In a superlative display, Steve Carlton not only pitched a five-hitter and struck out 14, but the southpaw star smashed a homer and gained his 18th victory as the Phillies defeated the Astros, 7-3. Carlton's strikeout total, high in the N. L. this season, tied the Phillies' club record for lefthanders set by Chris Short in 1963.

The Phillies put the game away with five runs in the fourth inning. Mike Schmidt led off with a triple and scored on a single by Richie Hebner. After another single by Jay Johnstone, Tim McCarver hit a three-run homer. Ted Sizemore drew a pass to keep the inning going, stole second and came in on the second of three hits by Bake McBride. Carlton hit his round-tripper in the sixth. Enos Cabell hit two homers for the Astros and also scored their third run after rapping a double in the ninth. [The Sporting News]



Philadelphia Phillies 7, Houston Astros 3
Game Played on Sunday, August    21, 1977 (Night game) at Veterans Stadium
Astros       1  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  1  -   3  5  0
Phillies     0  0  0    5  0  2    0  0  x  -   7 11  0


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Phillies             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Howard cf             4   0   0   0     0   3   .212      McBride cf            5   1   3   1     0   1   .302
Cabell 3b             4   3   3   2     0   0   .279      Bowa ss               4   0   1   0     0   0   .280
Cruz rf               4   0   1   0     0   1   .292      Schmidt 3b            3   1   1   1     0   1   .287
Watson 1b             4   0   1   1     0   0   .287      Luzinski lf           4   0   0   0     0   2   .318
Ferguson c            4   0   0   0     0   1   .249      Hebner 1b             4   1   1   1     0   0   .288
Howe 2b               3   0   0   0     0   2   .271      Johnstone rf          3   1   2   0     1   1   .302
Fuller lf             3   0   0   0     0   3   .163      McCarver c            4   1   2   3     0   0   .333
Sperring ss           3   0   0   0     0   2   .210      Sizemore 2b           3   1   0   0     1   1   .279
Lemongello p          1   0   0   0     0   1   .057      Carlton p             4   1   1   1     0   0   .267
  Dixon p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Gonzalez ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .256
  Pentz p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Puhl ph             0   0   0   0     1   0   .278
  McLaughlin p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               31   3   5   3     1  14             Totals               34   7  11   7     2   6

Time of Game: 1:59   Attendance: 46,852
Left on Base: Astros 2, Phillies 6
DP: Astros 0, Phillies 0
Doubles: Cabell (29), McBride (16)
Triples: Schmidt (8)
Home Runs: Cabell 2 (12), McCarver (5), Carlton (2)
Stolen Bases: Johnstone (3), Sizemore (5), McBride (24)
Caught Stealing: Cruz (18)
Sacrifice Flies: Schmidt (7)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Lemongello L(5-14)      3.2   7   5   5   2   3   1  20   3.85
Dixon                   1.1   2   0   0   0   2   0   6   3.65
Pentz                   2     2   2   2   0   1   1   8   4.90
McLaughlin              1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   4.19
Totals                  8    11   7   7   2   6   2  37

Phillies               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Carlton W(18-7)         9     5   3   3   1  14   2  32   2.83
Totals                  9     5   3   3   1  14   2  32

Umpires: HP - Ed Sudol, 1B - Bob Engel, 2B - Jerry Dale, 3B - Dutch Rennert


ASTROS 1ST: Howard struck out; Cabell homered; Cruz grounded out
(pitcher to first); Watson grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 1
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 1ST: McBride struck out; Bowa grounded out (shortstop
to first); Schmidt struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1,
Phillies 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Ferguson struck out; Howe was called out on strikes;
Fuller was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
1, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 2ND: Luzinski flied out to right; Hebner made an out to
third; Johnstone walked; Johnstone stole second; McCarver
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1,
Phillies 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Sperring struck out; Lemongello struck out; Howard
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
1, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 3RD: Sizemore flied out to right; Carlton lined to
shortstop; McBride doubled to left; Bowa grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1, Phillies 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Cabell homered; Cruz singled to center; Cruz was
picked off and caught stealing second (pitcher to first to
shortstop); Watson grounded out (shortstop to first); Ferguson
grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2,
Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 4TH: Schmidt tripled to right; Luzinski struck out;
Hebner singled to center [Schmidt scored]; Johnstone singled to
center [Hebner to second]; McCarver homered [Hebner scored,
Johnstone scored]; Sizemore walked; Sizemore stole second;
Carlton popped to third; McBride singled to center [Sizemore
scored]; Bowa singled to right [McBride to second]; DIXON
REPLACED LEMONGELLO (PITCHING); Schmidt popped to second; 5 R, 6
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 2, Phillies 5.

ASTROS 5TH: Howe flied out to center; Fuller struck out;
Sperring flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2,
Phillies 5.

PHILLIES 5TH: Luzinski struck out; Hebner made an out to third;
Johnstone singled to right; McCarver singled to right [Johnstone
to second]; Sizemore struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros
2, Phillies 5.

ASTROS 6TH: GONZALEZ BATTED FOR DIXON; Gonzalez struck out;
Howard struck out; Cabell grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2, Phillies 5.

PHILLIES 6TH: PENTZ REPLACED GONZALEZ (PITCHING); Carlton
homered; McBride singled to center; McBride stole second; Bowa
grounded out (first unassisted) [McBride to third]; Schmidt hit
a sacrifice fly to center [McBride scored]; Luzinski flied out
to right; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2, Phillies 7.

ASTROS 7TH: Cruz struck out; Watson singled to center; Ferguson
made an out to second; Howe was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 2, Phillies 7.

PHILLIES 7TH: Hebner grounded out (second to first); Johnstone
struck out; McCarver grounded out (second to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2, Phillies 7.

ASTROS 8TH: Fuller struck out; Sperring struck out; PUHL BATTED
FOR PENTZ; Puhl walked; Howard struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
 Astros 2, Phillies 7.

PHILLIES 8TH: MCLAUGHLIN REPLACED PUHL (PITCHING); Sizemore
popped to first; Carlton grounded out (first unassisted);
McBride flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2,
Phillies 7.

ASTROS 9TH: Cabell doubled to left; Cruz grounded out (second to
first) [Cabell to third]; Watson grounded out (third to first)
[Cabell scored]; Ferguson flied out to left; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 3, Phillies 7.