Taking over in relief, Jim Ray put a stop to the Cardinals' hitting while the Astros continued to whack the ball to gain a 12-6 victory. Dal Maxvill hit an inside-the-park homer and Matty Alou and Bernie Carbo each belted a drive over the fence with a man on base for the Cardinals, but Ray took over with two out in the fifth inning and yielded only one hit over the rest of the game.

The Astros had a three-run homer by Lee May, two-run blow by Doug Rader and solo swat by Johnny Edwards. Five of the Astros' last six runs were unearned. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 12, St. Louis Cardinals 6
Game Played on Sunday, July      9, 1972 (Day game) at Busch Stadium II
Astros       1  0  0    2  3  0    1  5  0  -  12 16  0
Cardinals    0  0  1    1  4  0    0  0  0  -   6 11  3


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Metzger ss            6   1   2   0     0   0   .204      Brock lf              4   2   2   0     0   1   .318
Cedeno cf             4   2   3   0     0   0   .345        Melendez ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .243
  Stewart pr,cf,lf    2   2   0   0     0   0   .221      Sizemore 2b           5   0   0   0     0   0   .261
Wynn rf               4   2   2   2     1   0   .278      Alou 1b               4   1   3   3     1   0   .323
May 1b                4   2   3   3     1   0   .279      Torre 3b              5   1   1   0     0   0   .306
Watson lf             4   1   2   1     1   1   .307      Simmons c             3   0   0   0     1   0   .295
  Miller cf           0   0   0   0     0   0   .188      Carbo rf              4   1   1   2     0   1   .227
Rader 3b              5   1   2   3     0   0   .240      Cruz cf               4   0   2   0     0   1   .207
Edwards c             4   1   1   1     0   0   .237      Maxvill ss            4   1   2   1     0   0   .236
  Howard ph,c         0   0   0   0     1   0   .232        Grzenda p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Helms 2b              5   0   1   0     0   0   .250      Wise p                3   0   0   0     0   0   .176
Dierker p             2   0   0   0     0   1   .205        Segui p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .125
  Ray p               3   0   0   0     0   1   .091        Drabowsky p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Cumberland p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .100
                                                            Crosby ph,ss        1   0   0   0     0   0   .237

Totals               43  12  16  10     4   3             Totals               38   6  11   6     2   4

Time of Game: 2:50   Attendance: 36,153
Left on Base: Astros 8, Cardinals 7
DP: Astros 0, Cardinals 0
Errors: Sizemore 2, Simmons
Doubles: Cedeno 2 (22), May (14), Alou (11), Torre (15)
Home Runs: Rader (14), May (16), Edwards (4), Maxvill (1), Alou (3), Carbo (2)
Stolen Bases: Cedeno (25), May (2), Metzger (9), Brock (29)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Dierker                 4.2  10   6   6   1   2   3  25   3.01
Ray W(8-3)              4.1   1   0   0   1   2   0  15   4.25
Totals                  9    11   6   6   2   4   3  40

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Wise L(9-8)             6    10   7   6   2   2   2  29   3.74
Segui                   1.2   4   5   1   1   1   1  11   2.89
Drabowsky               0     2   0   0   0   0   0   2   2.25
Cumberland              0.1   0   0   0   1   0   0   2   8.80
Grzenda                 1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   4.42
Totals                  9    16  12   7   4   3   3  47

Umpires: HP - Doug Harvey, 1B - Bob Engel, 2B - Augie Donatelli, 3B - Stan Landes


ASTROS 1ST: Metzger grounded out (shortstop to first); Cedeno
doubled to right; Wynn singled to center [Cedeno scored]; May
doubled to center [Wynn out at home (center to shortstop to
catcher)]; Watson walked; Rader grounded out (shortstop to
first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Brock was called out on strikes; Sizemore flied
out to right; Alou walked; Torre forced Alou (second
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Edwards flied out to center; Helms flied out to
center; Dierker grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 2ND: Simmons lined to right; Carbo grounded out
(second to first); Cruz singled to left; Maxvill singled to
center [Cruz to second]; Wise grounded out (third to first); 0
R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Metzger singled to right; Cedeno flied out to
center; Wynn flied out to left; May forced Metzger (third to
second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 3RD: Brock singled to second; Brock stole second;
Sizemore grounded out (shortstop to first) [Brock to third];
Alou doubled to right [Brock scored]; Torre flied out to center;
Simmons popped to second; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1,
Cardinals 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Watson singled to second; Rader homered [Watson
scored]; Edwards grounded out (first unassisted); Helms grounded
out (third to first); Dierker struck out; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 3, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 4TH: Carbo struck out; Cruz grounded out (first
unassisted); Maxvill hit an inside the park homer to center;
Wise flied out to left; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 3,
Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 5TH: Metzger grounded out (second to first); Cedeno
singled to center; Cedeno stole second; Wynn walked; May homered
[Cedeno scored, Wynn scored]; Watson grounded out (second to
first); Rader flied out to right; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
6, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 5TH: Brock singled to shortstop; Sizemore popped to
second; Alou homered [Brock scored]; Torre doubled to right;
Simmons grounded out (first to pitcher) [Torre to third]; Carbo
homered [Torre scored]; Cruz singled to right; RAY REPLACED
DIERKER (PITCHING); Maxvill lined to shortstop; 4 R, 5 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Astros 6, Cardinals 6.

ASTROS 6TH: Edwards grounded out (shortstop to first); Helms
singled to left; On a bunt Ray struck out; Metzger forced Helms
(shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 6,
Cardinals 6.

CARDINALS 6TH: Wise popped to catcher in foul territory; Brock
grounded out (second to first); Sizemore popped to second; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 6, Cardinals 6.

ASTROS 7TH: Cedeno doubled to right; STEWART RAN FOR CEDENO;
SEGUI REPLACED WISE (PITCHING); Wynn flied out to left [Stewart
to third]; May was walked intentionally; May stole second
[Stewart scored (error by Simmons) (unearned)]; Watson struck
out; Rader popped to third in foul territory; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1
E, 1 LOB.  Astros 7, Cardinals 6.

CARDINALS 7TH: STEWART STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); Alou flied
out to center; Torre popped to shortstop; Simmons walked; Carbo
flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 7, Cardinals 6.

ASTROS 8TH: Edwards homered; Helms flied out to right; Ray
grounded out (second to first); Metzger singled to right;
Metzger stole second; Stewart reached on an error by Sizemore
[Metzger scored (error by Sizemore) (unearned) (no RBI), Stewart
to third]; Wynn singled to center [Stewart scored (unearned)];
May singled to center [Wynn to third]; DRABOWSKY REPLACED SEGUI
(PITCHING); Watson singled to right [Wynn scored (unearned), May
to second]; Rader singled to center [May scored (unearned),
Watson to third]; CUMBERLAND REPLACED DRABOWSKY (PITCHING);
HOWARD BATTED FOR EDWARDS; Howard walked [Rader to second];
Helms forced Howard (shortstop unassisted); 5 R (1 ER), 6 H, 2
E, 3 LOB.  Astros 12, Cardinals 6.

CARDINALS 8TH: HOWARD STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); MILLER
REPLACED WATSON (PLAYING CF); STEWART CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING
LF); Cruz was called out on strikes; Maxvill grounded out
(shortstop to first); CROSBY BATTED FOR CUMBERLAND; Crosby
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
12, Cardinals 6.

ASTROS 9TH: CROSBY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); GRZENDA REPLACED
MAXVILL (PITCHING); Ray grounded out (first unassisted); Metzger
grounded out (third to first); Stewart flied out to center; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 12, Cardinals 6.

CARDINALS 9TH: MELENDEZ BATTED FOR BROCK; Melendez struck out;
Sizemore flied out to right; Alou singled to left; Torre forced
Alou (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 12,
Cardinals 6.