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Nightmares. Suddenly Bench, with hefty support from slugging First Baseman Tony Perez, Outfielders Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan and newly acquired Second Baseman Joe Morgan, put the Big Red Machine into overdrive. On the second night of an extended road trip, in Houston's discombobulating Astrodome, Johnny cracked a deep fly to left center. The ball caromed off the wall between two sprinting outfielders, and by the time the relay throws reached the infield, Bench, no whippet on the base paths, had crossed home plate standing up with the first inside-the-park home run of his major-league career. That heralded his return to fearsome normalcy at bat. Before the night ended Bench had rapped a bases-loaded single and cleared the wall in the ninth inning, a blow that gave the Reds a 9-5 victory. The next night Bench capped the Reds' second six-run outburst of the game with his ninth home run of the year. After the game Bench relaxed and said: "Man, I haven't felt so good in two years." Manager Sparky Anderson agreed: "Johnny's looking more like his old self and that sure makes me happy."
Within days Anderson was positively ecstatic. In the next game Bench cracked a single to touch off a four-run rally in the sixth inning as the Reds won their fourth straight from the flagging Astros, 10-3. In the series with Philadelphia, Bench left Phillie hurlers with nightmares that could last the entire season. With the Phils leading 1-0 at the end of six innings, big John stepped to the plate and slammed a long drive over the fence, tying the score and eventually forcing the game into extra innings. Eight extra, to be exact, until Bench came up again in the top of the 17th with two men on base, and blasted his second home run of the night to give the Reds their sixth straight win, 6-3. That also gave Johnny a total of seven homers in five games, tying a league record set in 1929 by Jim Bottomley of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Bench's streak did not stop there. Indeed, it became rather spooky. He beat the Phillies again with a double that drove in the only two runs of the game. He conspired with Battery Mate Gary Nolan to whip the Montreal Expos; Nolan won his eighth game in nine decisions as Bench went four-for-six at the plate, driving in three runs. By the time the Reds returned from that astonishing road trip, Bench had collected 21 hits in 51 times at bat to raise his batting average to .306, and had belted nine homers and driven in 24 RBls. More important to Johnny and his teammates, the Reds were where they felt they belonged—in first place. This time they came home to a cheering crowd of 2,000 at Cincinnati's airport. Several days later Bench received a standing ovation at Riverfront Stadium as he socked his 16th home run of the season. He tipped his cap rounding the bases, a gesture he had declined to make since the beginning of the season. Last week he blasted another four-bagger off San Francisco Pitcher Jim Barr to bring his totals to 20 home runs and 59 RBls. No other hitter in either league is even close.