The Cardinals ended a six-game losing streak and won for only the second time in their last 15 games by rallying for three runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Astros, 6-5. The Astros took a 5-3 lead with four runs in the eighth. A single by Roger Metzger, double by Cesar Cedeno and single by Bob Watson accounted for the first two tallies. After two walks loaded the bases, Tommy Helms singled to drive in a run and Greg Gross walked to force in another tally.

In the ninth, the Cardinals handed Mike Cosgrove his first defeat of the season, although Don Wilson gave up the deciding hit. Luis Melendez led off with a triple and scored on an infield out by Lou Brock. Jerry DaVanon walked and Bake McBride singled, but Reggie Smith flied out. The Astros then decided to call on Wilson, who walked Joe Torre to load the bases. Tim McCarver followed with a single, driving in two runs, to end the Cardinals' losing streak. [The Sporting News]

St. Louis Cardinals 6, Houston Astros 5

Game Played on Saturday, July 20, 1974 (Day game) at Busch Stadium II

Astros       0  0  0    1  0  0    0  4  0  -   5 10  0
Cardinals    0  0  1    0  0  2    0  0  3  -   6 10  1


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Gross rf              3   0   0   1     1   0   .316      Brock lf              5   1   1   1     0   1   .311
Metzger ss            5   1   1   0     0   1   .267      DaVanon 2b            3   1   1   1     2   1   .143
Cedeno cf             4   1   1   1     1   0   .297      McBride cf            4   1   1   0     0   0   .289
Watson lf,1b          5   2   2   1     0   0   .300      Smith rf              5   1   1   0     0   0   .326
L. May 1b             3   0   1   0     1   0   .279      Torre 1b,3b           3   1   1   1     2   0   .288
  Howard pr,lf        0   1   0   0     1   0   .222      Reitz 3b              3   0   1   0     0   0   .290
M. May c              3   0   1   0     0   1   .286        McCarver ph,1b      2   0   1   2     0   0   .221
Rader 3b              3   0   1   1     1   2   .256      Hill c                1   0   0   0     2   0   .308
Helms 2b              4   0   2   1     0   1   .289        Simmons ph,c        1   0   1   0     0   0   .262
  Milbourne pr,2b     0   0   0   0     0   0   .293      Tyson ss              3   0   1   1     0   1   .197
Roberts p             2   0   1   0     0   0   .261        Dwyer ph            0   0   0   0     0   0   .325
  Gallagher ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .179        Heidemann ph,ss     1   0   0   0     0   1   .250
  Forsch p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Foster p              3   0   0   0     0   0   .194
  C. Johnson ph       1   0   0   0     0   0   .247        Folkers p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  York p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Pena p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .500
  Cosgrove p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Hrabosky p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .333
  Wilson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .179        Melendez ph         1   1   1   0     0   0   .244

Totals               34   5  10   5     5   5             Totals               35   6  10   6     6   4

Time of Game: 2:53   Attendance: 13,448
Left on Base: Astros 9, Cardinals 10
DP: Astros 1, Cardinals 1
Errors: Tyson
Doubles: Cedeno (20), Brock (19), Reitz (17), Smith (22), Torre (19)
Triples: Melendez (3)
Stolen Bases: Cedeno (36)
Caught Stealing: Howard (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Gross (6), M. May (3)
GIDP: M. May (7)
Hit by Pitch: McBride (5,by Roberts)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Roberts                 6     6   3   3   3   2   0  27   3.72
Forsch                  1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   3.19
York                    0.2   1   0   0   1   0   0   4   1.37
Cosgrove L(5-1)         1     2   3   3   1   1   0   6   2.63
Wilson                  0     1   0   0   1   0   0   2   4.09
Totals                  8.2  10   6   6   6   4   0  42

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Foster                  7     9   5   4   2   4   0  32   3.63
Folkers                 0.1   1   0   0   1   0   0   3   3.12
Pena                    0.1   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   2.06
Hrabosky W(3-1)         1.1   0   0   0   2   1   0   5   4.62
Totals                  9    10   5   4   5   5   0  41

Hit by Pitch: Roberts (3)
Wild Pitches: Roberts (1)

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


ASTROS 1ST: Gross grounded out (third to first); Metzger
grounded out (second to first); Cedeno walked; Cedeno stole
second; Watson flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros
0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Brock flied out to center; DaVanon walked;
McBride flied out to center; Smith flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 2ND: L. May grounded out (shortstop to first); M. May
singled to right; Rader was called out on strikes; Helms struck
out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 2ND: Torre flied out to right; Reitz lined to right;
Hill walked; Tyson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0,
Cardinals 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Roberts singled to right; Gross out on a sacrifice
bunt (catcher to first) [Roberts to second]; Metzger grounded
out (first unassisted) [Roberts to third]; Cedeno flied out to
center; Bake McBride robbed Cesar Cedeno of HR; 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 3RD: Foster grounded out (second to first); Brock
doubled to left; DaVanon singled to center [Brock scored,
DaVanon to second (on throw to home)]; McBride was hit by a
pitch; Smith hit into a double play (center to second) [DaVanon
out at third]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Watson singled to center; L. May reached on an error
by Tyson [Watson to second, L. May to first]; M. May grounded
into a double play (second to first to shortstop) [Watson to
third, L. May out at second]; Rader singled to right [Watson
scored (unearned)]; Helms singled to right [Rader to second];
Roberts popped to third; 1 R (0 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 1,
Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 4TH: Torre flied out to center; Reitz doubled to left;
Roberts threw a wild pitch [Reitz to third]; Hill grounded out
(third to first); Tyson popped to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Astros 1, Cardinals 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Gross flied out to center; Metzger grounded out
(first unassisted); Cedeno flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 5TH: Foster flied out to right; Brock struck out;
DaVanon grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 1, Cardinals 1.

ASTROS 6TH: Watson flied out to right; L. May singled to left;
M. May struck out; Rader struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Astros 1, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 6TH: McBride flied out to right; Smith doubled to
right; Torre doubled to right [Smith scored]; Reitz flied out to
left; Hill was walked intentionally; Tyson singled to center
[Torre scored, Hill to second]; Foster lined to shortstop; 2 R,
3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 3.

ASTROS 7TH: Helms grounded out (third to first); GALLAGHER
BATTED FOR ROBERTS; Gallagher grounded out (second to first);
Gross lined to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1,
Cardinals 3.

CARDINALS 7TH: FORSCH REPLACED GALLAGHER (PITCHING); Brock
grounded out (shortstop to first); DaVanon was called out on
strikes; McBride flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 1, Cardinals 3.

ASTROS 8TH: Metzger singled to center; Cedeno doubled to right
[Metzger scored]; Watson singled to right [Cedeno scored, Watson
to second (on throw to home)]; L. May was walked intentionally;
FOLKERS REPLACED FOSTER (PITCHING); M. May out on a sacrifice
bunt (catcher to second) [Watson to third, L. May to second];
Rader was walked intentionally; Helms singled to center [Watson
scored, L. May to third, Rader to second]; HOWARD RAN FOR L.
MAY; MILBOURNE RAN FOR HELMS; C. JOHNSON BATTED FOR FORSCH; PENA
REPLACED FOLKERS (PITCHING); C. Johnson popped to shortstop;
HRABOSKY REPLACED PENA (PITCHING); Gross walked [Howard scored,
Rader to third, Milbourne to second]; Metzger struck out; 4 R, 4
H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 5, Cardinals 3.

CARDINALS 8TH: HOWARD STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); WATSON
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); MILBOURNE STAYED IN GAME
(PLAYING 2B); YORK REPLACED C. JOHNSON (PITCHING); Smith
grounded out (second to first); Torre walked; MCCARVER BATTED
FOR REITZ; McCarver flied out to left; SIMMONS BATTED FOR HILL;
Simmons singled to right [Torre to second]; DWYER BATTED FOR
TYSON; COSGROVE REPLACED YORK (PITCHING); HEIDEMANN BATTED FOR
DWYER; Heidemann struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 5,
Cardinals 3.

ASTROS 9TH: TORRE CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 3B); MCCARVER
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); SIMMONS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C
); HEIDEMANN STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); Cedeno popped to
catcher in foul territory; Watson flied out to center; Howard
walked; Howard was caught stealing second (catcher to
shortstop); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 5, Cardinals 3.

CARDINALS 9TH: MELENDEZ BATTED FOR HRABOSKY; Melendez tripled to
center; Brock grounded out (second to first) [Melendez scored];
DaVanon walked; McBride singled to right [DaVanon to second];
Smith flied out to right; WILSON REPLACED COSGROVE (PITCHING);
Torre walked [DaVanon to third, McBride to second]; McCarver
singled to right [DaVanon scored, McBride scored, Torre to
second]; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 5, Cardinals 6.

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