Claude Osteen, facing his former teammates for the first time, needed help from Ken Forsch to come out a winner when the Astros defeated the Dodgers, 5-3. The Dodgers had a 2-1 lead against Osteen until Lee May homered off Al Downing with two men on base in the sixth inning. The Dodgers picked up a run off Osteen in the eighth before Forsch took over, but Doug Rader assured the Astros' victory with a scoring single in their half. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 3
Game Played on Friday, April     12, 1974 (Night game) at Astrodome
Dodgers      0  0  0    0  1  1    0  1  0  -   3  9  1
Astros       1  0  0    0  0  3    0  1  x  -   5  8  0


Dodgers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Lacy 2b               4   0   2   1     0   0   .389      Metzger ss            4   1   1   0     0   0   .296
  Buckner ph,lf       1   0   0   0     0   0   .240      Helms 2b              3   0   1   0     0   1   .400
Paciorek lf           4   0   1   0     0   1   .364        Milbourne pr,2b     1   0   0   0     0   0   .125
  Joshua ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .125      Cedeno cf             4   1   1   1     0   0   .367
  Marshall p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Watson lf,1b          3   2   2   0     1   0   .321
Wynn cf               4   1   0   0     1   0   .321        Menke 1b            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Ferguson c            3   0   0   0     2   0   .185      L. May 1b             3   1   1   3     0   0   .273
Crawford rf           5   0   0   0     0   2   .267        Gross lf            1   0   0   0     0   0   .550
Cey 3b                4   0   2   1     0   0   .357      Rader 3b              2   0   1   1     2   0   .280
Garvey 1b             4   2   3   0     0   0   .286      Brown rf              3   0   0   0     0   1   .167
Russell ss            2   0   0   0     1   0   .333        Gallagher ph,rf     1   0   0   0     0   0   .125
  Mota ph             1   0   1   0     0   0   .667      M. May c              3   0   1   0     0   1   .318
  Auerbach pr,ss      0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Osteen p              2   0   0   0     0   1   .333
Downing p             2   0   0   0     1   2   .333        Forsch p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Brewer p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  McMullen ph         1   0   0   1     0   0   .000
  Lopes pr,2b         0   0   0   0     0   0   .286

Totals               36   3   9   3     5   5             Totals               30   5   8   5     3   4

Time of Game: 2:30   Attendance: 26,422
Left on Base: Dodgers 11, Astros 5
DP: Dodgers 2, Astros 0
Errors: Cey
Doubles: Garvey 2 (4)
Triples: Metzger (1), Watson (1)
Home Runs: L. May (1)
Stolen Bases: Cedeno 2 (3), Rader (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Osteen (1)
GIDP: Brown (1), L. May (2)


Dodgers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Downing L(0-2)          5.2   5   4   4   3   3   1  24   6.23
Brewer                  1.1   1   0   0   0   1   0   5   0.00
Marshall                1     2   1   1   0   0   0   5   3.12
Totals                  8     8   5   5   3   4   1  34

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Osteen W(1-1)           7.1   9   3   3   5   4   0  36   6.30
Forsch SV(1)            1.2   0   0   0   0   1   0   5   0.00
Totals                  9     9   3   3   5   5   0  41

Umpires: HP - Satch Davidson, 1B - Frank Pulli, 2B - Ed Sudol, 3B - Lee Weyer


DODGERS 1ST: Lacy flied out to right; Paciorek grounded out
(pitcher to first); Wynn grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Metzger tripled to right; Helms grounded out (third
to first); Cedeno singled to shortstop [Metzger scored]; Cedeno
stole second; Watson made an out to first; L. May popped to
first in foul territory; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 0,
Astros 1.

DODGERS 2ND: Ferguson grounded out (third to first); Crawford
grounded out (shortstop to first); Cey singled to left [Cey out
at second (left to second)]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0,
Astros 1.

ASTROS 2ND: Rader walked; Brown grounded into a double play
(pitcher to shortstop to first) [Rader out at second]; M. May
reached on an error by Cey; Osteen struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1
LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

DODGERS 3RD: Garvey grounded out (shortstop to first); Russell
grounded out (third to first); Downing struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 3RD: Metzger grounded out (shortstop to first); Helms
struck out; Cedeno grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

DODGERS 4TH: Lacy singled to left; Paciorek flied out to center;
Wynn grounded out (third to first) [Lacy to second]; Ferguson
walked; Crawford forced Ferguson (shortstop unassisted); 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Watson singled to third; L. May grounded into a
double play (second to first) [Watson out at second]; Rader
flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Astros 1.

DODGERS 5TH: Cey grounded out (third to first); Garvey singled
to left; Russell made an out to second; Downing walked [Garvey
to second]; Lacy singled to right [Garvey scored, Downing to
second]; Paciorek struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 1,
Astros 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Brown grounded out (third to first); M. May struck
out; Osteen flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 1,
Astros 1.

DODGERS 6TH: Wynn walked; Ferguson grounded out (pitcher to
first) [Wynn to second]; Crawford struck out; Cey singled to
center [Wynn scored]; Garvey doubled to left [Cey to third];
Russell was walked intentionally; Downing struck out; 1 R, 2 H,
0 E, 3 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Astros 1.

ASTROS 6TH: Metzger grounded out (second to first); Helms
singled to shortstop; MILBOURNE RAN FOR HELMS; Cedeno forced
Milbourne (shortstop to second); Cedeno stole second; Watson
walked; L. May homered [Cedeno scored, Watson scored]; BREWER
REPLACED DOWNING (PITCHING); Rader walked (walk was charged to
Downing); Brown struck out; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 2,
Astros 4.

DODGERS 7TH: MILBOURNE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Lacy made an
out to shortstop; Paciorek singled to left; Wynn flied out to
left; Ferguson walked [Paciorek to second]; Crawford made an out
to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Astros 4.

ASTROS 7TH: M. May singled; Osteen out on a sacrifice bunt
(catcher to first) [M. May to second]; Metzger flied out to
center; Milbourne grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Astros 4.

DODGERS 8TH: WATSON CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); GROSS
REPLACED L. MAY (PLAYING LF); Cey out on an unknown play; Garvey
doubled to right; MOTA BATTED FOR RUSSELL; Mota singled to right
[Garvey to third]; AUERBACH RAN FOR MOTA; MCMULLEN BATTED FOR
BREWER; McMullen reached on a fielder's choice [Garvey scored,
Auerbach to second]; LOPES RAN FOR MCMULLEN; FORSCH REPLACED
OSTEEN (PITCHING); BUCKNER BATTED FOR LACY; Buckner popped to
third in foul territory; JOSHUA BATTED FOR PACIOREK; Joshua
flied out to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 3, Astros 4.

ASTROS 8TH: BUCKNER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); MARSHALL
REPLACED JOSHUA (PITCHING); AUERBACH STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING
SS); LOPES STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Cedeno grounded out
(third to first); Watson tripled to right; Gross flied out to
center; Rader singled to center [Watson scored]; GALLAGHER
BATTED FOR BROWN; Rader stole second; Gallagher flied out to
right; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 3, Astros 5.

DODGERS 9TH: GALLAGHER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); MENKE
REPLACED WATSON (PLAYING 1B); Wynn grounded out (shortstop to
first); Ferguson grounded out (shortstop to first); Crawford
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 3, Astros 5.