Kept alive by Bob Watson, who hit for the cycle for the first time in his 11-year major league career, the Astros finally were able to defeat the Giants, 6-5, in 11 innings. Watson knocked in three runs with a triple in the first inning. After adding a double in the third, Watson homered to tie the score at 4-4 in the fifth and drove in another run to fashion a 5-5 deadlock with a single in the eighth. Wilbur Howard walked with one out in the 11th, Enos Cabell singled and Jose Cruz, hitless in five previous trips, ended the game with a double off the right-center field wall. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 6, San Francisco Giants 5
Game Played on Friday, June      24, 1977 (Night game) at Astrodome
Giants       0  0  0    3  1  0    1  0  0    0  0  -   5 10  3
Astros       3  0  0    0  1  0    0  1  0    0  1  -   6 11  0


Giants               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Madlock 3b            6   1   1   1     0   1   .299      Howard cf             5   2   1   0     1   2   .207
Thomas ss             2   2   0   0     2   0   .265      Cabell 3b             5   1   2   0     1   0   .281
  LeMaster ss         2   0   0   0     0   0   .080      Cruz rf               6   0   1   1     0   1   .262
Evans lf              4   1   2   2     1   1   .258      Ferguson c            3   1   0   0     1   0   .268
Thomasson cf          4   1   3   1     0   0   .278        Cedeno pr           0   1   0   0     0   0   .179
McCovey 1b            4   0   1   0     1   1   .295        Herrmann c          1   0   1   0     0   0   .238
Clark rf              4   0   0   0     1   0   .269      Watson 1b             4   1   4   5     0   0   .281
Andrews 2b            5   0   0   0     0   2   .275        Gardner pr          0   0   0   0     0   0   .171
Hill c                3   0   2   1     1   1   .231        Sambito p           1   0   0   0     0   0   .200
  Sadek pr,c          1   0   0   0     0   0   .221      Fuller lf             4   0   0   0     0   2   .185
Knepper p             4   0   1   0     0   3   .167      Howe 2b               3   0   1   0     2   0   .279
  Moffitt p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Gonzalez ss           4   0   0   0     1   0   .255
  Lavelle p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Larson p              2   0   1   0     0   0   .250
  Alexander ph        1   0   0   0     0   1   .200        Pentz p             1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Toms p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Boswell ph          0   0   0   0     0   0   .220
                                                            Cacek ph,1b         2   0   0   0     0   0   .077

Totals               40   5  10   5     6  10             Totals               41   6  11   6     6   5

Time of Game: 3:04   Attendance: 13,119
Left on Base: Giants 9, Astros 11
DP: Giants 1, Astros 2
Errors: LeMaster, Andrews, Hill
Doubles: Watson (11), Cruz (16)
Triples: Watson (5)
Home Runs: Evans (7), Madlock (6), Watson (9)
Stolen Bases: Cedeno (24)
Caught Stealing: Sadek (1), Herrmann (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Fuller (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Thomasson (3)
GIDP: Madlock (16), McCovey (9), Cacek (1)


Giants                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Knepper                 7     7   5   4   2   4   1  31   4.05
Moffitt                 0.1   1   0   0   2   0   0   4   2.61
Lavelle                 2.2   1   0   0   1   1   0   9   1.42
Toms L(0-1)             0.1   2   1   1   1   0   0   4  27.00
Totals                 10.1  11   6   5   6   5   1  48

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Larson                  4.1   7   4   4   2   4   2  21   6.33
Pentz                   3.2   2   1   1   4   3   0  17   3.71
Sambito W(4-2)          3     1   0   0   0   3   0   9   2.14
Totals                 11    10   5   5   6  10   2  47

Wild Pitches: Pentz (2)

Umpires: HP - Jim Quick, 1B - Nick Colosi, 2B - Satch Davidson, 3B - Eric Gregg


GIANTS 1ST: Madlock flied out to left; Thomas flied out to
center; Evans flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants
0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Howard singled; Cabell singled [Howard to second];
Howard was picked off second but was safe on an error by Hill
[Howard to third]; Cruz struck out; Ferguson walked [Cabell to
second]; Watson tripled [Howard scored, Cabell scored, Ferguson
scored]; Fuller grounded out (third to first); Howe grounded out
(third to first); 3 R, 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 3.

GIANTS 2ND: Thomasson singled; McCovey struck out; Clark flied
out to left; Andrews grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 3.

ASTROS 2ND: Gonzalez grounded out (third to first); Larson
singled; Howard grounded out (pitcher to first) [Larson to
second]; Cabell was walked intentionally; Cruz grounded out
(first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 3.

GIANTS 3RD: Hill struck out; Knepper singled; Madlock grounded
into a double play (shortstop to first) [Knepper out at second];
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 3.

ASTROS 3RD: Ferguson grounded out (third to first); Watson
doubled; Fuller struck out; Howe singled [Watson to third];
Gonzalez flied out to right; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 0,
Astros 3.

GIANTS 4TH: Thomas walked; Evans homered [Thomas scored];
Thomasson singled; McCovey singled [Thomasson to second]; Clark
forced McCovey (shortstop to second) [Thomasson to third];
Andrews struck out; Hill singled [Thomasson scored, Clark to
third]; Knepper struck out; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 3,
Astros 3.

ASTROS 4TH: Larson grounded out (shortstop to first); Howard
struck out; Cabell flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 3, Astros 3.

GIANTS 5TH: Madlock homered; Thomas grounded out (second to
first); Evans walked; PENTZ REPLACED LARSON (PITCHING);
Thomasson flied out to left; McCovey flied out to left; 1 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 4, Astros 3.

ASTROS 5TH: Cruz grounded out (second to first); Ferguson flied
out to center; Watson homered; Fuller struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Giants 4, Astros 4.

GIANTS 6TH: Clark grounded out (second to first); Andrews flied
out to center; Hill walked; Knepper struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Giants 4, Astros 4.

ASTROS 6TH: Howe popped to third; Gonzalez grounded out (pitcher
to first); Pentz flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 4, Astros 4.

GIANTS 7TH: Madlock flied out to center; Thomas walked; Evans
singled [Thomas to third]; Thomasson hit a sacrifice fly to
center [Thomas scored, Evans to second]; McCovey was walked
intentionally; Clark walked [Evans to third, McCovey to second];
Andrews flied out to right; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Giants 5,
Astros 4.

ASTROS 7TH: LEMASTER REPLACED THOMAS (PLAYING SS); Howard flied
out to right; Cabell grounded out (shortstop to first); Cruz
flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 5, Astros 4.

GIANTS 8TH: Hill singled; SADEK RAN FOR HILL; Sadek was picked
off and caught stealing second (pitcher to first to second to
shortstop); Knepper struck out; Madlock struck out but advanced
to first on a wild pitch; LeMaster flied out to center; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 5, Astros 4.

ASTROS 8TH: SADEK STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); Ferguson reached
on an error by Andrews; MOFFITT REPLACED KNEPPER (PITCHING);
CEDENO RAN FOR FERGUSON; Cedeno stole second; Watson singled
[Cedeno scored (unearned)]; GARDNER RAN FOR WATSON; Fuller out
on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Gardner to second]; Howe
walked; Gonzalez walked [Gardner to third, Howe to second];
BOSWELL BATTED FOR PENTZ; LAVELLE REPLACED MOFFITT (PITCHING);
CACEK BATTED FOR BOSWELL; Cacek grounded into a double play
(third to catcher to first) [Gardner out at home]; 1 R (0 ER), 1
H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 5, Astros 5.

GIANTS 9TH: HERRMANN REPLACED CEDENO (PLAYING C ); SAMBITO
REPLACED GARDNER (PITCHING); CACEK STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B);
Evans struck out; Thomasson singled; McCovey grounded into a
double play (second to shortstop to first) [Thomasson out at
second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 9TH: Howard struck out; Cabell grounded out (pitcher to
first); Cruz grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Giants 5, Astros 5.

GIANTS 10TH: Clark grounded out (pitcher to first); Andrews
struck out; Sadek flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 10TH: Herrmann singled; Herrmann was caught stealing
second (catcher to shortstop); Sambito grounded out (shortstop
to first); Fuller reached on an error by LeMaster [Fuller to
second]; Howe was walked intentionally; Gonzalez grounded out
(pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 5, Astros 5.

GIANTS 11TH: ALEXANDER BATTED FOR LAVELLE; Alexander struck out;
Madlock grounded out (shortstop to first); LeMaster flied out to
right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 5, Astros 5.

ASTROS 11TH: TOMS REPLACED ALEXANDER (PITCHING); Cacek grounded
out (third to first); Howard walked; Cabell singled [Howard to
second]; Cruz doubled [Howard scored, Cabell to third]; 1 R, 2
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 5, Astros 6.