The Cubs turned singles by Manny Trillo and Larry Biittner, Greg Gross' sacrifice fly, three walks, a hit batsman and wild pitch into a four-run second inning that produced a 6-1 triumph over the Astros. Reliever Willie Hernandez worked three scoreless innings to preserve Rick Reuschel's fifth victory. [The Sporting News]



Chicago Cubs 6, Houston Astros 1
Game Played on Monday, May       9, 1977 (Night game) at Astrodome
Cubs         2  4  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   6 11  0
Astros       1  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  9  1


Cubs                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
De Jesus ss           4   1   3   1     1   0   .330      Cruz rf               4   0   1   0     1   1   .228
Gross lf              3   1   1   1     1   0   .286      Cabell 3b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .300
Biittner 1b           5   0   2   1     0   0   .319      Cedeno cf             3   1   3   0     0   0   .178
Murcer rf             2   1   1   0     2   0   .337        Howard pr,cf        1   0   0   0     0   1   .250
Morales cf            5   0   0   0     0   1   .284      Crawford lf           3   0   1   1     1   0   .259
Trillo 2b             4   1   2   0     0   1   .388      Ferguson c            4   0   2   0     0   1   .289
Ontiveros 3b          3   0   1   0     1   1   .240      Watson 1b             3   0   0   0     1   1   .229
Mitterwald c          3   1   1   0     1   0   .278      Gonzalez ss           4   0   1   0     0   0   .313
R. Reuschel p         2   1   0   0     0   1   .077      Boswell 2b            2   0   0   0     1   0   .273
  G. Hernandez p      1   0   0   0     0   1   .000        Howe ph             1   0   1   0     0   0   .270
                                                          Andujar p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .250
                                                            Larson p            1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Gardner ph          1   0   0   0     0   1   .143
                                                            Niekro p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Roberts ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .091
                                                            McLaughlin p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Johnson ph          1   0   0   0     0   1   .340

Totals               32   6  11   3     6   5             Totals               33   1   9   1     4   6

Time of Game: 2:30   Attendance:  7,424
Left on Base: Cubs 8, Astros 9
DP: Cubs 2, Astros 3
Errors: Crawford
Doubles: De Jesus (5), Ferguson (4)
Stolen Bases: Cedeno 3 (9)
Caught Stealing: De Jesus (5)
Sacrifice Flies: Gross (2)
GIDP: De Jesus (2), Cabell (4)
Hit by Pitch: R. Reuschel (1,by Andujar), Murcer (1,by McLaughlin)


Cubs                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
R. Reuschel W(5-1)      6     8   1   1   3   1   0  27   2.95
G. Hernandez SV(1)      3     1   0   0   1   5   0  10   0.96
Totals                  9     9   1   1   4   6   0  37

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Andujar L(2-2)          1.1   3   6   4   3   1   0  10   4.62
Larson                  2.2   2   0   0   1   2   0  11   4.30
Niekro                  2     4   0   0   1   1   0   9   3.45
McLaughlin              3     2   0   0   1   1   0  11   2.35
Totals                  9    11   6   4   6   5   0  41

Passed Balls: Ferguson (5)
Hit by Pitch: Andujar (1), McLaughlin (2)
Wild Pitches: R. Reuschel (2), Larson (2)

Umpires: HP - Paul Pryor, 1B - Andy Olsen, 2B - Jerry Crawford, 3B - Doug Harvey


CUBS 1ST: De Jesus singled to pitcher; Gross singled to right
[De Jesus to second]; Biittner lined into a double play (second
unassisted) [De Jesus out at second]; Murcer walked [Gross to
second]; Morales reached on an error by Crawford [Gross scored
(unearned) (no RBI), Murcer scored (unearned) (no RBI), Morales
out at third (center to shortstop to third)]; 2 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1
E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 2, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Cruz singled to left; Cruz was picked off first
(pitcher to first); Cabell grounded out (pitcher to first);
Cedeno singled to left; Cedeno stole second; Crawford singled to
left [Cedeno scored]; Ferguson doubled to right [Crawford to
third]; Watson was walked intentionally; Gonzalez flied out to
left; 1 R, 4 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Cubs 2, Astros 1.

CUBS 2ND: Trillo singled to right; Ferguson allowed a passed
ball [Trillo to second]; Ontiveros struck out; Mitterwald
walked; R. Reuschel was hit by a pitch [Trillo to third,
Mitterwald to second]; De Jesus walked [Trillo scored,
Mitterwald to third, R. Reuschel to second]; LARSON REPLACED
ANDUJAR (PITCHING); Gross hit a sacrifice fly to center
[Mitterwald scored]; Biittner singled to center [R. Reuschel
scored, De Jesus to third]; Larson threw a wild pitch [De Jesus
scored, Biittner to second]; Murcer walked; Morales forced
Murcer (second unassisted); 4 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 6,
Astros 1.

ASTROS 2ND: Boswell walked; Larson forced Boswell (shortstop to
second); Cruz forced Larson (shortstop unassisted); Cabell flied
out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 6, Astros 1.

CUBS 3RD: Trillo was called out on strikes; Ontiveros lined to
right; Mitterwald grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 6, Astros 1.

ASTROS 3RD: Cedeno singled to center; Cedeno stole second;
Cedeno stole third; Crawford walked; Ferguson hit into a double
play (shortstop to catcher) [Cedeno out at home]; Watson forced
Crawford (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 6,
Astros 1.

CUBS 4TH: R. Reuschel was called out on strikes; De Jesus
singled to center; Gross forced De Jesus (pitcher to shortstop);
Biittner grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Cubs 6, Astros 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Gonzalez singled to second; Boswell grounded out
(first unassisted) [Gonzalez to second]; GARDNER BATTED FOR
LARSON; R. Reuschel threw a wild pitch [Gonzalez to third];
Gardner was called out on strikes; Cruz grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 6, Astros 1.

CUBS 5TH: NIEKRO REPLACED GARDNER (PITCHING); Murcer singled to
right [Murcer out at second (right to shortstop)]; Morales
struck out; Trillo singled to left; Ontiveros singled to center
[Trillo to second]; Mitterwald grounded out (pitcher to first);
0 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 6, Astros 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Cabell grounded out (third to first); Cedeno singled
to right; HOWARD RAN FOR CEDENO; Crawford forced Howard (second
to shortstop); Ferguson singled to center [Crawford to third];
Watson grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Cubs 6, Astros 1.

CUBS 6TH: HOWARD STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); R. Reuschel
grounded out (shortstop to first); De Jesus doubled to right; De
Jesus was caught stealing third (catcher to third); Gross
walked; Biittner forced Gross (shortstop unassisted); 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 6, Astros 1.

ASTROS 6TH: Gonzalez grounded out (shortstop to first); Boswell
grounded out (first to pitcher); ROBERTS BATTED FOR NIEKRO;
Roberts grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Cubs 6, Astros 1.

CUBS 7TH: MCLAUGHLIN REPLACED ROBERTS (PITCHING); Murcer was hit
by a pitch; Morales popped to second; Trillo lined into a double
play (first unassisted) [Murcer out at first]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Cubs 6, Astros 1.

ASTROS 7TH: G. HERNANDEZ REPLACED R. REUSCHEL (PITCHING); Cruz
walked; Cabell grounded into a double play (pitcher to shortstop
to first) [Cruz out at second]; Howard struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 6, Astros 1.

CUBS 8TH: Ontiveros walked; Mitterwald singled to left
[Ontiveros to second]; G. Hernandez struck out; De Jesus
grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first)
[Mitterwald out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 6,
Astros 1.

ASTROS 8TH: On a bunt Crawford made an out to pitcher; Ferguson
struck out; Watson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 6,
Astros 1.

CUBS 9TH: Gross grounded out (first to pitcher); Biittner
singled to left; Murcer flied out to left; Morales grounded out
(pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 6, Astros 1.

ASTROS 9TH: Gonzalez lined to second; HOWE BATTED FOR BOSWELL;
Howe singled to center; JOHNSON BATTED FOR MCLAUGHLIN; Johnson
struck out; Cruz was called out on strikes (catcher to first); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 6, Astros 1.