Larry Dierker, allowing just one hit after the fourth inning and aiding his own cause with two RBIs on a single and a squeeze bunt, propelled the Astros to an 11-3 win over the Giants. The visitors got off in front in the first inning when Ed Goodson's single scored Bobby Bonds, who had beat out an infield hit, and Garry Maddox, who had walked. But from then on, it was all Houston.

Tommy Helms' double in the second drove in two runs to tie the score. Dierker then followed with a single to put his team in front to stay. The Astros added a pair in the third and three more in the sixth, the highlight of that frame being Dierker's perfect squeeze bunt. Four Giant pitchers toiled and only Ron Bryant, who worked two innings, escaped unscathed. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 11, San Francisco Giants 3
Game Played on Saturday, July      27, 1974 (Night game) at Astrodome
Giants       2  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  0  -   3  7  1
Astros       0  3  2    0  0  3    1  2  x  -  11 11  1


Giants               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Bonds rf              5   1   2   0     0   1   .264      Gross rf              4   1   2   2     1   1   .310
Speier ss             5   0   0   0     0   1   .245      Metzger ss            5   2   2   0     0   1   .266
Maddox cf             3   1   0   0     2   1   .304      Cedeno cf             4   1   1   1     1   2   .302
Goodson 1b            4   0   2   2     0   0   .317      L. May 1b             4   1   0   1     0   1   .274
Matthews lf           3   0   0   0     1   0   .273      M. May c              4   2   2   0     1   0   .289
  Moffitt p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .385      Watson lf             3   1   1   1     1   0   .301
Phillips 3b           3   0   1   0     1   1   .225      Rader 3b              2   2   1   1     2   0   .258
Arnold 2b             4   0   0   0     0   2   .270      Helms 2b              3   1   1   2     0   0   .299
Rader c               3   1   2   0     1   0   .290        Milbourne 2b        1   0   0   0     0   0   .295
D'Acquisto p          1   0   0   0     0   1   .152      Dierker p             3   0   1   2     0   1   .208
  Thomasson ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .218
  Bryant p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .050
  Ontiveros ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .259
  Barber p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Kingman lf          1   0   0   0     0   1   .211

Totals               34   3   7   2     5   8             Totals               33  11  11  10     6   6

Time of Game: 2:33   Attendance: 21,563
Left on Base: Giants 9, Astros 6
DP: Giants 1, Astros 0
Errors: Phillips, Rader
Doubles: Helms (16)
Stolen Bases: Bonds 2 (26), Maddox (10), Matthews (5), Metzger (8), Cedeno (37)
Caught Stealing: Gross (11)
Sacrifice Hits: Dierker (4)
Sacrifice Flies: L. May (6)


Giants                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
D'Acquisto L(9-8)       3     5   5   4   2   3   0  16   3.37
Bryant                  2     0   0   0   0   2   0   6   6.53
Barber                  1.2   4   4   4   3   1   0  12   5.68
Moffitt                 1.1   2   2   2   1   0   0   7   3.41
Totals                  8    11  11  10   6   6   0  41

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Dierker W(7-6)          9     7   3   2   5   8   0  39   2.57
Totals                  9     7   3   2   5   8   0  39

Wild Pitches: D'Acquisto (5)

Umpires: HP - Art Williams, 1B - Doug Harvey, 2B - Jerry Dale, 3B - Harry Wendelstedt


GIANTS 1ST: Bonds singled; Bonds stole second; Speier grounded
out (pitcher to first); Maddox walked; Bonds stole third and
Maddox stole second; Goodson singled [Bonds scored, Maddox
scored]; Matthews flied out to center; Phillips singled [Goodson
to second]; Arnold struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 2,
Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Gross singled; Metzger struck out; Cedeno struck out
while Gross was caught stealing second (catcher to second); 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 2, Astros 0.

GIANTS 2ND: Rader singled; D'Acquisto struck out; Bonds forced
Rader (second to shortstop); Speier flied out to right; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 2, Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: L. May grounded out (third to first); M. May walked;
Watson flied out to right; Rader walked [M. May to second];
Helms doubled [M. May scored, Rader scored]; D'Acquisto threw a
wild pitch [Helms to third]; Dierker singled [Helms scored];
Gross forced Dierker (shortstop to second); 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Giants 2, Astros 3.

GIANTS 3RD: Maddox walked; Goodson flied out to center; Matthews
forced Maddox (third to second); Matthews stole second; Phillips
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 2, Astros 3.

ASTROS 3RD: Metzger singled; Metzger stole second; Cedeno struck
out; L. May reached on an error by Phillips [Metzger scored]; M.
May singled [L. May to third]; Watson forced M. May (shortstop
to second) [L. May scored (unearned)]; Rader flied out to left;
2 R (1 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 2, Astros 5.

GIANTS 4TH: Arnold grounded out (shortstop to first); Rader
singled; THOMASSON BATTED FOR D'ACQUISTO; Thomasson flied out to
center; Bonds singled [Rader scored (error by Rader) (unearned),
Bonds to second]; Speier struck out; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 1
LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 5.

ASTROS 4TH: BRYANT REPLACED THOMASSON (PITCHING); Helms grounded
out (first unassisted); Dierker struck out; Gross struck out; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 5.

GIANTS 5TH: Maddox grounded out (second to first); Goodson flied
out to center; Matthews walked; Phillips walked [Matthews to
second]; Arnold was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
 Giants 3, Astros 5.

ASTROS 5TH: Metzger lined to shortstop; Cedeno grounded out
(shortstop to first); L. May flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 5.

GIANTS 6TH: Rader made an out to third; ONTIVEROS BATTED FOR
BRYANT; Ontiveros grounded out (first to pitcher); Bonds popped
to first in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 3,
Astros 5.

ASTROS 6TH: BARBER REPLACED ONTIVEROS (PITCHING); M. May
singled; Watson singled [M. May to second]; Rader walked [M. May
to third, Watson to second]; Helms flied out to center; Dierker
out on a sacrifice bunt (catcher to first) [M. May scored,
Watson to third, Rader to second]; Gross singled [Watson scored,
Rader scored]; Metzger grounded out (third to first); 3 R, 3 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 8.

GIANTS 7TH: MILBOURNE REPLACED HELMS (PLAYING 2B); Speier flied
out to left; Maddox struck out; Goodson singled; Matthews forced
Goodson (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 3,
Astros 8.

ASTROS 7TH: Cedeno walked; Cedeno stole second; L. May struck
out; M. May popped to first in foul territory; Watson was walked
intentionally; Rader singled [Cedeno scored, Watson to third];
MOFFITT REPLACED MATTHEWS (PITCHING); KINGMAN REPLACED BARBER
(PLAYING LF); Milbourne grounded out (pitcher to first); 1 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 9.

GIANTS 8TH: Phillips grounded out (first unassisted); Arnold
flied out to center; Rader walked; Kingman struck out; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 9.

ASTROS 8TH: Dierker grounded out (third to first); Gross walked;
Metzger singled [Gross to third]; Cedeno singled [Gross scored,
Metzger to third]; L. May hit a sacrifice fly to center [Metzger
scored]; M. May grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 11.

GIANTS 9TH: Bonds struck out; Speier grounded out (second to
first); Maddox flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants
3, Astros 11.