On the brink of defeat after Dave Parker homered for the Pirates in the top half of the 12th inning, the Astros came back with a three-run blast by Doug Rader to gain an 8-6 victory. Bob Watson singled and Milt May walked ahead of Rader's blow. The Astros scored four runs in the first on two walks, a double by Watson and homer by Cliff Johnson. Ollie Brown made it 5-0 with a circuit clout in the second, but the Pirates rallied for four runs in the fourth and tied the score when Al Oliver hit his second triple of the game in the seventh. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 8, Pittsburgh Pirates 6
Game Played on Wednesday, May       8, 1974 (Night game) at Astrodome
Pirates      0  0  0    4  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  1  -   6 14  2
Astros       4  1  0    0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  3  -   8  9  2


Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Stennett 2b           6   1   1   0     0   0   .280      Kelleher ss           4   0   0   0     0   1   .154
Clines cf             6   0   0   0     0   0   .147        Gross ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .365
Oliver 1b             6   1   3   1     0   0   .300        Scherman p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Stargell lf           6   1   1   0     0   0   .287        J. Johnson p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Zisk rf               3   1   1   1     0   1   .275        Edwards ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .195
  Parker rf           3   1   2   1     0   0   .337        Nagy p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Sanguillen c          5   1   4   1     1   0   .279      Brown rf              3   2   1   1     1   0   .216
Hebner 3b             5   0   2   1     0   1   .333        Wilson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .200
Taveras ss            1   0   0   1     1   0   .315        Menke ph,2b         0   0   0   0     2   0   .143
  Robertson ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .133      Cedeno cf             4   1   0   0     2   0   .296
  Mendoza ss          2   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Watson lf             5   2   3   2     1   0   .364
Reuss p               0   0   0   0     0   0   .222      L. May 1b             6   0   1   0     0   0   .318
  Bevacqua ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .000      C. Johnson c          1   1   1   2     2   0   .273
  Kison p             1   0   0   0     0   1   .000        M. May ph,c         2   1   0   0     1   0   .278
  Kirkpatrick ph      0   0   0   0     1   0   .381      Rader 3b              6   1   1   3     0   1   .263
  Giusti p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .250      Helms 2b              4   0   1   0     0   1   .329
  Popovich ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .133        Milbourne pr,ss     0   0   0   0     1   0   .294
  Morlan p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Osteen p              2   0   0   0     0   1   .125
  Hernandez p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Forsch p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Sadowski p          0   0   0   0     1   0   .000        Gallagher ph,rf     2   0   1   0     0   0   .185

Totals               47   6  14   6     4   3             Totals               41   8   9   8    10   4

Time of Game: 3:26   Attendance: 11,266
Left on Base: Pirates 11, Astros 10
DP: Pirates 0, Astros 3
Errors: Sanguillen, Hebner, Kelleher, Helms
Doubles: Sanguillen (3), Stargell (5), Watson (2)
Triples: Oliver 2 (4)
Home Runs: Parker (2), C. Johnson (1), Brown (2), Rader (3)
Stolen Bases: Stennett (2), Gross (3)
Caught Stealing: Watson (3), C. Johnson (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Gallagher (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Hebner (2), Taveras (1)
GIDP: Bevacqua (2), Clines (2), Taveras (3)


Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Reuss                   2     3   5   5   3   2   2  13   6.75
Kison                   4     1   0   0   2   1   0  13   2.35
Giusti                  1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   5.40
Morlan                  0.1   1   0   0   1   0   0   3   3.00
Hernandez               1.1   1   0   0   1   1   0   6   2.51
Sadowski L(0-1)         2.2   3   3   3   3   0   1  14   5.63
Totals                 11.1   9   8   8  10   4   3  52

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Osteen                  5.1   7   4   2   2   2   0  25   3.23
Forsch                  1.2   1   1   1   1   0   0   6   1.29
Wilson                  2     2   0   0   0   0   0   8   6.88
Scherman                0     2   0   0   0   0   0   2   1.35
J. Johnson              2     0   0   0   1   1   0   7   3.77
Nagy W(1-0)             1     2   1   1   0   0   1   5   3.12
Totals                 12    14   6   4   4   3   1  53

Wild Pitches: Osteen (1)

Umpires: HP - Paul Runge, 1B - Ed Vargo, 2B - Bruce Froemming, 3B - John McSherry


PIRATES 1ST: Stennett grounded out (second to first); Clines
grounded out (shortstop to first); Oliver grounded out (second
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Kelleher was called out on strikes; Brown walked;
Cedeno walked [Brown to second]; Watson doubled to left [Brown
scored, Cedeno scored]; L. May lined to left; C. Johnson homered
[Watson scored]; Rader reached on an error by Hebner [Rader to
first]; Helms forced Rader (shortstop to second); 4 R, 2 H, 1 E,
1 LOB.  Pirates 0, Astros 4.

PIRATES 2ND: Stargell grounded out (first to pitcher); Zisk
flied out to right; Sanguillen walked; Osteen threw a wild pitch
[Sanguillen to second]; Hebner grounded out (pitcher
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 0, Astros 4.

ASTROS 2ND: Osteen struck out; Kelleher grounded out (second to
first); Brown homered; Cedeno walked; Watson forced Cedeno
(third to second); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 0, Astros 5.

PIRATES 3RD: Taveras walked; BEVACQUA BATTED FOR REUSS; Bevacqua
grounded into a double play (pitcher to second to first)
[Taveras out at second]; Stennett singled to center; Clines
forced Stennett (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Pirates 0, Astros 5.

ASTROS 3RD: KISON REPLACED BEVACQUA (PITCHING); L. May flied out
to center; C. Johnson walked; Rader flied out to right; Helms
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 0, Astros 5.

PIRATES 4TH: Oliver singled to right; Stargell reached on an
error by Kelleher [Oliver to second, Stargell to first]; Zisk
singled [Oliver scored, Stargell to third]; Sanguillen doubled
to left [Stargell scored (unearned), Zisk to third]; Hebner hit
a sacrifice fly to right [Zisk scored, Sanguillen to third];
Taveras hit a sacrifice fly to right [Sanguillen scored
(unearned)]; Kison struck out; 4 R (2 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 4, Astros 5.

ASTROS 4TH: Osteen grounded out (second to first); Kelleher
grounded out (second to first); Brown grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 4, Astros 5.

PIRATES 5TH: Stennett reached on an error by Helms [Stennett to
first]; Clines grounded into a double play (third to second to
first) [Stennett out at second]; Oliver tripled to right;
Stargell grounded out (second to pitcher); 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
 Pirates 4, Astros 5.

ASTROS 5TH: Cedeno grounded out (third to first); Watson singled
to right; Watson was caught stealing second (catcher to second);
L. May flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 4,
Astros 5.

PIRATES 6TH: Zisk was called out on strikes; Sanguillen singled
to shortstop; Hebner singled to right [Sanguillen to second];
FORSCH REPLACED OSTEEN (PITCHING); Taveras grounded into a
double play (shortstop to first) [Hebner out at second]; 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 4, Astros 5.

ASTROS 6TH: PARKER REPLACED ZISK (PLAYING RF); C. Johnson
walked; Rader flied out to right; C. Johnson was caught stealing
second (catcher to shortstop); Helms flied out to center; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 4, Astros 5.

PIRATES 7TH: KIRKPATRICK BATTED FOR KISON; Kirkpatrick walked;
Stennett forced Kirkpatrick (shortstop to second); Clines flied
out to right; Oliver tripled [Stennett scored]; Stargell made an
out to third; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 7TH: GIUSTI REPLACED KIRKPATRICK (PITCHING); GALLAGHER
BATTED FOR FORSCH; Gallagher grounded out (third to first);
Kelleher grounded out (first unassisted); Brown made an out to
shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 5, Astros 5.

PIRATES 8TH: WILSON REPLACED BROWN (PITCHING); GALLAGHER STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING RF); Parker grounded out (shortstop to first);
Sanguillen singled to right; Hebner singled to right [Sanguillen
to third]; ROBERTSON BATTED FOR TAVERAS; Robertson popped to
catcher in foul territory; POPOVICH BATTED FOR GIUSTI; Popovich
popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Pirates 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 8TH: MENDOZA REPLACED ROBERTSON (PLAYING SS); MORLAN
REPLACED POPOVICH (PITCHING); Cedeno made an out to third;
Watson walked; L. May singled to left [Watson to second]; M. MAY
BATTED FOR C. JOHNSON; HERNANDEZ REPLACED MORLAN (PITCHING); M.
May flied out to right; Rader struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Pirates 5, Astros 5.

PIRATES 9TH: M. MAY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); Stennett flied
out to left; Clines made an out to first; Oliver made an out to
shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 9TH: Helms singled to left; MILBOURNE RAN FOR HELMS;
Gallagher out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Milbourne
to second]; GROSS BATTED FOR KELLEHER; Gross reached on a
fielder's choice [Milbourne out at third (shortstop to third)];
MENKE BATTED FOR WILSON; Gross stole second [Gross to third
(error by Sanguillen)]; Menke walked; SADOWSKI REPLACED
HERNANDEZ (PITCHING); Cedeno made an out to third; 0 R, 1 H, 1
E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 5, Astros 5.

PIRATES 10TH: SCHERMAN REPLACED GROSS (PITCHING); MENKE STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); MILBOURNE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS);
Stargell doubled to center; Parker singled to center [Stargell
to third]; J. JOHNSON REPLACED SCHERMAN (PITCHING); Sanguillen
reached on a fielder's choice [Stargell out at home (shortstop
to catcher to third), Parker to second]; Hebner struck out;
Mendoza grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Pirates 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 10TH: Watson made an out to shortstop; L. May flied out
to center; M. May made an out to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Pirates 5, Astros 5.

PIRATES 11TH: Sadowski walked; Stennett forced Sadowski (second
to shortstop); Stennett stole second; Clines grounded out (third
to first); Oliver grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Pirates 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 11TH: Rader flied out to center; Milbourne walked;
Gallagher singled to center [Milbourne to third]; EDWARDS BATTED
FOR J. JOHNSON; Edwards flied out to left; Menke walked
[Gallagher to second]; Cedeno flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
3 LOB.  Pirates 5, Astros 5.

PIRATES 12TH: NAGY REPLACED EDWARDS (PITCHING); Stargell lined
to shortstop; Parker homered; Sanguillen singled to right;
Hebner forced Sanguillen (second to shortstop); Mendoza grounded
out (first unassisted); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 6, Astros
5.

ASTROS 12TH: Watson singled to right; L. May popped to first in
foul territory; M. May walked [Watson to second]; Rader homered
[Watson scored, M. May scored]; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates
6, Astros 8.