After serving up a homer by Gary Thomasson on his first delivery of the game, Don Sutton yielded only three more hits the rest of the way and defeated the Giants, 5-1, to open the Dodgers' 20th season in Los Angeles before a crowd of 51,022. The Dodgers tied the score in the home half of the first on a single by Reggie Smith and double by Ron Cey. Bill Russell hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the fifth and, after the Dodgers added an unearned marker in the sixth, Steve Garvey clinched the outcome with a two-run single in the seventh. [The Sporting News]



Los Angeles Dodgers 5, San Francisco Giants 1
Game Played on Thursday, April     7, 1977 (Day game) at Dodger Stadium
Giants       1  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  4  1
Dodgers      1  0  0    0  1  1    2  0  x  -   5  9  1


Giants               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Dodgers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Thomasson cf          4   1   1   1     0   2   .250      Lopes 2b              5   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Andrews 2b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Russell ss            4   1   1   1     0   0   .250
Madlock 3b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Smith rf              3   2   1   0     1   0   .333
Evans lf              2   0   1   0     2   0   .500      Cey 3b                3   0   1   1     1   0   .333
McCovey 1b            4   0   0   0     0   2   .000      Garvey 1b             4   1   2   2     0   2   .500
Whitfield rf          4   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Monday cf             4   0   0   0     0   2   .000
Speier ss             3   0   0   0     0   1   .000      Baker lf              3   1   1   0     1   0   .333
Hill c                2   0   1   0     1   0   .500        Hale pr,lf          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Montefusco p          2   0   1   0     0   1   .500      Yeager c              4   0   2   1     0   1   .500
  Thomas ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Sutton p              3   0   1   0     1   2   .333
  Williams p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Lavelle p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               30   1   4   1     3   6             Totals               33   5   9   5     4   8

Time of Game: 2:20   Attendance: 51,022
Left on Base: Giants 5, Dodgers 9
DP: Giants 0, Dodgers 2
Errors: Speier, Cey
Doubles: Evans (1), Cey (1), Russell (1)
Home Runs: Thomasson (1)
Stolen Bases: Lopes (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Russell (1)
GIDP: Madlock (1)


Giants                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Montefusco L(0-1)       6     7   3   2   1   6   0  27   3.00
Williams                0.1   2   2   2   2   0   0   5  54.00
Lavelle                 1.2   0   0   0   1   2   0   6   0.00
Totals                  8     9   5   4   4   8   0  38

Dodgers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Sutton W(1-0)           9     4   1   1   3   6   1  33   1.00
Totals                  9     4   1   1   3   6   1  33

Umpires: HP - Bill Williams, 1B - Bob Engel, 2B - Jerry Dale, 3B - John McSherry


GIANTS 1ST: Thomasson homered; Andrews flied out to right;
Madlock grounded out (shortstop to first); Evans doubled to
right; McCovey struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 1,
Dodgers 0.

DODGERS 1ST: Lopes lined to second; Russell lined to left; Smith
singled to center; Cey doubled to left [Smith scored]; Garvey
struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 1, Dodgers 1.

GIANTS 2ND: Whitfield flied out to center; Speier grounded out
(third to first); Hill walked; Montefusco singled to left [Hill
to second]; Thomasson struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants
1, Dodgers 1.

DODGERS 2ND: Monday grounded out (shortstop to first); Baker
flied out to left; Yeager struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 1, Dodgers 1.

GIANTS 3RD: Andrews reached on an error by Cey [Andrews to
first]; Madlock grounded into a double play (shortstop to second
to first) [Andrews out at second]; Evans walked; McCovey
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 1,
Dodgers 1.

DODGERS 3RD: Sutton singled to left; Lopes forced Sutton (third
to second); Lopes stole second; Russell flied out to right
[Lopes to third]; Smith flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Giants 1, Dodgers 1.

GIANTS 4TH: Whitfield grounded out (first to pitcher); Speier
was called out on strikes; Hill singled to left; Montefusco
struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 1, Dodgers 1.

DODGERS 4TH: Cey grounded out (shortstop to first); Garvey
struck out; Monday struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 1,
Dodgers 1.

GIANTS 5TH: Thomasson struck out; Andrews flied out to right;
Madlock flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 1,
Dodgers 1.

DODGERS 5TH: Baker singled to center; Yeager singled to left
[Baker to second]; Sutton walked [Baker to third, Yeager to
second]; Lopes struck out; Russell hit a sacrifice fly to center
[Baker scored]; Smith flied out to left; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Giants 1, Dodgers 2.

GIANTS 6TH: Evans walked; McCovey lined into a double play
(second to first) [Evans out at first]; Whitfield flied out to
center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 1, Dodgers 2.

DODGERS 6TH: Cey lined to left; Garvey singled to center; Monday
lined to center; Baker reached on an error by Speier [Garvey to
second, Baker to first]; Yeager singled to right [Garvey scored
(unearned), Baker to third, Yeager to second (on throw)]; Sutton
struck out; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 1, Dodgers 3.

GIANTS 7TH: Speier grounded out (shortstop to first); Hill
popped to second; THOMAS BATTED FOR MONTEFUSCO; Thomas grounded
out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 1, Dodgers
3.

DODGERS 7TH: WILLIAMS REPLACED THOMAS (PITCHING); Lopes flied
out to right; Russell doubled to left; Smith was walked
intentionally; Cey walked [Russell to third, Smith to second];
Garvey singled to right [Russell scored, Smith scored, Cey to
third]; LAVELLE REPLACED WILLIAMS (PITCHING); Monday struck out;
Baker walked [Garvey to second]; HALE RAN FOR BAKER; Yeager
flied out to right; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Giants 1, Dodgers 5.

GIANTS 8TH: HALE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Thomasson grounded
out (first to pitcher); Andrews grounded out (shortstop to
first); Madlock grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Giants 1, Dodgers 5.

DODGERS 8TH: Sutton was called out on strikes; Lopes grounded
out (pitcher to first); Russell popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Giants 1, Dodgers 5.

GIANTS 9TH: Evans flied out to center; McCovey struck out;
Whitfield grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 1, Dodgers 5.