Although held to only four hits, the Astros were able to defeat the Dodgers, 3-2. A double by Bob Watson, a sacrifice and an error produced the Astros' initial run in the second inning. Roger Metzger walked in the sixth and raced home on a double by Cesar Cedeno. After advancing on an infield out, Cedeno scored what proved to be the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Doug Rader. Davey Lopes homered for the Dodgers in their half of the sixth.

The Dodgers put together four singles in the eighth, but scored only one run because of a baserunning blunder. Lopes was on first and Bill Russell on second when Manny Mota singled to center. Third base coach Tommy Lasorda, respecting Cedeno's arm, stopped Russell at third, but Lopes, who failed to see the stop signal, also came barreling into third and was tagged out. As a result, only one run scored when Willie Davis singled. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 2
Game Played on Tuesday, July      31, 1973 (Night game) at Astrodome
Dodgers      0  0  0    0  0  1    0  1  0  -   2  9  1
Astros       0  1  0    0  0  2    0  0  x  -   3  4  0


Dodgers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Lopes 2b              4   1   2   1     0   0   .293      Agee rf               3   0   1   0     1   2   .258
Mota lf               4   0   1   0     0   0   .344      Metzger ss            3   1   0   0     1   1   .259
  Brewer p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .400      Cedeno cf             3   1   1   1     0   1   .310
Davis cf              4   0   1   1     0   0   .297      Watson lf             3   1   1   0     0   0   .330
Ferguson c            4   0   0   0     0   1   .275      Rader 3b              1   0   1   1     0   0   .254
Garvey 1b             4   0   2   0     0   0   .309      May 1b                3   0   0   1     0   0   .262
Cey 3b                3   0   1   0     0   0   .259      Helms 2b              3   0   0   0     0   0   .282
  Buckner ph          1   0   1   0     0   0   .276      Jutze c               3   0   0   0     0   0   .226
Crawford rf           4   0   0   0     0   0   .305      Roberts p             3   0   0   0     0   1   .111
Russell ss            4   1   1   0     0   1   .289        Wilson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .208
John p                2   0   0   0     0   0   .149
  Paciorek ph,lf      1   0   0   0     0   0   .217

Totals               35   2   9   2     0   2             Totals               25   3   4   3     2   5

Time of Game: 1:55   Attendance: 19,247
Left on Base: Dodgers 6, Astros 3
DP: Dodgers 1, Astros 0
Errors: Russell
Doubles: Watson (16), Cedeno (20)
Home Runs: Lopes (4)
Sacrifice Hits: Rader (2)
Sacrifice Flies: Rader (3)
GIDP: Helms (9)
Hit by Pitch: Cedeno (5,by John)


Dodgers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
John L(10-6)            7     3   3   3   2   4   0  27   2.76
Brewer                  1     1   0   0   0   1   0   3   1.95
Totals                  8     4   3   3   2   5   0  30

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Roberts W(11-8)         7.2   8   2   2   0   2   1  30   2.86
Wilson SV(1)            1.1   1   0   0   0   0   0   5   3.29
Totals                  9     9   2   2   0   2   1  35

Hit by Pitch: John (3)
Wild Pitches: Brewer (2)

Umpires: HP - Paul Pryor, 1B - Bruce Froemming, 2B - Terry Tata, 3B - Ed Vargo


DODGERS 1ST: Lopes grounded out (shortstop to first); Mota
grounded out (shortstop to first); Davis grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Agee struck out; Metzger struck out; Cedeno grounded
out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0,
Astros 0.

DODGERS 2ND: Ferguson popped to catcher in foul territory;
Garvey singled to first; Cey lined to shortstop; Crawford forced
Garvey (second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 0,
Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Watson doubled to left; Rader out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher to first) [Watson to third]; May reached on an
error by Russell [Watson scored (RBI), May to second]; Helms
popped to second; Jutze flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1
LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

DODGERS 3RD: Russell grounded out (second to first); John
grounded out (pitcher to first); Lopes flied out to center; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 3RD: Roberts grounded out (first to pitcher); Agee
walked; Metzger forced Agee (shortstop unassisted); Cedeno was
hit by a pitch [Metzger to second]; Watson grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

DODGERS 4TH: Mota grounded out (shortstop to first); Davis
grounded out (first to pitcher); Ferguson struck out; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Rader singled to center; May forced Rader (shortstop
to second); Helms grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [May out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

DODGERS 5TH: Garvey grounded out (third to first); Cey grounded
out (shortstop to first); Crawford grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Jutze grounded out (first to pitcher); Roberts
grounded out (first unassisted); Agee struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

DODGERS 6TH: Russell struck out; John grounded out (shortstop to
first); Lopes homered; Mota grounded out (shortstop to first); 1
R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Astros 1.

ASTROS 6TH: Metzger walked; Cedeno doubled to left [Metzger
scored]; Watson grounded out (second to first) [Cedeno to
third]; Rader hit a sacrifice fly to center [Cedeno scored]; May
flied out to center; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Astros 3.

DODGERS 7TH: Davis grounded out (first unassisted); Ferguson
flied out to center; Garvey singled to center; Cey singled to
left [Garvey to second]; Crawford grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Astros 3.

ASTROS 7TH: Helms flied out to center; Jutze grounded out (third
to first); Roberts struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 1,
Astros 3.

DODGERS 8TH: Russell singled to left; PACIOREK BATTED FOR JOHN;
Paciorek flied out to right; Lopes singled to right [Russell to
second]; Mota singled to center [Russell to third, Lopes out at
third (pitcher to third)]; both Bill Russell and Dave Lopes
ended up on 3B; Davis singled to right [Russell scored, Mota
to third]; WILSON REPLACED ROBERTS (PITCHING); Ferguson grounded
out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 2,
Astros 3.

ASTROS 8TH: BREWER REPLACED MOTA (PITCHING); PACIOREK STAYED IN
GAME (PLAYING LF); Agee singled to center; Metzger forced Agee
(shortstop to second); Brewer threw a wild pitch [Metzger to
second]; Metzger was out trying to advance to third (catcher to
third); Cedeno was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 2, Astros 3.

DODGERS 9TH: Garvey grounded out (second to first); BUCKNER
BATTED FOR CEY; Buckner singled to right; Crawford flied out to
left; Russell grounded out (pitcher unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Astros 3.