Although Randy Jones allowed only four hits, the lefthander suffered his 20th defeat of the season when Wilbur Howard rapped his first major league homer to give the Astros a 3-2 victory over the Padres. The Astros' first two runs were unearned. Greg Gross reached base on a wild throw by Bill Almon in the first inning and scored with two out when Dave Hilton failed to come up with a grounder by Lee May.

Tom Griffin doubled in the sixth and advanced an extra base when Almon, handling the relay from the outfield, overthrew third. Lee May plated the run with a sacrifice fly. The Padres got their first run on a homer by Hilton in the second and added their other tally on a sacrifice fly by Johnny Grubb in the third. Howard's homer snapped a tie in the seventh and gave the decision to Griffin. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 3, San Diego Padres 2
Game Played on Sunday, September 8, 1974 (Day game) at Astrodome
Padres       0  1  1    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   2  8  3
Astros       1  0  0    0  0  1    1  0  x  -   3  4  1


Padres               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Almon ss              4   1   1   0     0   1   .136      Gross rf              3   1   1   0     1   0   .314
  Gaston ph           1   0   0   0     0   1   .217      Metzger ss            2   0   0   0     0   0   .264
Beckert 2b            4   0   1   0     1   0   .254      Cedeno cf             2   0   0   0     2   1   .279
  Scott pr            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      L. May 1b             3   0   1   1     0   0   .275
Grubb cf              3   0   1   1     1   0   .291      C. Johnson c          4   0   0   0     0   1   .221
Winfield rf           4   0   0   0     1   1   .271      Rader 3b              2   0   0   0     1   2   .253
Elliott lf            3   0   1   0     1   1   .500      Howard lf             2   1   1   1     1   0   .298
Ivie 1b               4   0   1   0     0   0   .071      Milbourne 2b          3   0   0   0     0   0   .299
Hilton 3b             3   1   1   1     0   0   .246      Griffin p             3   1   1   0     0   0   .281
  McCovey ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .258        Forsch p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Kendall c           0   0   0   0     0   0   .235
Cannizzaro c          3   0   1   0     0   0   .200
  Locklear ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .292
  Roberts 3b          0   0   0   0     0   0   .167
Jones p               3   0   1   0     0   1   .159
  Clarke ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .207

Totals               35   2   8   2     4   5             Totals               24   3   4   2     5   4

Time of Game: 2:07   Attendance:  5,065
Left on Base: Padres 11, Astros 5
DP: Padres 3, Astros 0
Errors: Almon 2, Hilton, Griffin
Doubles: Grubb (18), Griffin (5)
Home Runs: Hilton (1), Howard (1)
Stolen Bases: Almon (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Metzger 2 (19)
Sacrifice Flies: Grubb (3), L. May (8)
GIDP: Howard (3), C. Johnson (5)


Padres                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Jones L(7-20)           8     4   3   1   5   4   1  32   4.19
Totals                  8     4   3   1   5   4   1  32

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Griffin W(13-8)         7.1   7   2   2   3   3   1  33   3.42
Forsch SV(8)            1.2   1   0   0   1   2   0   7   2.88
Totals                  9     8   2   2   4   5   1  40

Umpires: HP - Terry Tata, 1B - Dutch Rennert, 2B - Shag Crawford, 3B - John Kibler


PADRES 1ST: Almon popped to first in foul territory; Beckert
lined to third; Grubb doubled to left; Winfield walked; Elliott
was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Padres 0,
Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Gross singled to shortstop [Gross to second (error
by Almon)]; Metzger out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first)
[Gross to third]; Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); L.
May reached on an error by Hilton [Gross scored (unearned) (no
RBI)]; C. Johnson forced L. May (third to second); 1 R (0 ER), 1
H, 2 E, 1 LOB.  Padres 0, Astros 1.

PADRES 2ND: Ivie flied out to center; Hilton homered; Cannizzaro
grounded out (third to first); Jones grounded out (third to
first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 1, Astros 1.

ASTROS 2ND: Rader walked; Howard grounded into a double play
(shortstop to first) [Rader out at second]; Milbourne grounded
out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 1, Astros 1.

PADRES 3RD: Almon singled to second; Almon stole second; Beckert
grounded out (first to pitcher) [Almon to third]; Grubb hit a
sacrifice fly to right [Almon scored]; Winfield flied out to
left; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 1.

ASTROS 3RD: Griffin flied out to center; Gross grounded out
(pitcher to first); Metzger flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 1.

PADRES 4TH: Elliott walked; Ivie grounded out (shortstop to
first) [Elliott to second]; Hilton grounded out (second to
first) [Elliott to third]; Cannizzaro grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Cedeno was called out on strikes; L. May grounded
out (third to first); C. Johnson was called out on strikes; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 1.

PADRES 5TH: Jones struck out; Almon flied out to center; Beckert
walked; Grubb flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Padres
2, Astros 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Rader was called out on strikes; Howard walked;
Milbourne lined into a double play (third to first) [Howard out
at first]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 1.

PADRES 6TH: Winfield reached on an error by Griffin [Winfield to
second]; Elliott grounded out (shortstop to first); Ivie popped
to third in foul territory; Hilton made an out to second; 0 R, 0
H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 1.

ASTROS 6TH: Griffin doubled; Gross reached on a fielder's choice
[Griffin to third (error by Almon), Gross to second]; Metzger
grounded out (third to first); Cedeno was walked intentionally;
L. May hit a sacrifice fly to center [Griffin scored
(unearned)]; C. Johnson forced Gross (third unassisted); 1 R (0
ER), 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 2.

PADRES 7TH: Cannizzaro singled; On a bunt Jones singled to third
[Cannizzaro to second]; Almon struck out; Beckert flied out to
center; Grubb grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 2.

ASTROS 7TH: Rader struck out; Howard homered; Milbourne grounded
out (shortstop to first); Griffin flied out to left; 1 R, 1 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 3.

PADRES 8TH: Winfield grounded out (shortstop to first); Elliott
singled to center; Ivie singled to left [Elliott to second];
FORSCH REPLACED GRIFFIN (PITCHING); MCCOVEY BATTED FOR HILTON;
McCovey grounded out (first to pitcher) [Elliott to third, Ivie
to second]; LOCKLEAR BATTED FOR CANNIZZARO; Locklear grounded
out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros
3.

ASTROS 8TH: KENDALL REPLACED MCCOVEY (PLAYING C ); ROBERTS
REPLACED LOCKLEAR (PLAYING 3B); Gross walked; Metzger out on a
sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Gross to second]; Cedeno was
walked intentionally; L. May singled to right [Gross to third,
Cedeno to second]; C. Johnson grounded into a double play
(pitcher to catcher to first) [Gross out at home]; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 3.

PADRES 9TH: CLARKE BATTED FOR JONES; Clarke grounded out
(shortstop to first); GASTON BATTED FOR ALMON; Gaston struck
out; Beckert singled to shortstop; SCOTT RAN FOR BECKERT; Grubb
walked [Scott to second]; Winfield struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Padres 2, Astros 3.