One hour after the Padres had defeated the Astros, 6-5. it was announced that John McNamara had been relieved as manager. The Padres, with this victory, had a 20-28 record but, even with the addition of high-priced free agents Gene Tenace and Rollie Fingers, languished in fifth place in the West Division, 14½ games behind the Dodgers.

George Hendrick and Mike Ivie each homered with a man on base to help the Padres take a 6-0 lead over the Astros. With Bob Watson hitting a homer, the Astros kayoed Bob Shirley while scoring four runs in the eighth. Fingers gave up another tally in the ninth before ending the game and picking up his ninth save of the season. [The Sporting News]



San Diego Padres 6, Houston Astros 5
Game Played on Saturday, May       28, 1977 (Night game) at San Diego Stadium
Astros       0  0  0    0  0  0    0  4  1  -   5 10  3
Padres       0  0  2    0  3  1    0  0  x  -   6  6  2


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Padres               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Cedeno cf             5   0   2   0     0   0   .192      Rettenmund lf         4   0   0   0     0   1   .315
Gonzalez ss           4   0   1   0     0   0   .290      Champion 2b           4   1   1   0     0   0   .227
  Niekro p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Hendrick cf           4   2   2   2     0   1   .315
  Crawford ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .264      Winfield rf           3   1   1   1     1   0   .313
  Sambito p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .500      Ivie 1b               4   1   1   2     0   0   .271
Cruz rf               5   1   2   0     0   0   .253      Rader 3b              3   0   1   0     1   2   .293
Johnson lf            3   0   0   0     1   2   .312      Tenace c              3   0   0   0     1   3   .227
Ferguson c            2   0   0   0     1   1   .276        Davis c             0   0   0   0     0   0   .160
  Herrmann c          2   1   1   0     0   0   .136      Almon ss              3   1   0   0     1   0   .224
  Gardner pr          0   0   0   0     0   0   .152      Shirley p             2   0   0   0     0   2   .100
Watson 1b             4   1   1   3     0   1   .255        Fingers p           1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Cabell 3b             3   1   1   0     2   0   .265
Howe 2b,ss            3   1   1   1     1   0   .262
Bannister p           2   0   0   0     0   1   .083
  Larson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Sperring ph,ss      1   0   0   0     0   1   .179
  Boswell ph,2b       1   0   1   1     0   0   .300

Totals               36   5  10   5     5   7             Totals               31   6   6   5     4  10

Time of Game: 2:22   Attendance: 42,222
Left on Base: Astros 11, Padres 6
DP: Astros 0, Padres 0
Errors: Ferguson, Watson, Cabell, Champion, Winfield
Doubles: Cabell (7), Howe (4), Champion (10), Winfield (10)
Triples: Rader (3)
Home Runs: Watson (5), Hendrick (4), Ivie (4)
Stolen Bases: Cruz (14), Cabell (18), Ivie (3)
Caught Stealing: Johnson (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Shirley (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Watson (1)
Hit by Pitch: Johnson (4,by Shirley)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Bannister L(1-5)        4.2   6   5   5   3   5   2  24   7.32
Larson                  1.1   0   1   0   0   1   0   5   5.29
Niekro                  1     0   0   0   1   2   0   4   4.35
Sambito                 1     0   0   0   0   2   0   3   2.25
Totals                  8     6   6   5   4  10   2  36

Padres                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Shirley W(4-5)          7.2   6   4   4   5   6   1  35   3.92
Fingers SV(9)           1.1   4   1   1   0   1   0   8   2.38
Totals                  9    10   5   5   5   7   1  43

Passed Balls: Herrmann (1)
Hit by Pitch: Shirley (2)
Wild Pitches: Larson (3)
Balks: Larson (1)

Umpires: HP - Ed Montague, 1B - Lee Weyer, 2B - Art Williams, 3B - Paul Runge


ASTROS 1ST: Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); Gonzalez
flied out to left; Cruz grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Padres 0.

PADRES 1ST: Rettenmund was called out on strikes; Champion
grounded out (second to first); Hendrick grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Padres 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Johnson was hit by a pitch; Johnson was picked off
and caught stealing second but was safe at second (error by
Champion); Ferguson walked; Watson grounded out (pitcher to
first) [Johnson to third, Ferguson to second]; Cabell was walked
intentionally; Howe flied out to right; Bannister forced Cabell
(shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 0, Padres 0.

PADRES 2ND: Winfield flied out to center; Ivie reached on an
error by Watson [Ivie to first]; Ivie stole second [Ivie to
third (error by Ferguson)]; Rader struck out; Tenace walked;
Almon grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 2 E, 2 LOB.
Astros 0, Padres 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); Gonzalez
grounded out (third to first); Cruz singled to second; Cruz
stole second; Johnson struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros
0, Padres 0.

PADRES 3RD: Shirley struck out; Rettenmund grounded out (third
to first); Champion doubled to left; Hendrick homered [Champion
scored]; Winfield grounded out (shortstop to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Padres 2.

ASTROS 4TH: Ferguson flied out to center; Watson was called out
on strikes; Cabell doubled to left; Cabell stole third; Howe was
walked intentionally; Bannister struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Astros 0, Padres 2.

PADRES 4TH: Ivie popped to first in foul territory; Rader
tripled to right; Tenace struck out; Almon was walked
intentionally; Shirley struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros
0, Padres 2.

ASTROS 5TH: Cedeno singled to center; Gonzalez singled to left
[Cedeno to second]; Cruz flied out to right [Cedeno to third
(error by Winfield), Gonzalez to second]; Johnson was called out
on strikes; Ferguson was called out on strikes; Joe Ferguson
ejected by HP umpire Ed Montague; 0 R, 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.
Astros 0, Padres 2.

PADRES 5TH: HERRMANN REPLACED FERGUSON (PLAYING C ); Rettenmund
flied out to right; Champion popped to first in foul territory;
Hendrick singled to center; Winfield doubled to left [Hendrick
scored]; Ivie homered [Winfield scored]; Rader walked; LARSON
REPLACED BANNISTER (PITCHING); Larson threw a wild pitch [Rader
to second]; Tenace struck out; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0,
Padres 5.

ASTROS 6TH: Watson grounded out (shortstop to first); Cabell
grounded out (third to first); Howe lined to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Padres 5.

PADRES 6TH: Almon reached on an error by Cabell [Almon to
first]; Herrmann allowed a passed ball [Almon to second];
Shirley out on a sacrifice bunt (third to second) [Almon to
third]; Larson balked [Almon scored (unearned)]; Rettenmund
lined to third; Champion grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R
(0 ER), 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Padres 6.

ASTROS 7TH: SPERRING BATTED FOR LARSON; Sperring struck out;
Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); Gonzalez grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Padres 6.

PADRES 7TH: SPERRING STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); NIEKRO
REPLACED GONZALEZ (PITCHING); Hendrick struck out; Winfield
walked; Ivie grounded out (pitcher to first) [Winfield to
second]; Rader struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0,
Padres 6.

ASTROS 8TH: Cruz grounded out (third to first); Johnson walked;
Herrmann forced Johnson (second to shortstop); Watson homered
[Herrmann scored]; Cabell walked; Howe doubled to left [Cabell
scored]; FINGERS REPLACED SHIRLEY (PITCHING); BOSWELL BATTED FOR
SPERRING; Boswell singled to left [Howe scored]; Cedeno singled
to shortstop [Boswell to second]; CRAWFORD BATTED FOR NIEKRO;
Crawford struck out; 4 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 4, Padres 6.

PADRES 8TH: SAMBITO REPLACED CRAWFORD (PITCHING); BOSWELL STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); HOWE CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING SS);
Tenace was called out on strikes; Almon flied out to center;
Fingers was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
4, Padres 6.

ASTROS 9TH: DAVIS REPLACED TENACE (PLAYING C ); Cruz singled to
center; Johnson flied out to right; Herrmann singled to right
[Cruz to third]; GARDNER RAN FOR HERRMANN; Watson hit a
sacrifice fly to right [Cruz scored, Gardner to second]; Cabell
grounded out (pitcher to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros
5, Padres 6.