Doug Rau pitched a three-hitter and gained his fourth straight victory when the Dodgers defeated the Astros, 4-0. Reggie Smith backed the lefthander with a triple and homer. A single by Davey Lopes, Smith's triple and a sacrifice fly by Steve Garvey put two runs on the board for the Dodgers in the first inning. Smith hit his homer in the fourth. [The Sporting News]



Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Houston Astros 0
Game Played on Sunday, September 5, 1976 (Day game) at Astrodome
Dodgers      2  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  1  -   4  7  1
Astros       0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   0  3  0


Dodgers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Lopes 2b              2   1   1   0     0   1   .228      Howard lf             4   0   0   0     0   1   .218
  Sizemore 2b         1   0   0   0     0   0   .244      Cabell 3b             3   0   0   0     1   0   .274
Buckner lf            4   0   1   0     0   0   .303      Cedeno cf             3   0   0   0     1   0   .293
Smith rf              4   2   2   2     0   0   .252      Watson 1b             3   0   0   0     1   0   .300
Garvey 1b             3   0   1   1     0   0   .301      Johnson c             4   0   1   0     0   0   .225
Cey 3b                2   1   1   0     2   0   .285      Cruz rf               4   0   1   0     0   0   .309
Lyttle cf             4   0   0   0     0   1   .270      Andrews 2b            3   0   0   0     0   1   .257
Russell ss            4   0   1   1     0   1   .291      Metzger ss            2   0   0   0     0   0   .216
Yeager c              4   0   0   0     0   0   .216        Roberts ph          1   0   0   0     0   1   .282
Rau p                 3   0   0   0     0   0   .148        DaVanon ss          0   0   0   0     0   0   .309
                                                          Larson p              2   0   0   0     0   0   .320
                                                            Boswell ph          1   0   1   0     0   0   .264
                                                            Niekro p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .185

Totals               31   4   7   4     2   3             Totals               30   0   3   0     3   3

Time of Game: 2:08   Attendance: 12,483
Left on Base: Dodgers 4, Astros 6
DP: Dodgers 1, Astros 1
Errors: Russell
Doubles: Cruz (19)
Triples: Smith (5)
Home Runs: Smith (15)
Stolen Bases: Lopes (45), Cedeno (47)
Caught Stealing: Cey (4)
Sacrifice Flies: Garvey (7)
GIDP: Cey (8), Cedeno (15)
Hit by Pitch: Lopes (4,by Larson)


Dodgers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Rau W(14-10)            9     3   0   0   3   3   0  33   2.54
Totals                  9     3   0   0   3   3   0  33

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Larson L(4-6)           8     6   3   3   1   3   1  30   3.07
Niekro                  1     1   1   1   1   0   0   5   3.49
Totals                  9     7   4   4   2   3   1  35

Hit by Pitch: Larson (1)
Wild Pitches: Niekro (8)
Balks: Larson (2)

Umpires: HP - Bob Engel, 1B - Bruce Froemming, 2B - Jerry Dale, 3B - Ed Sudol


DODGERS 1ST: Lopes singled to center; Larson balked [Lopes to
second]; Buckner grounded out (shortstop to first) [Lopes to
third]; Smith tripled to center [Lopes scored]; Garvey hit a
sacrifice fly to left [Smith scored]; Cey walked; Cey was caught
stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 2, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Howard flied out to center; Cabell grounded out
(third to first); Cedeno walked; Cedeno stole second; Watson
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 2,
Astros 0.

DODGERS 2ND: Lyttle struck out; Russell grounded out (third to
first); Yeager grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Dodgers 2, Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Johnson flied out to left; Cruz made an out to
second; Andrews struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 2,
Astros 0.

DODGERS 3RD: Rau grounded out (second to first); Lopes struck
out; Buckner grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Dodgers 2, Astros 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Metzger flied out to center; Larson flied out to
right; Howard struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 2,
Astros 0.

DODGERS 4TH: Smith homered; Garvey flied out to center; Cey
singled to center; Lyttle forced Cey (second to shortstop);
Russell forced Lyttle (pitcher to shortstop to second); 1 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 3, Astros 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Cabell grounded out (third to first); Cedeno flied
out to center; Watson walked; Johnson forced Watson (third to
second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 3, Astros 0.

DODGERS 5TH: Yeager grounded out (shortstop to first); Rau
grounded out (second to first); Lopes was hit by a pitch; Lopes
stole second; Buckner singled to shortstop [Lopes to third];
Smith made an out to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 3,
Astros 0.

ASTROS 5TH: SIZEMORE REPLACED LOPES (PLAYING 2B); Cruz doubled
to center; Andrews grounded out (second to first); Metzger lined
to center; Larson lined to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers
3, Astros 0.

DODGERS 6TH: Garvey singled to right; Cey grounded into a double
play (shortstop to second to first) [Garvey out at second];
Lyttle grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 3, Astros 0.

ASTROS 6TH: Howard flied out to right; Cabell walked; Cedeno
grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first)
[Cabell out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 3, Astros
0.

DODGERS 7TH: Russell struck out; Yeager grounded out (third to
first); Rau grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Dodgers 3, Astros 0.

ASTROS 7TH: Watson lined to left; Johnson singled to right; Cruz
made an out to second; Andrews reached on an error by Russell
[Johnson to second, Andrews to first]; ROBERTS BATTED FOR
METZGER; Roberts struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 3,
Astros 0.

DODGERS 8TH: DAVANON REPLACED ROBERTS (PLAYING SS); Sizemore
grounded out (second to first); Buckner grounded out (first to
pitcher); Smith made an out to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 3, Astros 0.

ASTROS 8TH: BOSWELL BATTED FOR LARSON; Boswell singled to
center; Howard grounded out (third to first) [Boswell to
second]; Cabell flied out to center [Boswell to third]; Cedeno
flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 3, Astros 0.

DODGERS 9TH: NIEKRO REPLACED BOSWELL (PITCHING); Garvey flied
out to center; Cey walked; Lyttle grounded out (second to first)
[Cey to second]; Niekro threw a wild pitch [Cey to third];
Russell singled to pitcher [Cey scored]; Yeager flied out to
center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 4, Astros 0.

ASTROS 9TH: Watson grounded out (shortstop to first); Johnson
flied out to left; Cruz flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Dodgers 4, Astros 0.