The relief pitching of Bill Greif, who allowed only one hit in the last 3 1/3 innings, enabled the Cardinals to emerge with a 6-4 victory over the Braves. After the Braves took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, the Cards erupted for four runs in their half on singles by Keith Hernandez, Don Kessinger and Hector Cruz, a sacrifice and doubles by Jerry Mumphrey and Garry Templeton.

Willie Crawford added a run with a homer in the third and accounted for another RBI with a single in the fifth. The Braves rallied for three runs in the sixth, but Greif put out the fire and protected the Cardinals' victory. [The Sporting News]



St. Louis Cardinals 6, Atlanta Braves 4
Game Played on Friday, August    20, 1976 (Night game) at Busch Stadium II
Braves       0  1  0    0  0  3    0  0  0  -   4  7  0
Cardinals    0  4  1    0  1  0    0  0  x  -   6 11  0


Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Royster 3b            5   0   0   0     0   0   .244      Mumphrey cf           4   1   2   2     0   1   .262
Office cf             2   0   0   0     0   1   .286      Templeton ss          4   0   2   1     0   0   .233
  Moore lf            2   0   1   0     1   0   .286      Brock lf              4   1   1   0     0   1   .287
Wynn lf,cf            3   1   0   0     2   3   .216      Simmons c             4   0   1   0     0   1   .284
Montanez 1b           4   0   2   1     0   0   .308      Crawford rf           4   1   2   2     0   0   .324
Henderson rf          4   1   1   0     0   0   .257        Anderson rf         0   0   0   0     0   0   .313
Chaney ss             2   1   0   0     2   0   .271      Hernandez 1b          4   1   1   0     0   1   .254
Gilbreath 2b          3   1   1   0     1   0   .260      Kessinger 2b          4   1   1   0     0   0   .247
Correll c             3   0   1   1     1   0   .229      Cruz 3b               4   1   1   1     0   0   .207
Niekro p              1   0   0   0     0   0   .200      Rasmussen p           1   0   0   0     0   0   .160
  Paciorek ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .299        Curtis p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .207
  Torrealba p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Greif p             0   0   0   0     1   0   .000
  May ph              0   0   0   0     0   0   .210
  Gaston ph           1   0   1   2     0   0   .321
  Dal Canton p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .222
  Belloir ph          1   0   0   0     0   1   .244

Totals               32   4   7   4     7   5             Totals               33   6  11   6     1   4

Time of Game: 2:22   Attendance: 14,287
Left on Base: Braves 8, Cardinals 5
DP: Braves 0, Cardinals 2
Doubles: Mumphrey 2 (9), Templeton (1)
Home Runs: Crawford (8)
Stolen Bases: Templeton (3), Mumphrey (13)
Caught Stealing: Simmons (4)
Sacrifice Hits: Rasmussen (3)
GIDP: Henderson (11), Correll (6)


Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro L(13-9)          4     8   5   5   0   1   1  20   3.51
Torrealba               1     3   1   1   0   1   0   5   5.67
Dal Canton              3     0   0   0   1   2   0  10   3.16
Totals                  8    11   6   6   1   4   1  35

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Rasmussen W(5-9)        5.2   5   4   4   5   2   0  26   3.59
Curtis                  0     1   0   0   0   0   0   1   4.57
Greif SV(4)             3.1   1   0   0   2   3   0  12   4.66
Totals                  9     7   4   4   7   5   0  39

Passed Balls: Correll (6), Simmons (7)
Wild Pitches: Rasmussen (3)
Balks: Niekro (4)

Umpires: HP - Ed Montague, 1B - Lee Weyer, 2B - Paul Runge, 3B - Nick Colosi


BRAVES 1ST: Royster popped to catcher in foul territory; Office
flied out to left; Wynn walked; Montanez grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Mumphrey was called out on strikes; Templeton
singled to second; Templeton stole second; Brock flied out to
right [Templeton to third]; Simmons grounded out (first to
pitcher); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 0, Cardinals 0.

BRAVES 2ND: Henderson singled to center; Chaney flied out to
left; Gilbreath singled to right [Henderson to third]; Correll
singled to center [Henderson scored, Gilbreath to second];
Niekro forced Gilbreath (third to shortstop) [Correll to
second]; Royster grounded out (pitcher to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Braves 1, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 2ND: Crawford grounded out (first unassisted);
Hernandez singled to center; Niekro balked [Hernandez to
second]; Kessinger singled to left [Hernandez to third]; Cruz
singled to left [Hernandez scored, Kessinger to second];
Rasmussen out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Kessinger
to third, Cruz to second]; Mumphrey doubled to center [Kessinger
scored, Cruz scored]; Correll allowed a passed ball [Mumphrey to
third]; Templeton doubled to left [Mumphrey scored]; Brock
grounded out (shortstop to first); 4 R, 5 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves
1, Cardinals 4.

BRAVES 3RD: Office was called out on strikes; Wynn struck out;
Montanez singled to left; Henderson grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Cardinals 4.

CARDINALS 3RD: Simmons flied out to center; Crawford homered;
Hernandez grounded out (first unassisted); Kessinger grounded
out (first unassisted); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1,
Cardinals 5.

BRAVES 4TH: Chaney grounded out (second to first); Gilbreath
flied out to right; Correll flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Braves 1, Cardinals 5.

CARDINALS 4TH: MOORE REPLACED OFFICE (PLAYING LF); WYNN CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING CF); Cruz grounded out (shortstop to first);
Rasmussen popped to first; Mumphrey doubled to center; Templeton
flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Cardinals
5.

BRAVES 5TH: PACIOREK BATTED FOR NIEKRO; Paciorek grounded out
(third to first); Royster grounded out (shortstop to first);
Moore flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1,
Cardinals 5.

CARDINALS 5TH: TORREALBA REPLACED PACIOREK (PITCHING); Brock
singled to center; Simmons singled to center [Brock to third];
Crawford singled to center [Brock scored, Simmons to third];
Simmons was picked off and caught stealing home (pitcher to
first to second to catcher to third) [Crawford to second];
Hernandez struck out; Kessinger grounded out (third to first); 1
R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Cardinals 6.

BRAVES 6TH: Wynn walked; Rasmussen threw a wild pitch [Wynn to
second]; Montanez singled to center [Wynn scored]; Henderson
grounded into a double play (pitcher to shortstop to first)
[Montanez out at second]; Chaney walked; Gilbreath walked
[Chaney to second]; Simmons allowed a passed ball [Chaney to
third, Gilbreath to second]; Correll walked; MAY BATTED FOR
TORREALBA; CURTIS REPLACED RASMUSSEN (PITCHING); GASTON BATTED
FOR MAY; Gaston singled to center [Chaney scored, Gilbreath
scored, Correll to second]; GREIF REPLACED CURTIS (PITCHING);
Royster flied out to right; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 4,
Cardinals 6.

CARDINALS 6TH: DAL CANTON REPLACED GASTON (PITCHING); Cruz
grounded out (third to first); Greif walked; Mumphrey forced
Greif (third to second); Mumphrey stole second; Templeton flied
out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 4, Cardinals 6.

BRAVES 7TH: Moore walked; Wynn struck out; Montanez flied out to
center; Henderson flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Braves 4, Cardinals 6.

CARDINALS 7TH: Brock struck out; Simmons was called out on
strikes; Crawford grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Braves 4, Cardinals 6.

BRAVES 8TH: ANDERSON REPLACED CRAWFORD (PLAYING RF); Chaney
walked; Gilbreath forced Chaney (shortstop to second); Correll
grounded into a double play (shortstop to first) [Gilbreath out
at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 4, Cardinals 6.

CARDINALS 8TH: Hernandez grounded out (second to first);
Kessinger grounded out (second to first); Cruz grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 4, Cardinals
6.

BRAVES 9TH: BELLOIR BATTED FOR DAL CANTON; Belloir was called
out on strikes; Royster flied out to right; Moore singled to
center; Wynn struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 4,
Cardinals 6.