The Reds completed their comeback with two runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Astros, 7-5. The Reds scored twice in the first, but the Astros jumped on Clay Kirby for four runs in their half, two counting on a single by Doug Rader. Lee May added a run to the Astros' total with a homer in the fifth, but the Reds picked up a tally in the sixth and tied the score when Tony Perez batted in two runs with a single in the seventh.

Pinch-hitter Terry Crowley drew a walk to open the ninth and raced to third on a wild pickoff throw by Ken Forsch. Crowley held third on an infield hit by Rose, but then scored the tie-breaking run on a single by Joe Morgan. Rose took third on the hit and crossed the plate with an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Johnny Bench. [The Sporting News]



Cincinnati Reds 7, Houston Astros 5
Game Played on Tuesday, September 3, 1974 (Night game) at Astrodome
Reds         2  0  0    0  0  1    2  0  2  -   7  8  1
Astros       4  0  0    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   5  9  1


Reds                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Rose lf               4   1   1   0     1   0   .285      Gross rf              5   1   1   0     0   1   .310
Morgan 2b             4   1   1   1     1   1   .300      Metzger ss            2   1   0   0     2   0   .261
Bench c               2   2   1   1     2   0   .279      Cedeno cf             4   1   1   0     0   1   .283
Perez 1b              4   0   2   3     0   1   .274      L. May 1b             3   1   2   2     0   0   .278
Concepcion ss         4   0   1   1     0   0   .274        Campbell pr,1b      0   0   0   0     0   0   .091
Foster rf             4   0   0   0     0   1   .267      M. May c              4   1   2   1     0   0   .284
Geronimo cf           4   0   0   0     0   0   .304      Rader 3b              4   0   1   2     0   1   .256
Kennedy 3b            2   1   1   0     1   0   .143      Howard lf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .278
  King ph             1   0   0   0     0   0   .167      Milbourne 2b          4   0   0   0     0   0   .298
  Chaney 3b           0   0   0   0     0   0   .188      Roberts p             3   0   0   0     0   3   .197
Kirby p               1   0   0   0     1   1   .083        Forsch p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Rettenmund ph       1   1   1   0     0   0   .211        de los Santos p     0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Borbon p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .200        J. Johnson p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Crowley ph          0   1   0   0     1   0   .241        C. Johnson ph       1   0   1   0     0   0   .229
  C. Carroll p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .143

Totals               31   7   8   6     7   4             Totals               34   5   9   5     2   6

Time of Game: 2:30   Attendance:  6,894
Left on Base: Reds 6, Astros 5
DP: Reds 2, Astros 2
Errors: Kirby, Forsch
Doubles: Concepcion (23)
Home Runs: L. May (22)
Sacrifice Flies: Perez (8), Bench (4), L. May (7)
GIDP: Rose (6), Rader (13), Gross (12)


Reds                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Kirby                   6     6   5   5   2   6   1  27   3.26
Borbon W(9-6)           2     2   0   0   0   0   0   7   3.12
C. Carroll              1     1   0   0   0   0   0   3   2.49
Totals                  9     9   5   5   2   6   1  37

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Roberts                 6.2   5   5   5   6   4   0  30   3.25
Forsch L(5-6)           1.1   2   2   2   1   0   0   7   3.01
de los Santos           0     1   0   0   0   0   0   1   0.00
J. Johnson              1     0   0   0   0   0   0   2   5.06
Totals                  9     8   7   7   7   4   0  40

Wild Pitches: Roberts (2)

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


REDS 1ST: Rose popped to first in foul territory; Morgan walked;
Bench singled [Morgan to third]; Perez hit a sacrifice fly to
right [Morgan scored]; Concepcion doubled [Bench to third];
Roberts threw a wild pitch [Bench scored]; Foster struck out; 2
R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 2, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Gross singled; Metzger walked [Gross to second];
Cedeno singled [Gross to third, Metzger to second]; L. May hit a
sacrifice fly to right [Gross scored]; M. May singled [Metzger
scored, Cedeno to third, M. May to second (on throw)]; Rader
singled to left [Cedeno scored, M. May scored]; Howard flied out
to left; Milbourne reached on an error by Kirby [Rader to
second, Milbourne to first]; Roberts struck out; 4 R, 4 H, 1 E,
2 LOB.  Reds 2, Astros 4.

REDS 2ND: Geronimo grounded out (pitcher to first); Kennedy
walked; Kirby walked [Kennedy to second]; Rose grounded into a
double play (shortstop to second to first) [Kirby out at
second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 2, Astros 4.

ASTROS 2ND: Gross grounded out (first to pitcher); Metzger
walked; Cedeno struck out; L. May forced Metzger (shortstop to
second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 2, Astros 4.

REDS 3RD: Morgan flied out to center; Bench flied out to left;
Perez struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 2, Astros 4.

ASTROS 3RD: M. May grounded out (second to first); Rader struck
out; Howard flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 2,
Astros 4.

REDS 4TH: Concepcion grounded out (pitcher to first); Foster
popped to second; Geronimo flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Reds 2, Astros 4.

ASTROS 4TH: Milbourne grounded out (second to first); Roberts
struck out; Gross struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 2,
Astros 4.

REDS 5TH: Kennedy flied out to left; Kirby struck out; Rose
walked; Morgan was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Reds 2, Astros 4.

ASTROS 5TH: Metzger grounded out (pitcher to first); Cedeno
popped to first; L. May homered; M. May popped to third; 1 R, 1
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 2, Astros 5.

REDS 6TH: Bench walked; Perez singled to right [Bench to third];
Concepcion forced Perez (shortstop to second) [Bench scored];
Foster forced Concepcion (shortstop to second); Geronimo
grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds 3,
Astros 5.

ASTROS 6TH: Rader grounded out (pitcher to first); Howard
singled to center; Milbourne grounded out (second to first)
[Howard to second]; Roberts struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Reds 3, Astros 5.

REDS 7TH: Kennedy singled to left; RETTENMUND BATTED FOR KIRBY;
Rettenmund singled to third [Kennedy to second]; Rose lined to
right; Morgan flied out to right [Kennedy to third]; Bench
walked [Rettenmund to second]; FORSCH REPLACED ROBERTS
(PITCHING); Perez singled to right [Kennedy scored, Rettenmund
scored, Bench to third]; Concepcion flied out to right; 2 R, 3
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Reds 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 7TH: BORBON REPLACED RETTENMUND (PITCHING); Gross
grounded out (shortstop to first); Metzger grounded out (second
to first); Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Reds 5, Astros 5.

REDS 8TH: Foster flied out to right; Geronimo grounded out
(third to first); KING BATTED FOR KENNEDY; King grounded out
(second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 8TH: CHANEY REPLACED KING (PLAYING 3B); L. May singled to
right; CAMPBELL RAN FOR L. MAY; M. May singled to center
[Campbell to second]; Rader grounded into a double play (second
to first) [Campbell to third, M. May out at second]; Howard
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Reds
5, Astros 5.

REDS 9TH: CAMPBELL STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); CROWLEY BATTED
FOR BORBON; Crowley walked; Crowley was picked off first but was
safe on an error by Forsch [Crowley to third]; Rose singled to
shortstop [Crowley stayed at third]; DE LOS SANTOS REPLACED
FORSCH (PITCHING); Morgan singled to right [Crowley scored, Rose
to third]; J. JOHNSON REPLACED DE LOS SANTOS (PITCHING); Bench
hit a sacrifice fly to left [Rose scored, Morgan to second];
Perez hit into a double play (left to second) [Morgan out at
third]; 2 R, 2 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 7, Astros 5.

ASTROS 9TH: C. CARROLL REPLACED CROWLEY (PITCHING); Milbourne
grounded out (pitcher to first); C. JOHNSON BATTED FOR J.
JOHNSON; C. Johnson singled to center; Gross grounded into a
double play (shortstop to second to first) [C. Johnson out at
second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Reds 7, Astros 5.