Dock Ellis, who had been sidelined by shoulder troubles, made his first appearance since May 20 and pitched five innings to receive credit for the Pirates' 4-2 victory over the Astros. Bob Watson hit a homer for the Astros, who held a 2-1 lead before the Pirates went ahead with two runs in the fifth on a single by Frank Taveras, sacrifice by Ellis, double by Rennie Stennett and single by Manny Sanguillen. Larry Demery finished the game on the mound for the Pirates, who added an insurance run in the ninth on a single by Dave Parker, a stolen base and an error. [The Sporting News]



Pittsburgh Pirates 4, Houston Astros 2
Game Played on Thursday, June      12, 1975 (Night game) at Astrodome
Pirates      1  0  0    0  2  0    0  0  1  -   4  9  0
Astros       0  1  1    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   2  8  1


Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Stennett 2b           4   2   1   1     1   0   .271      Gross lf              4   0   1   0     0   0   .267
Sanguillen c          4   0   3   1     0   0   .339      Metzger ss            3   1   1   0     0   1   .270
Oliver cf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .276      Cedeno cf             3   0   1   0     1   0   .263
Robertson 1b          3   0   0   0     1   0   .211      Watson 1b             3   1   1   1     1   1   .332
Zisk lf               3   0   0   1     0   0   .240      May c                 4   0   2   1     0   0   .237
Parker rf             4   1   1   0     0   1   .320      Cabell rf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .271
Hebner 3b             4   0   0   0     0   1   .282      Rader 3b              4   0   1   0     0   0   .234
Taveras ss            4   1   2   0     0   0   .184      Milbourne 2b          3   0   0   0     0   1   .205
Ellis p               1   0   0   0     0   0   .133        Boswell ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .250
  Demery p            1   0   1   0     0   0   .143      Roberts p             2   0   0   0     0   1   .080
                                                            Cruz ph             1   0   1   0     0   0   .256
                                                            Niekro p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .500
                                                            Johnson ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .267

Totals               32   4   9   3     2   3             Totals               33   2   8   2     2   4

Time of Game: 2:24   Attendance: 10,802
Left on Base: Pirates 6, Astros 7
DP: Pirates 0, Astros 1
Errors: Watson
Doubles: Stennett (12), Sanguillen (9), Cruz (5)
Home Runs: Watson (9)
Stolen Bases: Parker (5)
Sacrifice Hits: Ellis (3), Demery (1), Metzger (12)
Sacrifice Flies: Zisk (3)


Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Ellis W(3-3)            5     5   2   2   2   3   1  22   4.75
Demery SV(2)            4     3   0   0   0   1   0  14   1.95
Totals                  9     8   2   2   2   4   1  36

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Roberts L(3-8)          7     5   3   3   2   3   0  28   3.53
Niekro                  2     4   1   1   0   0   0   9   4.64
Totals                  9     9   4   4   2   3   0  37

Umpires: HP - Satch Davidson, 1B - Tom Gorman, 3B - Lee Weyer


PIRATES 1ST: Umpire Frank Pulli missed game due to
illness; Stennett walked; Sanguillen singled to right
[Stennett to second]; Oliver was called out on strikes;
Robertson walked [Stennett to third, Sanguillen to second]; Zisk
lined out on a sacrifice fly to left [Stennett scored]; Parker
struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 1, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Gross grounded out (shortstop to first); Metzger
struck out; Cedeno grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Pirates 1, Astros 0.

PIRATES 2ND: Hebner struck out; Taveras grounded out (shortstop
to first); Ellis grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 1, Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Watson homered; May singled to right; Cabell flied
out to right; Rader lined to center; Milbourne grounded out
(second to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 1, Astros 1.

PIRATES 3RD: Stennett flied out to center; Sanguillen grounded
out (shortstop to first); Oliver popped to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Pirates 1, Astros 1.

ASTROS 3RD: Roberts struck out; Gross grounded out (pitcher to
first); Metzger singled to center; Cedeno walked [Metzger to
second]; Watson walked [Metzger to third, Cedeno to second]; May
singled to second [Metzger scored, Cedeno to third, Watson to
second]; Cabell forced May (shortstop to second); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E,
3 LOB.  Pirates 1, Astros 2.

PIRATES 4TH: Robertson flied out to left; Zisk popped to first
in foul territory; Parker grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 1, Astros 2.

ASTROS 4TH: Rader grounded out (first unassisted); Milbourne
grounded out (pitcher unassisted); Roberts grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 1, Astros 2.

PIRATES 5TH: Hebner popped to third; Taveras singled to right;
Ellis out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Taveras to
second]; Stennett doubled to right [Taveras scored]; Sanguillen
singled to center [Stennett scored]; Oliver flied out to left; 2
R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Astros 2.

ASTROS 5TH: Gross singled to shortstop; Metzger out on a
sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Gross to second]; Cedeno
grounded out (second to first) [Gross to third]; Watson was
called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Astros
2.

PIRATES 6TH: Robertson flied out to right; Zisk flied out to
center; Parker flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 3, Astros 2.

ASTROS 6TH: DEMERY REPLACED ELLIS (PITCHING); May grounded out
(first unassisted); Cabell lined to second; Rader grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 3, Astros 2.

PIRATES 7TH: Hebner grounded out (third to first); Taveras
singled to right; Demery out on a sacrifice bunt (catcher to
second) [Taveras to second]; Stennett grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Astros 2.

ASTROS 7TH: Milbourne struck out; CRUZ BATTED FOR ROBERTS; Cruz
doubled to left; Gross flied out to center [Cruz to third];
Metzger grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Pirates 3, Astros 2.

PIRATES 8TH: NIEKRO REPLACED CRUZ (PITCHING); Sanguillen doubled
to center; Oliver singled to shortstop [Sanguillen to third];
Robertson reached on a fielder's choice [Sanguillen out at home
(shortstop to catcher), Oliver to second]; Zisk lined into a
double play (shortstop to second) [Oliver out at second]; 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Astros 2.

ASTROS 8TH: Cedeno singled to pitcher [Cedeno out at second
(second to shortstop)]; Watson popped to third; May grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 3, Astros 2.

PIRATES 9TH: Parker singled to center; Parker stole second;
Hebner flied out to left; Taveras grounded out (third to first)
[Parker scored (error by Watson) (no RBI)]; Demery singled to
right; Stennett flied out to right; 1 R, 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
Pirates 4, Astros 2.

ASTROS 9TH: Cabell grounded out (shortstop to first); Rader
singled to left; BOSWELL BATTED FOR MILBOURNE; Boswell flied out
to left; JOHNSON BATTED FOR NIEKRO; Johnson lined to left; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 4, Astros 2.