After striking out his first three times at bat, Bob Gibson came up with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth inning and won his own game, hitting an infield single to give the Cardinals a 3-2 victory over the Astros. Lou Brock and Joe Torre combined for the Cardinals' first two runs of the game and Joe Morgan counted both of the Astros' tallies.

In the ninth, Jose Cruz walked with two out, Ted Kubiak was safe on an error by Roger Metzger and Bob Burda drew a pass to load the bases. Gibson hit a grounder into the hole between third and short. Metzger made a diving stop of the ball but was unable to recover in time for a throw as Cruz scored. [The Sporting News]

St. Louis Cardinals 3, Houston Astros 2

Game Played on Monday, August 23, 1971 (Night game) at Astrodome

Cardinals 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 - 3 6 0 Astros 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 - 2 7 1 Cardinals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Brock lf 4 2 2 0 1 1 .324 Alou rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .300 Sizemore rf,2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .258 Morgan 2b 4 2 2 0 0 0 .269 Alou 1b,rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .312 Cedeno cf 4 0 0 1 0 1 .253 Torre 3b 4 0 2 2 0 0 .358 Watson 1b 3 0 2 1 1 0 .288 Simmons c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .304 Chiles lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .257 Cruz cf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .250 Menke 3b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .260 Kubiak 2b,ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .235 Hiatt c 3 0 0 0 0 2 .276 Maxvill ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .213 Edwards ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .224 Burda ph,1b 0 0 0 0 1 0 .321 Geronimo pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231 Gibson p 4 0 1 1 0 3 .200 Metzger ss 3 0 1 0 1 0 .234 Wilson p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .155 Wynn ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .214 Totals 34 3 6 3 3 4 Totals 33 2 7 2 2 7 Time of Game: 1:52 Attendance: 19,167 Left on Base: Cardinals 7, Astros 7 DP: Cardinals 0, Astros 0 Errors: Metzger Doubles: Torre (26), Menke (23) Triples: Morgan (9) Stolen Bases: Brock 2 (44), Morgan (26) Sacrifice Hits: Wilson (5) Cardinals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Gibson W(12-11) 9 7 2 2 2 7 0 36 3.28 Totals 9 7 2 2 2 7 0 36 Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Wilson L(11-8) 9 6 3 2 3 4 0 37 2.87 Totals 9 6 3 2 3 4 0 37 Wild Pitches: Wilson (5) Umpires: HP - Lee Weyer, 1B - Bob Engel, 2B - John McSherry, 3B - Ken Burkhart CARDINALS 1ST: Brock walked; Brock stole second; Sizemore grounded out (second to first) [Brock to third]; Alou popped to catcher in foul territory; Torre singled to center [Brock scored]; Simmons popped to third in foul territory; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 1ST: Alou grounded out (shortstop to first); Morgan grounded out (second to first); Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. CARDINALS 2ND: Cruz flied out to left; Kubiak popped to catcher in foul territory; Maxvill flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 2ND: Watson singled to left; Chiles flied out to center; Menke doubled to right [Watson to third]; Hiatt was called out on strikes; Metzger walked; Wilson struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. CARDINALS 3RD: Gibson was called out on strikes; Brock singled to center; Sizemore flied out to left; Alou grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 3RD: Alou grounded out (second to first); Morgan grounded out (second to first); Cedeno flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. CARDINALS 4TH: Torre grounded out (shortstop to first); Simmons grounded out (second to first); Cruz lined to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 4TH: Watson grounded out (third to first); Chiles flied out to right; Menke was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. CARDINALS 5TH: Kubiak flied out to right; Maxvill made an out to second; Gibson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 5TH: Hiatt struck out; Metzger singled to center; Wilson out on a sacrifice bunt (first unassisted) [Metzger to second]; Alou grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 1, Astros 0. CARDINALS 6TH: Brock singled to left; Brock stole second; Sizemore grounded out (shortstop to first); Alou flied out to center; Torre doubled to center [Brock scored]; Simmons flied out to right; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 2, Astros 0. ASTROS 6TH: Morgan tripled to left; Cedeno grounded out (second to first) [Morgan scored]; Watson walked; Chiles grounded out (shortstop to first) [Watson to second]; Menke grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 2, Astros 1. CARDINALS 7TH: Cruz grounded out (first unassisted); Kubiak singled to center; Wilson threw a wild pitch [Kubiak to second]; Maxvill flied out to right; Gibson struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 2, Astros 1. ASTROS 7TH: Hiatt grounded out (shortstop to first); Metzger flied out to center; Wilson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 2, Astros 1. CARDINALS 8TH: Brock grounded out (second to first); Sizemore flied out to right; Alou flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cardinals 2, Astros 1. ASTROS 8TH: Alou flied out to right; Morgan singled to center; Morgan stole second; Cedeno struck out; Watson singled to left [Morgan scored, Watson to second (on throw)]; Chiles grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 2, Astros 2. CARDINALS 9TH: Torre flied out to right; Simmons flied out to center; Cruz walked; Kubiak reached on an error by Metzger [Cruz to third, Kubiak to first]; BURDA BATTED FOR MAXVILL; Burda walked [Kubiak to second]; Gibson singled to left [Cruz scored (unearned), Kubiak to third, Burda to second]; Brock was called out on strikes; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 3 LOB. Cardinals 3, Astros 2. ASTROS 9TH: BURDA STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); ALOU CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); SIZEMORE CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 2B); KUBIAK CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING SS); Menke was called out on strikes; EDWARDS BATTED FOR HIATT; Edwards singled to center; GERONIMO RAN FOR EDWARDS; Metzger forced Geronimo (second to shortstop); WYNN BATTED FOR WILSON; Wynn flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cardinals 3, Astros 2.

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