Jim Ray gained his sixth straight victory, all in relief, when the Astros defeated the Braves, 6-5. Ray, who took over in the eighth inning, ran into trouble in the ninth, loading the bases with one out, but rose to the challenge by retiring Hank Aaron on a fly and Earl Williams on a grounder.

The Braves scored all their runs on three homers -- two by Orlando Cepeda and one by Dusty Baker. The Astros came from behind with two runs in the eighth on a single by Cesar Cedeno, triple by Bob Watson and double by Bobby Fenwick. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 6, Atlanta Braves 5
Game Played on Tuesday, May       16, 1972 (Night game) at Astrodome
Braves       0  1  1    3  0  0    0  0  0  -   5 11  3
Astros       1  2  0    0  1  0    0  2  x  -   6  8  0


Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Baker cf              5   1   4   1     0   0   .282      Metzger ss            4   1   1   2     0   0   .160
Millan 2b             4   0   2   0     0   0   .291      Stewart 1b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .200
Aaron rf              4   1   1   0     1   0   .284      Wynn rf               3   1   1   1     1   0   .333
Williams c            5   0   0   0     0   3   .238      Cedeno cf             4   1   2   1     0   1   .361
Carty lf              3   1   1   0     1   0   .304      Watson lf             4   0   1   1     0   1   .276
  Brown pr            0   0   0   0     0   0   .308        Hiatt pr,c          0   1   0   0     0   0   .250
  Lum lf              0   0   0   0     0   0   .182      Edwards c             1   1   0   0     2   0   .288
Cepeda 1b             3   2   2   4     1   0   .354        Alou ph,lf          0   0   0   0     1   0   .333
Evans 3b              2   0   0   0     2   0   .237      Rader 3b              4   0   0   0     0   1   .216
Perez ss              4   0   1   0     0   0   .247      Fenwick 2b            4   0   1   1     0   1   .273
Schueler p            3   0   0   0     0   2   .000      Reuss p               1   1   1   0     0   0   .167
  Upshaw p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Culver p            1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
  Stone p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Stinson ph          1   0   1   0     0   0   .250
  Jarvis p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Ray p               1   0   0   0     0   1   .250
  Garr ph             1   0   0   0     0   0   .291

Totals               34   5  11   5     5   5             Totals               32   6   8   6     4   6

Time of Game: 2:43   Attendance: 13,212
Left on Base: Braves 8, Astros 6
DP: Braves 1, Astros 3
Errors: Aaron, Perez, Upshaw
Doubles: Carty (4), Baker (4), Cedeno (6), Reuss (1), Fenwick (1)
Triples: Watson (1)
Home Runs: Cepeda 2 (3), Baker (1)
Stolen Bases: Baker (1)
GIDP: Perez (7), Aaron (4), Evans (2)
Hit by Pitch: Millan (3,by Ray)


Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Schueler                6     4   4   2   3   4   0  25   1.56
Upshaw L(0-1)           1.1   3   2   2   0   1   0   7   4.15
Stone                   0     0   0   0   1   0   0   1  14.85
Jarvis                  0.2   1   0   0   0   1   0   3   6.26
Totals                  8     8   6   4   4   6   0  36

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Reuss                   3.1   5   5   5   2   3   3  16   4.70
Culver                  3.2   3   0   0   2   1   0  14   2.21
Ray W(6-0)              2     3   0   0   1   1   0  10   1.99
Totals                  9    11   5   5   5   5   3  40

Passed Balls: Williams (6)
Hit by Pitch: Ray (1)

Umpires: HP - Satch Davidson, 1B - Ed Sudol, 2B - John Kibler, 3B - Nick Colosi


BRAVES 1ST: Baker singled; Baker stole second; Baker was out
trying to advance to third (catcher to third); Millan grounded
out (shortstop to first); Aaron grounded out (third to first); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Metzger grounded out (second to first); Stewart
grounded out (second to first); Wynn walked; Williams allowed a
passed ball [Wynn to second]; Cedeno doubled [Wynn scored
(unearned)]; Watson grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R (0
ER), 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 0, Astros 1.

BRAVES 2ND: Williams struck out; Carty grounded out (second to
first); Cepeda homered; Evans flied out to left; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Braves 1, Astros 1.

ASTROS 2ND: Edwards walked; Rader flied out to right; Fenwick
flied out to left; Reuss doubled [Edwards to third]; Metzger
singled [Edwards scored, Reuss scored]; Stewart grounded out
(first unassisted); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Astros 3.

BRAVES 3RD: Perez flied out to left; Schueler struck out; Baker
homered; Millan grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Braves 2, Astros 3.

ASTROS 3RD: Wynn grounded out (pitcher unassisted); Cedeno
struck out; Watson was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Braves 2, Astros 3.

BRAVES 4TH: Aaron singled; Williams struck out; Carty walked
[Aaron to second]; Cepeda homered [Aaron scored, Carty scored];
Evans walked; CULVER REPLACED REUSS (PITCHING); Perez grounded
into a double play (third to second to first) [Evans out at
second]; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 5, Astros 3.

ASTROS 4TH: Edwards walked; Rader flied out to center; Fenwick
flied out to left; Culver struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Braves 5, Astros 3.

BRAVES 5TH: Schueler grounded out (third to first); Baker
singled; Millan singled [Baker to second]; Aaron walked [Baker
to third, Millan to second]; Williams made an out to second;
Carty grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.
Braves 5, Astros 3.

ASTROS 5TH: Metzger reached on an error by Perez [Metzger to
second]; Stewart flied out to right; Wynn singled [Metzger
scored (unearned)]; Cedeno hit into a double play (shortstop to
second) [Cedeno out at second (shortstop to first), Wynn out at
second]; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 5, Astros 4.

BRAVES 6TH: Cepeda flied out to right; Evans walked; Perez flied
out to right; Schueler was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Braves 5, Astros 4.

ASTROS 6TH: Watson flied out to right; Edwards flied out to
right; Rader struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 5, Astros
4.

BRAVES 7TH: Baker flied out to right; Millan singled; Aaron
grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first)
[Millan out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 5, Astros
4.

ASTROS 7TH: UPSHAW REPLACED SCHUELER (PITCHING); Fenwick was
called out on strikes; STINSON BATTED FOR CULVER; Stinson
singled to right [Stinson to third (error by Aaron)]; Metzger
flied out to left; Stewart flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1
LOB.  Braves 5, Astros 4.

BRAVES 8TH: RAY REPLACED STINSON (PITCHING); Williams struck
out; Carty doubled; BROWN RAN FOR CARTY; Cepeda walked; Evans
grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Cepeda
out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 5, Astros 4.

ASTROS 8TH: LUM REPLACED BROWN (PLAYING LF); Wynn grounded out
(third to first); Cedeno singled; Cedeno was picked off first
but was safe on an error by Upshaw [Cedeno to second]; Watson
tripled [Cedeno scored]; HIATT RAN FOR WATSON; STONE REPLACED
UPSHAW (PITCHING); ALOU BATTED FOR EDWARDS; Alou was walked
intentionally; JARVIS REPLACED STONE (PITCHING); Rader made an
out to first; Fenwick doubled [Hiatt scored, Alou to third]; Ray
struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 5, Astros 6.

BRAVES 9TH: ALOU STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); HIATT STAYED IN
GAME (PLAYING C ); Perez singled; GARR BATTED FOR JARVIS; Garr
flied out to right; Baker doubled [Perez to third]; Millan was
hit by a pitch; Aaron popped to third in foul territory;
Williams forced Millan (third to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.
Braves 5, Astros 6.