A victim of his own error, Jerry Reuss lost to his former teammates when the Cardinals scored three runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Astros, 4-3. Ted Simmons and Donn Clendenon led off the ninth with singles and when Ted Sizemore bunted, Reuss threw the ball wildly into right field, allowing the tying runs to score.

Sizemore reached third on the error. After Wade Blasingame relieved, Marty Martinez, also a former Astro, singled to drive in the winning run. [The Sporting News]



St. Louis Cardinals 4, Houston Astros 3
Game Played on Thursday, May       11, 1972 (Day game) at Busch Stadium II
Astros       0  1  0    0  0  0    1  0  1  -   3 10  2
Cardinals    0  0  0    0  0  0    0  1  3  -   4  9  1


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Metzger ss            4   1   1   0     1   1   .163      Brock lf              4   1   2   0     0   1   .319
Cedeno cf             5   1   1   0     0   1   .395      Cruz cf               3   0   1   0     1   2   .262
Wynn rf               5   0   1   0     0   1   .329      Melendez rf           4   0   1   0     0   0   .200
May 1b                3   1   1   1     2   0   .318      Torre 3b              4   0   1   0     0   1   .364
Watson lf             5   0   2   1     0   0   .256      Simmons c             4   1   1   0     0   0   .276
Rader 3b              3   0   1   0     1   1   .247      Clendenon 1b          4   1   1   0     0   1   .125
Edwards c             4   0   1   0     0   0   .292      Crosby ss             1   0   0   0     0   1   .288
Fenwick 2b            4   0   2   1     0   1   .400        Sizemore ph,2b      2   1   1   0     0   0   .224
Reuss p               4   0   0   0     0   4   .091      Maxvill 2b            1   0   0   0     1   0   .042
  Blasingame p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        McNertney ph        1   0   0   0     0   1   .286
                                                            Martinez ss         1   0   1   1     0   0   .667
                                                          Wise p                2   0   0   0     1   1   .316

Totals               37   3  10   3     4   9             Totals               31   4   9   1     3   8

Time of Game: 2:23   Attendance:  7,859
Left on Base: Astros 11, Cardinals 7
DP: Astros 2, Cardinals 0
Errors: Fenwick, Reuss, Brock
Doubles: Wynn (4)
Triples: May (2)
Stolen Bases: Metzger (3), Cedeno (9)
Caught Stealing: Brock (3)
GIDP: Clendenon (1), Melendez (2)
Hit by Pitch: Crosby (1,by Reuss)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Reuss L(2-2)            8     8   4   3   3   8   0  34   3.62
Blasingame              0     1   0   0   0   0   0   1   8.44
Totals                  8     9   4   3   3   8   0  35

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Wise W(3-2)             9    10   3   3   4   9   0  41   3.14
Totals                  9    10   3   3   4   9   0  41

Hit by Pitch: Reuss (2)

Umpires: HP - Bruce Froemming, 1B - Ed Vargo, 2B - Paul Pryor, 3B - Harry Wendelstedt


ASTROS 1ST: Metzger grounded out (third to first); Cedeno was
called out on strikes; Wynn grounded out (second to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Brock struck out; Cruz walked; Melendez forced
Cruz (second to shortstop); Torre flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 2ND: May walked; Watson grounded out (pitcher to first)
[May to second]; Rader walked; Edwards singled to right [May to
third, Rader to second]; Fenwick singled to left [May scored,
Rader to third, Edwards to second]; Reuss was called out on
strikes; Metzger struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 1,
Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 2ND: Simmons grounded out (shortstop to first);
Clendenon flied out to center; Crosby was hit by a pitch;
Maxvill walked [Crosby to second]; Wise grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); Wynn
doubled to left; May grounded out (third to first); Watson flied
out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 3RD: Brock singled to center; Brock was picked off and
caught stealing second (pitcher to first to shortstop); Cruz
struck out; Melendez reached on an error by Fenwick [Melendez to
first]; Torre struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1,
Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Rader singled to right; Edwards flied out to left;
Fenwick singled to right [Rader to third]; Reuss struck out;
Metzger walked [Fenwick to second]; Cedeno forced Metzger
(shortstop unassisted); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 1,
Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 4TH: Simmons grounded out (second to first); Clendenon
struck out; Crosby was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 5TH: Wynn flied out to left; May grounded out (third to
first); Watson singled to left [Watson to second (error by
Brock)]; Rader struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1,
Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 5TH: Maxvill grounded out (pitcher to first); Wise
walked; Brock forced Wise (pitcher to shortstop); Cruz was
called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1,
Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 6TH: Edwards grounded out (first unassisted); Fenwick was
called out on strikes; Reuss struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 1, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 6TH: Melendez singled to third; Torre singled to
center [Melendez to second]; Simmons flied out to right;
Clendenon grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to
first) [Torre out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1,
Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 7TH: Metzger singled to right; Metzger stole second;
Cedeno lined to shortstop; Wynn was called out on strikes; May
was walked intentionally; Watson singled to center [Metzger
scored, May to third]; Rader grounded out (pitcher to first); 1
R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 2, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 7TH: SIZEMORE BATTED FOR CROSBY; Sizemore popped to
second; MCNERTNEY BATTED FOR MAXVILL; McNertney struck out; Wise
was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2,
Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 8TH: MARTINEZ REPLACED MCNERTNEY (PLAYING SS); SIZEMORE
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Edwards grounded out (first
unassisted); Fenwick grounded out (second to first); Reuss
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 8TH: Brock singled to center; Cruz singled to right
[Brock to third]; Melendez grounded into a double play (second
to first) [Brock scored (no RBI), Cruz out at second]; Torre
grounded out (first unassisted); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
2, Cardinals 1.

ASTROS 9TH: Metzger grounded out (second to first); Cedeno
singled to left; Cedeno stole second; Wynn flied out to center;
May tripled to right [Cedeno scored]; Watson grounded out (third
to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 3, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 9TH: Simmons singled to right; Clendenon singled to
left [Simmons to second]; On a bunt Sizemore singled to pitcher
[Simmons scored (error by Reuss) (no RBI), Clendenon scored (no
RBI), Sizemore to third]; BLASINGAME REPLACED REUSS (PITCHING);
Martinez singled to right [Sizemore scored (unearned)]; 3 R (2
ER), 4 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 3, Cardinals 4.