A safe squeeze bunt by John Denny in the seventh inning, scoring Ken Reitz, produced the Cardinals' deciding run in a 5-4 victory over the Astros, who were stopped on their five-game winning streak. Lou Brock drove in two runs with a single in the fifth and Ted Simmons homered with a man on base in the sixth to give the Cards a 4-1 lead before a double by Reitz, infield out by Mike Tyson and Denny's perfectly-placed bunt added the winning tally.

Al Hrabosky replaced Denny with two men on base in the eighth and gave up a three-run homer by Doug Rader before saving the game. The runs were unearned because Reggie Smith bumped into Simmons, forcing the catcher to drop a pop foul by Rader, before the Astros' batter went back to the plate and smashed his homer. [The Sporting News]



St. Louis Cardinals 5, Houston Astros 4
Game Played on Tuesday, August    12, 1975 (Night game) at Astrodome
Cardinals    0  0  0    0  2  2    1  0  0  -   5 11  1
Astros       0  0  1    0  0  0    0  3  0  -   4  8  0


Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Brock lf              4   0   1   2     1   1   .325      Howard lf             5   0   1   0     0   1   .292
Melendez cf           3   0   0   0     0   1   .261      Gross rf              4   1   1   0     0   0   .307
  Davis ph,rf         1   0   0   0     0   0   .282      Cedeno cf             3   1   1   0     1   0   .270
Bradford rf           2   1   1   0     1   0   .231      Johnson 1b,c          3   0   0   0     1   3   .292
  McBride ph,cf       1   0   0   0     0   0   .273      May c                 3   0   1   0     0   0   .249
Simmons c             4   1   2   2     0   0   .346        Watson ph,1b        1   0   0   0     0   1   .330
Smith 1b              4   0   1   0     0   0   .293      Rader 3b              4   1   1   3     0   1   .233
Sizemore 2b           4   0   2   0     0   0   .248      Boswell 2b            3   0   1   0     0   1   .247
Reitz 3b              4   1   1   0     0   0   .273        Helms ph,2b         1   0   0   0     0   0   .179
Tyson ss              4   1   1   0     0   0   .260      DaVanon ss            2   1   1   0     2   1   .357
Denny p               3   1   2   1     0   0   .207      Roberts p             2   0   1   1     0   0   .137
  Hrabosky p          0   0   0   0     1   0   .143        Sosa p              0   0   0   0     0   0  1.000
                                                            Cruz ph             1   0   0   0     0   0   .256
                                                            Cosgrove p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Cabell ph           1   0   0   0     0   1   .260

Totals               34   5  11   5     3   2             Totals               33   4   8   4     4   9

Time of Game: 2:28   Attendance: 10,676
Left on Base: Cardinals 5, Astros 6
DP: Cardinals 0, Astros 1
Errors: Smith
Doubles: Reitz (20), DaVanon (1), Gross (9)
Home Runs: Simmons (14), Rader (9)
Stolen Bases: Cedeno (40)
Caught Stealing: Brock (12), Smith (4), Boswell (3)
GIDP: Reitz (14)


Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Denny W(7-3)            7.1   7   3   1   4   5   0  31   3.76
Hrabosky SV(17)         1.2   1   1   0   0   4   1   6   1.70
Totals                  9     8   4   1   4   9   1  37

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Roberts L(7-13)         6.1  11   5   5   2   1   1  28   4.33
Sosa                    0.2   0   0   0   0   0   0   2   2.92
Cosgrove                2     0   0   0   1   1   0   7   1.91
Totals                  9    11   5   5   3   2   1  37

Umpires: HP - Bill Williams, 1B - Andy Olsen, 2B - Terry Tata, 3B - Ed Sudol


CARDINALS 1ST: Brock grounded out (shortstop to first); Melendez
flied out to right; Bradford popped to catcher in foul
territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Howard singled to left; Howard was picked off first
(pitcher to first); Gross grounded out (pitcher to first);
Cedeno made an out to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Cardinals 0, Astros 0.

CARDINALS 2ND: Simmons singled to left; Smith flied out to left;
Sizemore singled to right [Simmons to third]; Reitz grounded
into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Sizemore out
at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Johnson struck out; May flied out to left; Rader
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Cardinals 0, Astros 0.

CARDINALS 3RD: Tyson grounded out (shortstop to first); Denny
grounded out (third to first); Brock grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Boswell struck out (catcher to first); DaVanon
doubled to left; Roberts singled to right [DaVanon scored];
Howard forced Roberts (shortstop to second); Gross forced Howard
(shortstop to second); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 0,
Astros 1.

CARDINALS 4TH: Melendez struck out; Bradford walked; Simmons
popped to third in foul territory; Smith flied out to left; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Cedeno made an out to shortstop; Johnson struck out;
May singled to center; Rader struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Cardinals 0, Astros 1.

CARDINALS 5TH: Sizemore singled to left; Reitz lined to right;
Tyson singled to left [Sizemore to second]; Denny singled to
center [Sizemore out at home (center to first to shortstop to
catcher to third), Tyson to third, Denny to second]; Brock
singled to left [Tyson scored, Denny scored]; Brock was caught
stealing second (catcher to second); 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Cardinals 2, Astros 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Boswell singled to right; Boswell was caught
stealing second (catcher to shortstop); DaVanon walked; Roberts
flied out to left; Howard forced DaVanon (shortstop to second);
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 2, Astros 1.

CARDINALS 6TH: Melendez flied out to center; Bradford singled to
center; Simmons homered [Bradford scored]; Smith singled to
center; Smith was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop
to first to shortstop); Sizemore grounded out (shortstop to
first); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cardinals 4, Astros 1.

ASTROS 6TH: Gross grounded out (shortstop to first); Cedeno
singled to right; Cedeno stole second; Johnson walked; May flied
out to right [Cedeno to third]; Rader forced Johnson (third to
second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cardinals 4, Astros 1.

CARDINALS 7TH: Reitz doubled to left; Tyson grounded out (second
to first) [Reitz to third]; Denny singled [Reitz scored]; Brock
walked [Denny to second]; SOSA REPLACED ROBERTS (PITCHING);
DAVIS BATTED FOR MELENDEZ; Davis flied out to right [Denny to
third, Brock to second]; MCBRIDE BATTED FOR BRADFORD; McBride
lined to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cardinals 5, Astros 1.

ASTROS 7TH: DAVIS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); MCBRIDE STAYED IN
GAME (PLAYING CF); Boswell grounded out (first unassisted);
DaVanon walked; CRUZ BATTED FOR SOSA; Cruz grounded out (second
to first) [DaVanon to second]; Howard flied out to left; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cardinals 5, Astros 1.

CARDINALS 8TH: COSGROVE REPLACED CRUZ (PITCHING); Simmons
grounded out (third to first); Smith made an out to first;
Sizemore grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Cardinals 5, Astros 1.

ASTROS 8TH: Gross doubled to left; Cedeno walked; Johnson was
called out on strikes; HRABOSKY REPLACED DENNY (PITCHING);
WATSON BATTED FOR MAY; Watson struck out; Smith dropped a foul
fly hit by Rader for an error; Rader homered (unearned) [Gross
scored (unearned), Cedeno scored (unearned)]; HELMS BATTED FOR
BOSWELL; Helms flied out to center; 3 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.
 Cardinals 5, Astros 4.

CARDINALS 9TH: WATSON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); JOHNSON
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING C ); HELMS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING
2B); Reitz flied out to right; Tyson grounded out (third to
first); Hrabosky walked; Brock struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
 Cardinals 5, Astros 4.

ASTROS 9TH: DaVanon struck out; CABELL BATTED FOR COSGROVE;
Cabell struck out; Howard struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Cardinals 5, Astros 4.