A pinch-single by Ken Boswell in the 10th inning gave the Astros a 4-3 victory in the first game of a twi-night doubleheader before the Giants came back to win the second game, 4-1. Willie McCovey hit the 476th homer of his career in the fourth inning of the opener for the Giants to move the veteran first baseman into 13th place on the major leagues' all-time list ahead of Stan Musial. After the Giants tied the score at 3-3 in the ninth on a double by Terry Whitfield and single by Marc Hill, the Astros put over their winning run in the 10th on a single by Julio Gonzalez, sacrifice by Ed Herrmann and Boswell's hit, batting for Wilbur Howard.

Gary Thomasson, Whitfield and Mike Sadek had two hits apiece to lead the Giants to their victory in the nightcap. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 4, San Francisco Giants 3 (Game 1)
Game Played on Saturday, June      25, 1977 (Night game) at Astrodome
Giants       0  0  0    1  0  0    1  0  1    0  -   3 12  1
Astros       2  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  0    1  -   4  9  0


Giants               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Madlock 3b            5   0   1   0     0   1   .297      Howard cf             4   1   1   0     0   1   .210
Thomas ss,cf          5   0   1   0     0   0   .264        Boswell ph          1   0   1   1     0   0   .238
Evans lf              5   0   3   0     0   0   .266      Cabell 3b             3   1   0   0     1   0   .278
Thomasson cf,1b       5   0   1   0     0   0   .276      Cruz rf               3   0   2   2     1   0   .267
McCovey 1b            3   1   2   1     0   0   .300      Watson 1b             3   0   0   0     0   0   .278
  LeMaster pr,ss      2   1   0   0     0   0   .074      Howe 2b               4   1   1   0     0   0   .278
Whitfield rf          3   1   2   0     1   0   .312      Fuller lf             4   0   1   1     0   2   .194
Andrews 2b            3   0   0   0     0   1   .271      Gonzalez ss           4   1   1   0     0   0   .255
Hill c                3   0   1   2     0   1   .233      Herrmann c            2   0   0   0     0   0   .227
  Sadek pr,c          0   0   0   0     0   0   .221      Richard p             2   0   2   0     0   0   .189
Barr p                2   0   1   0     0   0   .205        Niekro p            1   0   0   0     0   0   .222
  Clark ph            1   0   0   0     0   1   .267        Gardner ph          0   0   0   0     1   0   .171
  Heaverlo p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Harris ph           0   0   0   0     1   0   .222
  Moffitt p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               37   3  12   3     2   4             Totals               31   4   9   4     3   3

Time of Game: 2:26
Left on Base: Giants 8, Astros 5
DP: Giants 2, Astros 3
Errors: Hill
Doubles: Whitfield (10), Howe (14), Fuller (1)
Triples: Cruz (5)
Home Runs: McCovey (11)
Stolen Bases: Cruz (21), Howard (9)
Caught Stealing: Cruz 2 (8)
Sacrifice Hits: Andrews (4), Herrmann (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Hill (2)
GIDP: Madlock (17), Thomas (2), Howard (2), Howe (5)
Hit by Pitch: Herrmann (1,by Heaverlo), Watson (4,by Moffitt)


Giants                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Barr                    6     7   3   3   2   0   0  23   4.14
Heaverlo                2     0   0   0   0   2   0   7   2.20
Moffitt L(2-5)          1.1   2   1   1   1   1   0   7   2.74
Totals                  9.1   9   4   4   3   3   0  37

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Richard                 6     7   2   2   1   3   1  24   3.24
Niekro W(1-1)           4     5   1   1   1   1   0  17   2.64
Totals                 10    12   3   3   2   4   1  41

Hit by Pitch: Heaverlo (1), Moffitt (2)

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


GIANTS 1ST: Madlock struck out; Thomas grounded out (first
unassisted); Evans singled; Thomasson grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Howard singled; Cabell walked [Howard to second];
Cruz tripled [Howard scored, Cabell scored]; Cruz was caught
stealing home (catcher to third); Watson grounded out (first
unassisted); Howe flied out to center; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 0, Astros 2.

GIANTS 2ND: McCovey grounded out (first unassisted); Whitfield
walked; Andrews grounded out (second to first) [Whitfield to
second]; Hill struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 0,
Astros 2.

ASTROS 2ND: Fuller made an out to second; Gonzalez grounded out
(shortstop to first); Herrmann grounded out (second to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 2.

GIANTS 3RD: Barr singled; Madlock grounded into a double play
(second to first) [Barr out at second]; Thomas made an out to
shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 2.

ASTROS 3RD: Richard singled; Howard grounded into a double play
(second to shortstop to first) [Richard out at second]; Cabell
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 0,
Astros 2.

GIANTS 4TH: Evans flied out to left; Thomasson grounded out
(first to pitcher); McCovey homered; Whitfield grounded out
(second to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 1, Astros 2.

ASTROS 4TH: Cruz walked; Cruz stole second; Cruz was picked off
second (pitcher to shortstop); Watson flied out to center; Howe
doubled; Fuller doubled [Howe scored]; Gonzalez grounded out
(shortstop to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 1, Astros 3.

GIANTS 5TH: Andrews struck out; Hill made an out to shortstop;
Barr flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 1, Astros
3.

ASTROS 5TH: Herrmann flied out to center; Richard singled;
Howard forced Richard (second to shortstop); Howard stole second
[Howard to third (error by Hill)]; Cabell flied out to right; 0
R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 1, Astros 3.

GIANTS 6TH: Madlock singled; Thomas grounded into a double play
(first to shortstop to first) [Madlock out at second]; Evans
singled; Thomasson flied out to left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Giants 1, Astros 3.

ASTROS 6TH: Cruz singled; Cruz was caught stealing second
(catcher to shortstop); Watson made an out to shortstop; Howe
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 1,
Astros 3.

GIANTS 7TH: McCovey singled; LEMASTER RAN FOR MCCOVEY; Whitfield
singled [LeMaster to second]; NIEKRO REPLACED RICHARD
(PITCHING); Andrews out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second)
[LeMaster to third, Whitfield to second]; Hill hit a sacrifice
fly to first [LeMaster scored]; CLARK BATTED FOR BARR; Clark was
called out on strikes; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 2, Astros 3.

ASTROS 7TH: HEAVERLO REPLACED CLARK (PITCHING); LEMASTER STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING SS); THOMAS CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING CF);
THOMASSON CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); Fuller struck out;
Gonzalez flied out to left; Herrmann was hit by a pitch; Niekro
grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants
2, Astros 3.

GIANTS 8TH: Madlock grounded out (shortstop to first); Thomas
singled; Evans singled [Thomas to second]; Thomasson hit into a
double play (center to second) [Thomas out at third]; 0 R, 2 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 2, Astros 3.

ASTROS 8TH: Howard was called out on strikes; Cabell grounded
out (shortstop to first); Cruz flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Giants 2, Astros 3.

GIANTS 9TH: LeMaster made an out to first; Whitfield doubled;
Andrews grounded out (shortstop to first) [Whitfield to third];
Hill singled [Whitfield scored]; SADEK RAN FOR HILL; HARRIS
BATTED FOR HEAVERLO; Harris walked [Sadek to second]; Madlock
flied out to left; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 3.

ASTROS 9TH: SADEK STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); MOFFITT REPLACED
HARRIS (PITCHING); Watson was hit by a pitch; Howe grounded into
a double play (third to second to first) [Watson out at second];
Fuller struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 3.

GIANTS 10TH: Thomas grounded out (second to first); Evans
grounded out (first unassisted); Thomasson singled; LeMaster
grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants
3, Astros 3.

ASTROS 10TH: Gonzalez singled; Herrmann out on a sacrifice bunt
(first to second) [Gonzalez to second]; GARDNER BATTED FOR
NIEKRO; Gardner was walked intentionally; BOSWELL BATTED FOR
HOWARD; Boswell singled [Gonzalez scored, Gardner to second]; 1
R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 4.