Pinch-hitting with two out in the ninth inning, Milt May came through with a grand-slam homer to power the Astros to a 5-1 victory over the Padres. Bob Watson opened the stanza with a single and yielded the paths to Bob Gallagher. After the Padres changed pitchers, Lee May bunted and when Vicente Romo threw wildly to second, Gallagher reached third on the error and May was safe at first. The Padres then walked Cliff Johnson intentionally to load the bases and the strategy appeared to be working when Romo struck out both Doug Rader and Tommy Helms, but May proved to be a tougher customer as the pinch-hitter for Ken Boswell. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 5, San Diego Padres 1
Game Played on Wednesday, May       22, 1974 (Night game) at Astrodome
Padres       0  0  0    0  0  1    0  0  0  -   1  5  1
Astros       1  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  4  -   5  9  1


Padres               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Thomas 2b             4   0   2   0     0   0   .294      Gross rf              3   0   0   0     1   0   .333
Hernandez ss          4   1   1   0     0   0   .222      Metzger ss            4   1   2   0     0   0   .291
Winfield lf           4   0   1   1     0   0   .280      Cedeno cf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .289
Colbert 1b            3   0   0   0     0   1   .217      Watson lf             4   0   2   1     0   0   .322
Gaston rf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .221        Gallagher pr        0   1   0   0     0   0   .195
Grubb cf              3   0   0   0     0   2   .308      L. May 1b             4   0   0   0     0   3   .275
  McCovey ph          0   0   0   0     1   0   .240        Milbourne pr        0   1   0   0     0   0   .278
  Gaspar pr,cf        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      C. Johnson c          3   1   0   0     1   3   .290
Roberts 3b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .175      Rader 3b              3   0   0   0     1   2   .252
Barton c              3   0   0   0     0   0   .250      Helms 2b              4   0   2   0     0   1   .296
Jones p               3   0   0   0     0   1   .200      Osteen p              3   0   1   0     0   1   .174
  Romo p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        M. May ph           1   1   1   4     0   0   .262

Totals               32   1   5   1     1   5             Totals               33   5   9   5     3  11

Time of Game: 2:17   Attendance: 10,365
Left on Base: Padres 6, Astros 5
DP: Padres 2, Astros 0
Errors: Romo, C. Johnson
Doubles: Gaston (7), Winfield (7), Thomas (7), Watson (3)
Home Runs: M. May (2)
Stolen Bases: Hernandez 2 (16), Metzger (5)
Caught Stealing: Cedeno (2)
GIDP: Metzger (3), Gross (3)
Hit by Pitch: Colbert (1,by Osteen)


Padres                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Jones L(3-7)            8     8   2   1   2   9   0  31   5.71
Romo                    0.2   1   3   0   1   2   1   5   2.32
Totals                  8.2   9   5   1   3  11   1  36

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Osteen W(5-4)           9     5   1   1   1   5   0  34   2.82
Totals                  9     5   1   1   1   5   0  34

Hit by Pitch: Osteen (2)

Umpires: HP - Nick Colosi, 1B - Art Williams, 2B - Doug Harvey, 3B - Harry Wendelstedt


PADRES 1ST: Thomas grounded out (third to first); Hernandez
singled; Hernandez stole second; Winfield grounded out (second
to first) [Hernandez to third]; Colbert was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Padres 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Gross grounded out (second to first); Metzger
singled; Metzger stole second; Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to
first); Watson doubled [Metzger scored]; L. May struck out; 1 R,
2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Padres 0, Astros 1.

PADRES 2ND: Gaston doubled to right; Grubb struck out; Roberts
grounded out (shortstop to first); Barton lined to left; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Padres 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 2ND: C. Johnson struck out; Rader was called out on
strikes; Helms singled to center; Osteen struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Padres 0, Astros 1.

PADRES 3RD: Jones was called out on strikes; Thomas grounded out
(third to first); Hernandez grounded out (second to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 0, Astros 1.

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

PADRES 4TH: Winfield flied out to center; Colbert made an out to
first; Gaston struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 0,
Astros 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Watson grounded out (third to first); L. May was
called out on strikes; C. Johnson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Padres 0, Astros 1.

PADRES 5TH: Grubb lined to second; Roberts made an out to
second; Barton flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Padres 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Rader walked; Helms singled to center [Rader to
second]; On a bunt Osteen forced Rader (pitcher to third) [Helms
to second]; Gross walked [Helms to third, Osteen to second];
Metzger grounded into a double play (pitcher to catcher to
first) [Helms out at home]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Padres 0,
Astros 1.

PADRES 6TH: Jones flied out to center; Thomas singled; Hernandez
forced Thomas (shortstop to second); Hernandez stole second
[Hernandez to third (error by C. Johnson)]; Winfield doubled
[Hernandez scored]; Colbert was hit by a pitch; Gaston made an
out to second; 1 R, 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Padres 1, Astros 1.

ASTROS 6TH: Cedeno singled to center; Cedeno was picked off and
caught stealing second (pitcher to first to second); Watson
flied out to right; L. May struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Padres 1, Astros 1.

PADRES 7TH: Grubb was called out on strikes; Roberts flied out
to right; Barton grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Padres 1, Astros 1.

ASTROS 7TH: C. Johnson was called out on strikes; Rader grounded
out (third to first); Helms grounded out (third to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 1, Astros 1.

PADRES 8TH: Jones grounded out (shortstop to first); Thomas
doubled to right; Hernandez flied out to center [Thomas to
third]; Winfield flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Padres 1, Astros 1.

ASTROS 8TH: Osteen singled to right; Gross grounded into a
double play (second to shortstop to first) [Osteen out at
second]; Metzger singled; Cedeno struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Padres 1, Astros 1.

PADRES 9TH: Colbert flied out to center; Gaston grounded out
(shortstop to first); MCCOVEY BATTED FOR GRUBB; McCovey walked;
GASPAR RAN FOR MCCOVEY; Roberts flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Padres 1, Astros 1.

ASTROS 9TH: GASPAR STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); Watson singled
to left; GALLAGHER RAN FOR WATSON; ROMO REPLACED JONES
(PITCHING); On a bunt L. May reached on an error by Romo
[Gallagher to third, L. May to first]; MILBOURNE RAN FOR L. MAY;
C. Johnson was walked intentionally [Milbourne to second]; Rader
struck out; Helms was called out on strikes; M. MAY BATTED FOR
OSTEEN; M. May homered (unearned) [Gallagher scored (unearned),
Milbourne scored (unearned), C. Johnson scored (unearned)]; 4 R
(0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 1, Astros 5.