Although Hank Aaron hit his 16th homer of the season and 655th of his career, the Braves fell apart on defense with five errors and lost to the Astros, 5-4. Aaron's homer followed a single by Marty Perez in the first inning. Dave Roberts hit a two-run homer for the Astros in the second.

Roberts was forced to leave the game after injuring himself sliding into third base in the seventh and Tom Griffin was the winner in relief when the Astros broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth. Doug Rader led off with a single and advanced to second on Oscar Brown's fumble of the hit in the outfield. Rader moved to third on a grounder by Norm Miller and crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Tommy Helms. [The Sporting News]

Houston Astros 5, Atlanta Braves 4

Game Played on Sunday, July 2, 1972 (Day game) at Astrodome

Braves       2  0  0    0  0  0    1  1  0  -   4  8  5
Astros       1  2  0    0  0  0    1  1  x  -   5  6  2


Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Perez ss              3   1   2   0     1   1   .227      Metzger ss            2   0   0   0     1   0   .201
Garr rf               4   0   0   0     0   1   .305      Cedeno cf             3   1   1   1     0   0   .339
Aaron 1b              5   1   1   2     0   1   .248      Watson lf             3   0   1   0     1   1   .312
Carty lf              1   0   0   0     1   1   .300      May 1b                4   0   1   0     0   0   .277
  Brown lf            3   1   1   0     0   2   .250      Rader 3b              3   1   1   1     0   0   .244
Williams 3b           4   0   0   0     0   1   .257      Miller rf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .182
Lum cf                3   0   0   0     1   0   .254      Edwards c             2   1   0   0     1   0   .222
Casanova c            4   1   2   1     0   1   .214        Alou ph             0   0   0   0     1   0   .288
Garrido 2b            4   0   1   0     0   1   .300        Howard c            0   0   0   0     0   0   .246
Schueler p            2   0   0   0     0   2   .136      Helms 2b              3   0   1   1     0   1   .261
  Jackson ph          1   0   1   1     0   0   .160      Roberts p             3   1   1   2     0   2   .282
  Jarvis p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .182        Fenwick pr          0   1   0   0     0   0   .184
  Hoerner p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Griffin p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .250
  Breazeale ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .172

Totals               35   4   8   4     3  11             Totals               27   5   6   5     4   4

Time of Game: 2:25   Attendance: 27,150
Left on Base: Braves 9, Astros 6
DP: Braves 0, Astros 1
Errors: Perez, Aaron, Brown 2, Casanova, Metzger, Rader
Doubles: Brown (2), Cedeno (16), Helms (7)
Home Runs: Aaron (16), Roberts (2)
Caught Stealing: Alou (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Perez (2), Metzger (4)
Sacrifice Flies: Rader (4), Cedeno (2), Helms (3)
GIDP: Aaron (8)
Hit by Pitch: Garr (3,by Griffin)


Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Schueler                6     5   3   2   3   3   1  26   3.05
Jarvis L(6-4)           1.1   1   2   0   0   1   0   7   4.70
Hoerner                 0.2   0   0   0   1   0   0   2   3.20
Totals                  8     6   5   2   4   4   1  35

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Roberts                 7     6   3   2   2   8   1  30   4.11
Griffin W(3-2)          2     2   1   1   1   3   0  10   1.93
Totals                  9     8   4   3   3  11   1  40

Hit by Pitch: Griffin (1)
Wild Pitches: Jarvis (3), Roberts 2 (7)

Umpires: HP - Frank Pulli, 1B - Tom Gorman, 2B - Bill Williams, 3B - John McSherry


BRAVES 1ST: Perez singled; Roberts threw a wild pitch [Perez to
second]; Garr struck out; Aaron homered [Perez scored]; Carty
walked; Williams flied out to center; Lum walked [Carty to
second]; Casanova struck out; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 2,
Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Metzger grounded out (first to pitcher); Cedeno
doubled; Watson walked; May reached on an error by Perez [Cedeno
to third, Watson to second, May to first]; Casanova dropped a
foul fly hit by Rader for an error; Rader hit a sacrifice fly to
center [Cedeno scored (unearned)]; Miller forced May (shortstop
to second); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 2 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 2, Astros 1.

BRAVES 2ND: Garrido singled; Roberts threw a wild pitch [Garrido
to second]; Schueler struck out; Perez was called out on
strikes; Garr flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves
2, Astros 1.

ASTROS 2ND: Edwards walked; Helms was called out on strikes;
Roberts homered [Edwards scored]; Metzger walked; Cedeno forced
Metzger (third to second); Cedeno was picked off first (pitcher
to first); 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 2, Astros 3.

BRAVES 3RD: Aaron lined to second; Carty struck out; Williams
reached on an error by Metzger [Williams to first]; Lum forced
Williams (second to shortstop); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 2,
Astros 3.

ASTROS 3RD: BROWN REPLACED CARTY (PLAYING LF); Watson struck
out; May made an out to shortstop; Rader flied out to center; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 2, Astros 3.

BRAVES 4TH: Casanova flied out to left; Garrido grounded out
(third to first); Schueler struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Braves 2, Astros 3.

ASTROS 4TH: Miller grounded out (first to pitcher); Edwards made
an out to shortstop; Helms doubled; Roberts struck out; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 2, Astros 3.

BRAVES 5TH: Perez singled; Garr flied out to left; Aaron
grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Perez
out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 2, Astros 3.

ASTROS 5TH: Metzger grounded out (pitcher to first); Cedeno
grounded out (shortstop to first); Watson singled; May singled
[Watson to second]; Rader forced May (shortstop to second); 0 R,
2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 2, Astros 3.

BRAVES 6TH: Brown struck out; Williams struck out; Lum grounded
out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 2,
Astros 3.

ASTROS 6TH: Miller grounded out (shortstop to first); Edwards
grounded out (first unassisted); Helms flied out to right; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 2, Astros 3.

BRAVES 7TH: Casanova singled; Garrido reached on an error by
Rader [Casanova to second, Garrido to first]; JACKSON BATTED FOR
SCHUELER; Jackson singled [Casanova scored (unearned), Garrido
to second]; Perez out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second)
[Garrido to third, Jackson to second]; Garr reached on a
fielder's choice [Garrido out at home (shortstop to catcher),
Jackson to third]; Aaron forced Garr (shortstop to second); 1 R
(0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 3, Astros 3.

ASTROS 7TH: JARVIS REPLACED JACKSON (PITCHING); Roberts struck
out but advanced to first on a wild pitch; FENWICK RAN FOR
ROBERTS; Metzger reached on an error by Aaron on a sacrifice
bunt [Fenwick to third, Metzger to second]; Cedeno hit a
sacrifice fly to left [Fenwick scored (unearned)]; Watson
grounded out (second to first) [Metzger to third]; May grounded
out (shortstop to first); 1 R (0 ER), 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Braves
3, Astros 4.

BRAVES 8TH: GRIFFIN REPLACED FENWICK (PITCHING); Brown doubled;
Williams grounded out (third to first); Lum flied out to left;
Casanova singled [Brown scored]; Garrido was called out on
strikes; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 4, Astros 4.

ASTROS 8TH: Rader singled to left [Rader to second (error by
Brown)]; Miller grounded out (first unassisted) [Rader to
third]; HOERNER REPLACED JARVIS (PITCHING); ALOU BATTED FOR
EDWARDS; Alou was walked intentionally; Helms hit a sacrifice
fly to left [Rader scored (unearned), Alou to third (error by
Brown)]; Alou was caught stealing home (catcher unassisted); 1 R
(0 ER), 1 H, 2 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 4, Astros 5.

BRAVES 9TH: HOWARD REPLACED ALOU (PLAYING C ); BREAZEALE BATTED
FOR HOERNER; Breazeale made an out to shortstop; Perez walked;
Garr was hit by a pitch [Perez to second]; Aaron struck out;
Brown struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 4, Astros 5.

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