The pitching of Larry Dierker and batting of Cliff Johnson helped the Astros defeat the Cardinals, 10-5. Johnson hit a homer, double and two singles, driving in three runs before hurting his ankle tripping over home plate in the seventh inning. Skip Jutze finished the game as catcher.

With a 10-3 lead, the Astros brought Ken Forsch to the mound for some work in the ninth inning and the reliever, who had been sidelined since April 28 with a tender right elbow, had a rough time subduing the Cards, who rallied for three runs. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 10, St. Louis Cardinals 5
Game Played on Sunday, May       9, 1976 (Day game) at Busch Stadium II
Astros       0  1  2    0  3  1    1  0  2  -  10 13  1
Cardinals    1  0  0    0  1  0    0  0  3  -   5 11  1


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Milbourne 2b          5   1   1   0     0   0   .284      Brock lf              5   3   4   0     0   0   .284
Cabell 3b             5   2   3   0     0   1   .284      Harris 2b             5   1   2   2     0   3   .309
Cruz cf               3   1   1   1     1   0   .205      Crawford rf           5   0   2   2     0   0   .333
Watson 1b             4   1   0   1     1   0   .282      Simmons c             4   0   1   1     1   0   .300
Johnson c             4   3   4   3     0   0   .253      Hernandez 1b          4   0   0   0     1   0   .177
  Jutze c             1   1   1   1     0   0   .091      Anderson cf           4   0   1   0     1   0   .333
Gross rf              0   1   0   1     4   0   .301      Cruz 3b               4   0   0   0     0   2   .157
Howard lf             5   0   2   2     0   0   .203      Kessinger ss          4   0   1   0     0   1   .266
Metzger ss            5   0   0   0     0   0   .247      Denny p               1   0   0   0     0   1   .143
Dierker p             4   0   1   0     0   0   .067        Wallace p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Forsch p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Richard ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .091
                                                            Proly p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Melendez ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .130
                                                            Frisella p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Fairly ph           1   1   0   0     0   0   .345

Totals               36  10  13   9     6   1             Totals               39   5  11   5     3   7

Time of Game: 2:31   Attendance: 12,051
Left on Base: Astros 7, Cardinals 10
DP: Astros 0, Cardinals 1
Errors: Metzger, Harris
Doubles: Johnson (4), Cruz (1), Brock (3)
Triples: Cabell (3), Jutze (1), Harris (1)
Home Runs: Johnson (4)
Stolen Bases: Milbourne (5), Brock (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Cruz (1), Gross (3)
GIDP: Metzger (2)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Dierker W(4-3)          8     7   2   2   2   7   0  34   4.22
Forsch                  1     4   3   3   1   0   0   8   2.37
Totals                  9    11   5   5   3   7   0  42

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Denny L(1-2)            4.1   7   5   5   3   1   1  23   5.74
Wallace                 0.2   1   1   1   1   0   0   4   1.96
Proly                   2     3   2   2   1   0   0   8   3.38
Frisella                2     2   2   2   1   0   0   9   1.69
Totals                  9    13  10  10   6   1   1  44

Wild Pitches: Dierker (6), Denny (1), Wallace (2)

Umpires: HP - Doug Harvey, 1B - John Kibler, 2B - Frank Pulli, 3B - Terry Tata


ASTROS 1ST: Milbourne flied out to center; Cabell grounded out
(pitcher to first); Cruz grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Brock singled to left; Brock stole second; Harris
struck out; Crawford flied out to center; Simmons singled to
center [Brock scored]; Hernandez walked [Simmons to second];
Anderson walked [Simmons to third, Hernandez to second]; Cruz
was called out on strikes; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 0,
Cardinals 1.

ASTROS 2ND: Watson grounded out (pitcher to first); Johnson
homered; Gross walked; Howard grounded out (pitcher to first)
[Gross to second]; Metzger flied out to left; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 2ND: Kessinger struck out; Denny struck out; Brock
doubled to center; Harris struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Astros 1, Cardinals 1.

ASTROS 3RD: Dierker singled to center; Milbourne forced Dierker
(second unassisted); Cabell singled to right [Milbourne to
third]; Cruz walked [Cabell to second]; Watson forced Cruz
(third to second) [Milbourne scored, Cabell to third]; Johnson
doubled to left [Cabell scored, Watson to third]; Gross was
walked intentionally; Howard popped to second; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3
LOB.  Astros 3, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 3RD: Crawford flied out to center; Simmons grounded
out (first to pitcher); Hernandez popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 3, Cardinals 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Metzger grounded out (pitcher to first); Dierker
grounded out (pitcher to first); Milbourne singled to left;
Milbourne stole second; Denny threw a wild pitch [Milbourne to
third]; Cabell struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 3,
Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 4TH: Anderson flied out to center; Cruz grounded out
(third to first); Kessinger popped to shortstop in foul
territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 3, Cardinals 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Cruz doubled to left; Watson grounded out (pitcher
to first); Johnson singled to right [Cruz scored]; WALLACE
REPLACED DENNY (PITCHING); Gross walked [Johnson to second];
Wallace threw a wild pitch [Johnson to third, Gross to second];
Howard singled to left [Johnson scored, Gross scored (error by
Harris), Howard to second]; Metzger grounded out (second to
first) [Howard to third]; Dierker lined to second; 3 R, 3 H, 1
E, 1 LOB.  Astros 6, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 5TH: RICHARD BATTED FOR WALLACE; Richard grounded out
(shortstop to first); Brock singled to right; Harris singled to
right [Brock to third]; Crawford reached on an error by Metzger
[Brock scored, Harris to second]; Dierker threw a wild pitch
[Harris to third, Crawford to second]; Simmons popped to
shortstop; Hernandez flied out to left; 1 R, 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.
Astros 6, Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 6TH: PROLY REPLACED RICHARD (PITCHING); Milbourne
grounded out (pitcher to first); Cabell tripled to right; Cruz
hit a sacrifice fly to right [Cabell scored]; Watson grounded
out (second to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 7,
Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 6TH: Anderson popped to third; Cruz popped to first in
foul territory; Kessinger flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 7, Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 7TH: Johnson singled to left; Gross walked [Johnson to
second]; Howard singled to center [Johnson scored, Gross out at
third (center to third)]; Metzger grounded into a double play
(shortstop to first) [Howard out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 8, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 7TH: JUTZE REPLACED JOHNSON (PLAYING C ); MELENDEZ
BATTED FOR PROLY; Melendez flied out to center; Brock flied out
to left; Harris was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Astros 8, Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 8TH: FRISELLA REPLACED MELENDEZ (PITCHING); Dierker flied
out to right; Milbourne grounded out (first unassisted); Cabell
singled to shortstop; Cruz flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Astros 8, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 8TH: Crawford singled to center; Simmons lined to
shortstop; Hernandez popped to third; Anderson singled to left
[Crawford to third]; Cruz was called out on strikes; 0 R, 2 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Astros 8, Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 9TH: Watson walked; Jutze tripled to left [Watson
scored]; Gross hit a sacrifice fly to left [Jutze scored];
Howard flied out to center; Metzger grounded out (second to
first); 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 10, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 9TH: FORSCH REPLACED DIERKER (PITCHING); Kessinger
singled to center; FAIRLY BATTED FOR FRISELLA; Fairly forced
Kessinger (first to shortstop); Brock singled to right [Fairly
to second]; Harris tripled to right [Fairly scored, Brock
scored]; Crawford singled to shortstop [Harris scored]; Simmons
walked [Crawford to second]; Hernandez flied out to center;
Anderson grounded out (third to first); 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Astros 10, Cardinals 5.