» July 5, 1980: Reds pitcher Bruce Berenyi makes his ML debut and the Astros welcome him with a 6-run first inning. Mario Soto relieves and pitches eight 2/3 inning of shutout ball, allowing just three hits. The Reds rally to win, 8–6.
» July 28, 1980: At Montreal, the Expos beat the Reds, 5–4, with Fred Norman getting the win over Mario Soto. Ron LeFlore of the Expos steals his 62nd base in the 7th inning and the Montreal scoreboard notes that the first SB was 115 years earlier. As LeFlore stands off base reading the message, he is tagged out.
» September 9, 1980: Reds fireballer Mario Soto strikes out 15 Braves in a 7–1 Reds win in Atlanta.
» September 17, 1980:
The Reds Mario Soto stops Houston, 7–0, beating Joe Niekro, who gives up a grand slam to Ray Knight. Houston and Los Angeles are tied for 1st (82-62) with 17 games left on the schedule.
» October 4, 1981:
The Reds Mario Soto fires a one-hitter, beating the Braves, 3–0. The only Atlanta hit is a 2nd inning single by Chris Chambliss.
» May 31, 1982: The Phils outbrawl the Reds to win 5–4 in 13 innings. Mario Soto holds the Phils to one hit, while hitting two himself -- Bob Dernier and Mike Schmidt -- on successive pitches in the 6th. In the 7th, Ron Reed plunks Soto, who starts for the mound with his bat. He restrained, but Dave Concepcion steps in landing punches to Reed. All three are tossed and Reds reliever Joe Price allows no hits in the 7th and 8th but is pounded for four runs in the 9th. The Phils plate a run off Bob Shirley in the 13th to win.
» June 27, 1982: The Braves tie the major-league record with seven double plays in a 2–0, 14-inning win over Cincinnati. Mario Soto pitches 10 shutout innings for the Reds but gets no decision. The loss starts the Reds on a streak where they'll lose 20 out of 23 games.
» August 17, 1982: Cincinnati's Mario Soto fans 15 Mets in a 9–2 victory to raise his league-leading total to 209. Soto walks none. He will finish the season with 274 strikeouts, 2nd only to Steve Carlton's 286. The Reds Cesar Cedeno steals his 500th base, just the 10th player in history to reach that level.
» October 2, 1982:
Houston hands the Reds their 100th loss of the season, 4–2, a first for the Cincy franchise. However, Reds P Mario Soto does set a better club record by striking out nine batters to break Jim Maloney's mark of 265.
» June 17, 1983: Bob Welch pitches a 6-hitter and hits his first career homer, off Mario Soto in the 6th, to lead the Dodgers past the Reds, 1–0. Welch is the 11th pitcher in ML history to homer in a 1–0 game, and it will not occur again this century. The last to do so, according to historian Bob Davids, was Juan Pizarro, in 1971.
» November 2, 1983: John Denny wins the National League Cy Young Award, collecting 20 of 24 first-place votes to defeat runner-up Mario Soto. Denny was 19-6 with a 2.37 ERA for the NL champion Phillies.
» May 12, 1984: Cincinnati's Mario Soto is one out away from a no-hitter when the Cardinals George Hendrick hits a home run to tie the game 1–1. The Reds then rally for a run in the bottom of the 9th to give Soto a one-hit 2–1 victory.
» May 17, 1984: In the 3rd inning at Cincinnati, Mario Soto strikes out four Cub batters (Tom Veryzer, Dick Ruthven, Bob Dernier and Ryne Sandberg) enroute to a 5–3 Reds victory.
» May 27, 1984:
At Chicago, the Reds edge the Cubs 4–3 in a contest protested by both clubs. Ron Cey belts a 3rd inning blow originally called a homer by umpire Steve Rippley. The Reds argue the call and, after an ump conference, the ruling is a foul. The Cubs then protest. The umps then huddle with Reds manager Vern Rapp and tell him that P Mario Soto is ejected from the game. Soto charges the field tackling Cubs coach Don Zimmer and then gets re-ejected. Both teams then file a protest.
» May 31, 1984: Mario Soto is suspended for five days by National League president Chub Feeney for his role in a 32-minute melee that marred the Reds-Cubs game on May 27th. After shoving 3B umpire Steve Rippley, who had signaled that Ron Cey's long fly ball was a 3-run home run (it was later ruled foul), a bat-wielding Soto then tried to attack a park vendor who had thrown a bag of ice at him. Soto will be suspended again for five more days later in the season for his June 16th fight with Claudell Washington.
» April 29, 1986:
Reds pitcher Mario Soto ties the major-league record by surrendering home runs to Andre Dawson, Hubie Brooks, Tim Wallach, and Mike Fitzgerald in the 4th inning of a 7–4 loss to the Expos.
» July 22, 1986:
The Mets win a crazy five-hour marathon with the Reds in 14 innings, winning 6–3 (as recalled by Bill Deane). Setting the tone, Darryl Strawberry is ejected after arguing a called 3rd strike in the 5th. In the 9th, Howard Johnson inadvertently kicks the ball after Reds C Bo Diaz drops a third strike. Johnson runs out of the baseline and is hit in the back with the throw from pitcher Ron Robinson. Reds coach Billy DeMars is ejected for arguing the safe call. The Mets, down 3–1, with two out, tie the game when Dave Parker who drops a routine fly ball. In the 10th, Davey Johnson sends in pitcher Rick Aguilera to hit for pitcher Doug Sisk. Aguilera walks, but is stranded. In the Reds 10th, pinch-runner Eric Davis steals 2B and 3B, bumping into Ray Knight. Knight decks Davis and both benches empty. Knight, Davis, Kevin Mitchell and Mario Soto are ejected. Gary Carter moves to 3B, McDowell comes in to pitch, and Orosco moves from the mound to RF. With two out and a runner on 2B in the 11th, Orosco returns to pitch, McDowell moves to LF, and Mookie Wilson shifts to right. Rose protests when Orosco is permitted eight warm-up pitches. Orosco whiffs Max Venable to end the inning. In the 12th, The Mets are forced to lead off the inning with Orosco and McDowell, and go down in order. McDowell returns to pitch in the 13th and gets Tony Perez to fly to Orosco in right. Howard Johnson belts a three-run homer in the 14th and McDowell retires the side in order.
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