The Astros were held to seven hits, but used six of them in their scoring to gain a 4-3 victory over the Phillies, who collected 10 hits but counted only on homers by Larry Bowa, Deron Johnson and John Bateman. The Astros bunched a single by Doug Rader, double by Tommy Helms, single by Dave Roberts and double by Jim Wynn for three runs in the fifth inning and added their deciding tally when Bob Watson and Johnny Edwards singled in the sixth and Rader hit a sacrifice fly. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 4, Philadelphia Phillies 3
Game Played on Friday, August    18, 1972 (Night game) at Veterans Stadium
Astros       0  0  0    0  3  1    0  0  0  -   4  7  0
Phillies     1  0  0    1  0  0    1  0  0  -   3 10  1


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Phillies             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Metzger ss            4   1   1   0     0   0   .214      Harmon 2b             5   0   3   0     0   0   .293
Cedeno cf             4   0   0   0     0   1   .347      Bowa ss               5   1   2   1     0   0   .234
Wynn rf               3   0   1   2     1   0   .279      Money 3b              5   0   0   0     0   1   .227
May 1b                4   0   0   0     0   0   .288      Montanez cf           4   0   1   0     0   1   .251
Watson lf             3   0   1   0     0   1   .308      Luzinski lf           4   0   1   0     0   0   .273
  Stewart pr,lf       1   1   0   0     0   0   .207      Johnson 1b            4   1   1   1     0   1   .201
Edwards c             4   0   1   0     0   0   .265      B. Robinson rf        3   0   0   0     1   0   .245
Rader 3b              1   1   1   1     1   0   .243      Bateman c             4   1   2   1     0   0   .234
Helms 2b              4   0   1   0     0   1   .268        Reynolds pr         0   0   0   0     0   0   .091
Roberts p             3   1   1   1     0   1   .237        Ryan c              0   0   0   0     0   0   .198
  Ray p               0   0   0   0     0   0   .071      Brandon p             2   0   0   0     0   0   .100
  Gladding p          1   0   0   0     0   1   .000        Freed ph            0   0   0   0     0   0   .235
                                                            Gamble ph           0   0   0   0     1   0   .229
                                                            Wilson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Hutton ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .258
                                                            Selma p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .200

Totals               32   4   7   4     2   5             Totals               37   3  10   3     2   3

Time of Game: 2:31   Attendance: 11,707
Left on Base: Astros 5, Phillies 9
DP: Astros 0, Phillies 1
Errors: Bowa
Doubles: Helms (16), Wynn (23), Luzinski (21), Montanez (27)
Home Runs: Bowa (1), Johnson (8), Bateman (3)
Caught Stealing: Metzger (6)
Sacrifice Flies: Rader (7)
GIDP: Helms (6)
Hit by Pitch: Rader (5,by Brandon)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Roberts W(10-5)         6.1   7   3   3   0   3   3  26   4.57
Ray                     0     1   0   0   1   0   0   2   3.52
Gladding SV(13)         2.2   2   0   0   1   0   0  11   2.33
Totals                  9    10   3   3   2   3   3  39

Phillies               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Brandon L(5-5)          7     7   4   4   1   4   0  29   3.30
Wilson                  1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   0.63
Selma                   1     0   0   0   1   1   0   4   4.98
Totals                  9     7   4   4   2   5   0  36

Hit by Pitch: Brandon (4)

Umpires: HP - Paul Pryor, 1B - Harry Wendelstedt, 2B - Jerry Dale, 3B - Ed Vargo


ASTROS 1ST: Metzger singled; Metzger was caught stealing second
(catcher to second); Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first);
Wynn walked; May made an out to catcher; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Astros 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 1ST: Harmon lined to third; Bowa homered; Money struck
out; Montanez struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0,
Phillies 1.

ASTROS 2ND: Watson struck out; Edwards made an out to third;
Rader was hit by a pitch; Helms struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 1.

PHILLIES 2ND: Luzinski doubled to left; Johnson made an out to
catcher; B. Robinson grounded out (shortstop to first); Bateman
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0,
Phillies 1.

ASTROS 3RD: Roberts struck out; Metzger made an out to first;
Cedeno reached on an error by Bowa; Wynn grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 1.

PHILLIES 3RD: Brandon flied out to right; Harmon singled to
center; Bowa singled to center [Harmon to second]; Money lined
to left; Montanez flied out to left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Astros 0, Phillies 1.

ASTROS 4TH: May grounded out (pitcher to first); Watson grounded
out (shortstop to first); Edwards grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 1.

PHILLIES 4TH: Luzinski flied out to center; Johnson homered; B.
Robinson flied out to left; Bateman flied out to center; 1 R, 1
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 2.

ASTROS 5TH: Rader singled; Helms doubled [Rader to third];
Roberts singled [Rader scored, Helms to third]; Metzger reached
on a fielder's choice [Helms out at home (third to catcher),
Roberts to second]; Cedeno struck out; Wynn doubled [Roberts
scored, Metzger scored]; May flied out to center; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Astros 3, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 5TH: Brandon grounded out (third to first); Harmon
singled to left; Bowa forced Harmon (third to second); Money
forced Bowa (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros
3, Phillies 2.

ASTROS 6TH: Watson singled; STEWART RAN FOR WATSON; Edwards
singled [Stewart to third]; Rader hit a sacrifice fly to center
[Stewart scored]; Helms grounded into a double play (shortstop
to second to first) [Edwards out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 4, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 6TH: STEWART STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Montanez made
an out to third; Luzinski grounded out (shortstop to first);
Johnson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 4, Phillies 2.

ASTROS 7TH: Roberts made an out to first; Metzger made an out to
catcher; Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Astros 4, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 7TH: B. Robinson flied out to center; Bateman homered;
FREED BATTED FOR BRANDON; RAY REPLACED ROBERTS (PITCHING);
GAMBLE BATTED FOR FREED; Gamble walked; Harmon singled to center
[Gamble to second]; GLADDING REPLACED RAY (PITCHING); Bowa made
an out to third; Money grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 2 H,
0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 4, Phillies 3.

ASTROS 8TH: WILSON REPLACED GAMBLE (PITCHING); Wynn made an out
to second; May lined to left; Stewart lined to center; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 4, Phillies 3.

PHILLIES 8TH: Montanez doubled to left; Luzinski grounded out
(pitcher to first); Johnson made an out to catcher; B. Robinson
walked; Bateman singled [Montanez to third, B. Robinson to
second]; REYNOLDS RAN FOR BATEMAN; HUTTON BATTED FOR WILSON;
Hutton flied out to left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 4,
Phillies 3.

ASTROS 9TH: RYAN REPLACED REYNOLDS (PLAYING C ); SELMA REPLACED
HUTTON (PITCHING); Edwards made an out to third; Rader walked;
Helms flied out to center; Gladding struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Astros 4, Phillies 3.

PHILLIES 9TH: Harmon lined to right; Bowa flied out to right;
Money lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 4, Phillies
3.