Base thievery by Lou Brock and another extraordinary relief performance by Al Hrabosky enabled the Cardinals to gain a 2-1 victory in 13 innings to move 2½ games ahead of the Pirates in the East Division. Bob Gibson, who started for the Cardinals, yielded a run on a homer by Al Oliver in the first inning. The Cardinals caught up against Jerry Reuss in the seventh on a single by Ted Simmons, a balk and double by Joe Torre.

Brock, who had stolen his 108th base of the season in 10th, led off the 13th with a single off Reuss and promptly stole No. 109. Ted Sizemore sacrificed and Simmons followed with a line drive to Willie Stargell in left field for a sacrifice fly, Brock scoring easily.

Hrabosky pitched the last four innings in relief of Gibson and held the Pirates hitless. However, the Mad Hungarian had his work cut out for him in the Pirates' half of the 13th. Bob Robertson struck out, but Gene Clines walked. Art Howe fanned, but the Pirates' hopes were revived when Torre dropped a pop fly by Rennie Stennett. Hrabosky then whiffed Richie Hebner to end the game with his seventh victory against one defeat. [The Sporting News]



St. Louis Cardinals 2, Pittsburgh Pirates 1
Game Played on Tuesday, September 17, 1974 (Night game) at Three Rivers Stadium
Cardinals    0  0  0    0  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  0    1  -   2  8  2
Pirates      1  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0    0  -   1  5  3


Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Brock lf              6   1   1   0     0   3   .309      Stennett 2b           6   0   0   0     0   0   .286
Sizemore 2b           4   0   0   0     1   1   .248      Hebner 3b             6   0   1   0     0   1   .300
Smith rf              5   0   1   0     1   1   .312      Oliver cf             5   1   1   1     0   1   .316
Simmons c             4   1   1   1     1   2   .266      Stargell lf           5   0   1   0     0   1   .312
Torre 1b              6   0   1   1     0   2   .281      Zisk rf               4   0   0   0     1   0   .316
McBride cf            4   0   1   0     1   0   .315      Sanguillen c          5   0   1   0     0   0   .280
Reitz 3b              5   0   0   0     0   1   .276      Kirkpatrick 1b        3   0   1   0     0   1   .265
Tyson ss              2   0   1   0     0   0   .219        Macha ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .500
  Heidemann ph,ss     3   0   1   0     0   0   .250        Robertson 1b        1   0   0   0     0   1   .237
Gibson p              2   0   0   0     1   1   .213      Taveras ss            4   0   0   0     0   0   .243
  Hunt ph             1   0   1   0     0   0   .264        Clines ph           0   0   0   0     1   0   .223
  Herndon pr          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Reuss p               4   0   0   0     0   1   .165
  Hrabosky p          1   0   0   0     0   0   .333        Howe ph             1   0   0   0     0   1   .254

Totals               43   2   8   2     5  11             Totals               45   1   5   1     2   7

Time of Game: 3:17   Attendance: 21,458
Left on Base: Cardinals 9, Pirates 7
DP: Cardinals 1, Pirates 1
Errors: Torre, Tyson, Oliver, Sanguillen, Reuss
Doubles: Torre (26)
Home Runs: Oliver (9)
Stolen Bases: Brock 2 (109)
Caught Stealing: Brock (32), Gibson (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Sizemore (17)
Sacrifice Flies: Simmons (8)
GIDP: Torre (15), Taveras (7)


Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Gibson                  9     5   1   1   1   1   1  33   3.82
Hrabosky W(7-1)         4     0   0   0   1   6   0  14   2.49
Totals                 13     5   1   1   2   7   1  47

Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Reuss L(15-10)         13     8   2   2   5  11   0  50   3.53
Totals                 13     8   2   2   5  11   0  50

Balks: Reuss (1)

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


CARDINALS 1ST: Brock was called out on strikes; Sizemore struck
out; Smith popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Cardinals 0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 1ST: Stennett popped to shortstop; Hebner grounded out
(second to first); Oliver homered; Stargell singled to right;
Zisk forced Stargell (shortstop unassisted); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Cardinals 0, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 2ND: Simmons walked; Torre grounded into a double play
(third to second to first) [Simmons out at second]; McBride
singled to pitcher [McBride to second (error by Reuss)]; Reitz
flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Pirates
1.

PIRATES 2ND: Sanguillen flied out to center; Kirkpatrick singled
to right; Taveras grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Kirkpatrick out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Cardinals 0, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 3RD: Tyson singled to right; Gibson struck out; Brock
forced Tyson (pitcher to shortstop); Brock was caught stealing
second (catcher to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 0,
Pirates 1.

PIRATES 3RD: Reuss flied out to left; Stennett flied out to
right; Hebner singled to right; Oliver grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 4TH: Sizemore flied out to center; Smith struck out;
Simmons struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Pirates
1.

PIRATES 4TH: Stargell grounded out (second to pitcher); Zisk
walked; Sanguillen singled to right [Zisk to third]; Kirkpatrick
struck out; Taveras popped to second; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Cardinals 0, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 5TH: Torre struck out; McBride grounded out (second to
first); Reitz struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 0,
Pirates 1.

PIRATES 5TH: Reuss flied out to center; Stennett grounded out
(third to first); Hebner grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 6TH: Tyson flied out to center; Gibson walked; Gibson
was caught stealing second (catcher to second); Brock struck
out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 6TH: Oliver grounded out (second to first); Stargell
flied out to left; Zisk popped to first in foul territory; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 7TH: Sizemore popped to second; Smith popped to
catcher in foul territory; Simmons singled to left; Reuss balked
[Simmons to second]; Torre doubled to left [Simmons scored];
McBride popped to shortstop in foul territory; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 7TH: Sanguillen grounded out (second to first);
Kirkpatrick grounded out (second to first); Taveras reached on
an error by Tyson [Taveras to first]; Reuss grounded out (second
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 8TH: Reitz popped to first in foul territory;
HEIDEMANN BATTED FOR TYSON; Heidemann grounded out (shortstop to
first); Gibson reached on an error by Oliver [Gibson to first];
Brock struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 8TH: HEIDEMANN STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); Stennett
grounded out (second to first); Hebner flied out to center;
Oliver grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 9TH: Sizemore walked; Smith singled to left [Sizemore
to second]; Simmons struck out; Torre flied out to right;
McBride walked [Sizemore to third, Smith to second]; Reitz flied
out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 9TH: Stargell grounded out (second to first); Zisk
popped to second; Sanguillen flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 10TH: Heidemann flied out to center; HUNT BATTED FOR
GIBSON; Hunt singled to center; HERNDON RAN FOR HUNT; Brock
forced Herndon (shortstop unassisted); Brock stole second [Brock
to third (error by Sanguillen)]; Sizemore flied out to left; 0
R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 10TH: HRABOSKY REPLACED HERNDON (PITCHING); MACHA BATTED
FOR KIRKPATRICK; Macha popped to second; Taveras popped to
third; Reuss struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 1,
Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 11TH: ROBERTSON REPLACED MACHA (PLAYING 1B); Smith
grounded out (third to first); Simmons flied out to center;
Torre grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 11TH: Stennett popped to second; Hebner grounded out
(first unassisted); Oliver was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 12TH: McBride popped to third in foul territory; Reitz
flied out to right; Heidemann singled to center; Hrabosky
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 12TH: Stargell struck out; Zisk grounded out (shortstop
to first); Sanguillen grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 1, Pirates 1.

CARDINALS 13TH: Brock singled to left; Brock stole second;
Sizemore out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first) [Brock to
third]; Smith was walked intentionally; Simmons hit a sacrifice
fly to left [Brock scored]; Torre struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Cardinals 2, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 13TH: Robertson struck out; CLINES BATTED FOR TAVERAS;
Clines walked; HOWE BATTED FOR REUSS; Howe struck out; Stennett
reached on an error by Torre [Clines to second, Stennett to
first]; Hebner struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Cardinals 2,
Pirates 1.