennsylvania
• 1970s in Cincinnati
• 1970s in Philadelphia
• October 1976 sports events in the United States
• Baseball competitions in Cincinnati
• Baseball competitions in Philadelphia

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from November 2013
• Short description is different from Wikidata