It was seven straight victories for the winners and seven straight defeats for the losers after the Astros beat the Mets, 5-2. Enos Cabell batted in three of the Astros' runs and scored one. Terry Puhl hit a pair of triples and extended his batting streak to 16 games. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 5, New York Mets 2
Game Played on Wednesday, August    31, 1977 (Night game) at Astrodome
Mets         0  0  0    2  0  0    0  0  0  -   2  8  1
Astros       0  0  1    0  2  1    1  0  x  -   5 10  1


Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Randle 3b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .305      Puhl lf               4   2   2   0     0   1   .307
Flynn ss              4   0   3   0     0   0   .225      Cabell 1b             3   1   2   3     0   0   .282
Boisclair rf          3   0   2   0     0   0   .294      Cedeno cf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .239
Henderson lf          3   1   0   0     1   3   .305      Ferguson c            2   1   0   0     2   0   .253
Milner 1b             4   0   1   0     0   0   .256      Cruz rf               3   0   2   0     0   0   .302
Mazzilli cf           4   1   1   1     0   0   .238      Howe 3b               2   0   0   0     1   2   .259
Stearns c             4   0   1   1     0   2   .264      Gonzalez 2b           4   0   1   0     0   0   .258
Foster 2b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .154      Sperring ss           2   0   0   0     0   0   .185
Koosman p             2   0   0   0     0   1   .119        Watson ph           1   0   1   1     0   0   .280
  Vail ph             1   0   0   0     0   0   .269        Metzger pr,ss       0   0   0   0     1   0   .180
  Lockwood p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .143      Lemongello p          4   1   1   0     0   2   .086
  Hodges ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .282

Totals               34   2   8   2     1   6             Totals               29   5  10   4     4   5

Time of Game: 2:09   Attendance:  6,527
Left on Base: Mets 7, Astros 7
DP: Mets 2, Astros 1
Errors: Flynn, Gonzalez
Doubles: Flynn 2 (7), Cabell (33)
Triples: Puhl 2 (4)
Stolen Bases: Henderson (3), Stearns (8), Cedeno (45), Cruz (39)
Caught Stealing: Flynn (2)
Sacrifice Hits: Cruz (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Cabell (3)
GIDP: Cedeno (10), Gonzalez (6)
Hit by Pitch: Boisclair (1,by Lemongello), Howe (5,by Lockwood)


Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Koosman L(8-18)         6     8   4   3   3   5   0  27   3.44
Lockwood                2     2   1   1   1   0   0   9   3.27
Totals                  8    10   5   4   4   5   0  36

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Lemongello W(6-14)      9     8   2   2   1   6   0  36   3.91
Totals                  9     8   2   2   1   6   0  36

Hit by Pitch: Lockwood (4), Lemongello (3)

Umpires: HP - Harry Wendelstedt, 1B - Joe West, 3B - Terry Tata


METS 1ST: Randle grounded out (third to first); Flynn singled to
pitcher; Boisclair was hit by a pitch [Flynn to second];
Henderson struck out while Flynn was caught stealing third
(catcher to third); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Puhl grounded out (shortstop to first); Cabell
grounded out (third to first); Cedeno singled to left; Cedeno
stole second; Ferguson grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 0.

METS 2ND: Milner singled to right; Mazzilli grounded out (first
unassisted) [Milner to second]; Stearns struck out; Foster flied
out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Cruz grounded out (first to pitcher); Howe struck
out; Gonzalez singled to right; Sperring forced Gonzalez (third
to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 0.

METS 3RD: Koosman grounded out (pitcher unassisted); Randle
grounded out (shortstop to first); Flynn grounded out (shortstop
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Lemongello struck out; Puhl tripled to right; Cabell
singled to right [Puhl scored]; Cedeno grounded into a double
play (shortstop to first) [Cabell out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 1.

METS 4TH: Boisclair lined to left; Henderson walked; Henderson
stole second; Milner flied out to right; Mazzilli singled to
left [Henderson scored, Mazzilli to second (on throw to home)];
Stearns singled to left [Mazzilli scored]; Stearns stole second;
Foster grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Mets 2, Astros 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Ferguson walked; Cruz singled to right [Ferguson to
second]; Howe was called out on strikes; Gonzalez grounded into
a double play (third to first) [Ferguson out at third]; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 2, Astros 1.

METS 5TH: Koosman was called out on strikes; Randle grounded out
(first to pitcher); Flynn doubled to right [Flynn out at third
(right to second to third)]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2,
Astros 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Sperring flied out to center; Lemongello singled to
right; Puhl struck out; Cabell doubled to left [Lemongello
scored, Cabell scored (error by Flynn) (unearned) (no RBI)];
Cedeno made an out to first; 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Mets
2, Astros 3.

METS 6TH: Boisclair singled to center; Henderson struck out;
Milner grounded out (first unassisted) [Boisclair to second];
Mazzilli grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Mets 2, Astros 3.

ASTROS 6TH: Ferguson walked; Cruz out on a sacrifice bunt
(pitcher to first) [Ferguson to second]; Howe was walked
intentionally; Gonzalez forced Howe (shortstop to second)
[Ferguson to third]; WATSON BATTED FOR SPERRING; Watson singled
to right [Ferguson scored, Gonzalez to third]; METZGER RAN FOR
WATSON; Lemongello struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 2,
Astros 4.

METS 7TH: METZGER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); Stearns flied out
to left; Foster flied out to center; VAIL BATTED FOR KOOSMAN;
Vail flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2, Astros 4.

ASTROS 7TH: LOCKWOOD REPLACED VAIL (PITCHING); Puhl tripled to
right; Cabell hit a sacrifice fly to left [Puhl scored]; Cedeno
grounded out (shortstop to first); Ferguson grounded out (third
to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2, Astros 5.

METS 8TH: Randle grounded out (third to first); Flynn doubled to
center; Boisclair singled to second [Flynn stayed at second];
Henderson struck out; Milner reached on an error by Gonzalez
[Flynn to third, Boisclair to second, Milner to first]; Mazzilli
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 2 H, 1 E, 3 LOB.  Mets
2, Astros 5.

ASTROS 8TH: Cruz singled to center; Cruz stole second; Cruz was
picked off second (catcher to shortstop); Howe was hit by a
pitch; Gonzalez grounded out (shortstop to first) [Howe to
second]; Metzger was walked intentionally; Lemongello grounded
out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 2, Astros 5.

METS 9TH: Stearns was called out on strikes; Foster grounded out
(third to first); HODGES BATTED FOR LOCKWOOD; Hodges grounded
out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2, Astros
5.