In a meeting of aces, Jim Merritt triumphed over Larry Dierker and pitched the Reds to a 5-2 victory over the Astros. Tony Perez started the Reds' scoring with a homer in the fourth inning and two other runs followed on doubles by Johnny Bench and Lee May and a single by Dave Concepcion. Pete Rose tripled and Perez hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Bernie Carbo wound up the Reds' production in the sixth with the longest homer ever hit by a lefthanded batter in the Astrodome. The ball struck the concrete facing on the fifth deck, 60 feet above the turf and 340 feet from home plate. [The Sporting News]



Cincinnati Reds 5, Houston Astros 2
Game Played on Friday, May       22, 1970 (Night game) at Astrodome
Reds         0  0  0    3  1  1    0  0  0  -   5 12  0
Astros       0  1  0    1  0  0    0  0  0  -   2 10  0


Reds                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Rose rf               5   1   2   0     0   2   .264      Morgan 2b             4   0   1   0     0   1   .287
Tolan cf              4   0   2   0     1   1   .299      Alou rf               4   0   1   0     0   0   .297
Perez 3b              4   1   1   2     0   0   .368      Wynn cf               4   0   1   0     0   0   .318
Bench c               5   1   2   0     0   2   .299      Davis lf              4   1   1   0     0   0   .269
May 1b                4   1   2   1     0   2   .304      Menke ss              4   1   2   0     0   0   .331
Carbo lf              3   1   1   1     1   1   .326      Rader 3b              4   0   3   0     0   0   .310
  Stewart pr,lf       0   0   0   0     0   0   .185      Pepitone 1b           4   0   0   0     0   1   .250
Helms 2b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .187      Edwards c             3   0   1   1     0   2   .156
Concepcion ss         4   0   1   1     0   0   .262        Martinez ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .333
Merritt p             4   0   1   0     0   3   .125      Dierker p             2   0   0   0     0   2   .182
                                                            Watson ph           1   0   0   0     0   1   .100
                                                            Billingham p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Beauchamp ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .227

Totals               37   5  12   5     2  11             Totals               36   2  10   1     0   7

Time of Game: 2:26   Attendance: 23,378
Left on Base: Reds 8, Astros 7
DP: Reds 1, Astros 1
Doubles: Bench 2 (11), May (9), Menke (9), Rader (5)
Triples: Rose (2)
Home Runs: Perez (14), Carbo (7)
Stolen Bases: Menke (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Perez (2)
GIDP: Perez (6), Alou (4)


Reds                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Merritt W(9-2)          9    10   2   2   0   7   0  36   2.60
Totals                  9    10   2   2   0   7   0  36

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Dierker L(8-3)          7    11   5   5   2   8   2  34   3.08
Billingham              2     1   0   0   0   3   0   6   7.17
Totals                  9    12   5   5   2  11   2  40

Umpires: HP - Frank Dezelan, 1B - Shag Crawford, 2B - Stan Landes, 3B - Doug Harvey


REDS 1ST: Rose singled to right; Tolan walked [Rose to second];
Perez flied out to right; Bench struck out; May struck out; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Reds 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Morgan struck out; Alou grounded out (shortstop to
first); Wynn popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Reds 0, Astros 0.

REDS 2ND: Carbo struck out; Helms grounded out (second to
first); Concepcion grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Reds 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Davis singled to left; Menke flied out to right;
Rader singled to center [Davis to second]; Pepitone popped to
shortstop; Edwards singled to right [Davis scored, Rader to
third]; Dierker struck out; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Reds 0,
Astros 1.

REDS 3RD: Merritt struck out; Rose flied out to center; Tolan
flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 3RD: Morgan flied out to right; Alou singled to left;
Wynn forced Alou (third to second); Davis flied out to left; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 0, Astros 1.

REDS 4TH: Perez homered; Bench doubled to center; May doubled to
left [Bench scored]; Carbo flied out to left; Helms flied out to
right [May to third]; Concepcion singled to left [May scored];
Merritt struck out; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 3, Astros 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Menke doubled to center; Rader singled to center
[Menke to third]; Menke stole home; Pepitone popped to
shortstop; Edwards struck out; Dierker struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Reds 3, Astros 2.

REDS 5TH: Rose tripled to right; Tolan struck out; Perez hit a
sacrifice fly to center [Rose scored]; Bench doubled to left;
May struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 4, Astros 2.

ASTROS 5TH: Morgan singled to right; Alou grounded into a double
play (second to shortstop to first) [Morgan out at second]; Wynn
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 4,
Astros 2.

REDS 6TH: Carbo homered; Helms popped to first; Concepcion
grounded out (second to first); Merritt singled to center; Rose
struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 5, Astros 2.

ASTROS 6TH: Davis grounded out (pitcher to first); Menke flied
out to left; Rader doubled to right; Pepitone popped to second;
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 5, Astros 2.

REDS 7TH: Tolan singled to right; Perez flied out to center;
Bench popped to shortstop; May singled to left [Tolan to
second]; Carbo walked [Tolan to third, May to second]; STEWART
RAN FOR CARBO; Helms flied out to right; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.
Reds 5, Astros 2.

ASTROS 7TH: STEWART STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Edwards struck
out; WATSON BATTED FOR DIERKER; Watson struck out; Morgan popped
to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 5, Astros 2.

REDS 8TH: BILLINGHAM REPLACED WATSON (PITCHING); Concepcion
grounded out (shortstop to first); Merritt struck out; Rose
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 5, Astros 2.

ASTROS 8TH: Alou popped to catcher; Wynn singled to left; Davis
forced Wynn (third to second); Menke singled to left [Davis to
third]; Rader grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Reds 5, Astros 2.

REDS 9TH: Tolan singled to left; Perez grounded into a double
play (second to shortstop to first) [Tolan out at second]; Bench
struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 5, Astros 2.

ASTROS 9TH: Pepitone struck out; MARTINEZ BATTED FOR EDWARDS;
Martinez flied out to left; BEAUCHAMP BATTED FOR BILLINGHAM;
Beauchamp lined to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 5,
Astros 2.