John Denny, who opened the season with a 7-0 record but then dropped eight straight decisions after returning from a leg injury, gained his first victory since May 31 when the Cardinals defeated the Mets in the opener of a twi-night doubleheader, 7-2.

The Mets came back with a four-run rally in the sixth inning to win the nightcap, 6-3. The Cardinals stole six bases in the lidlifter, including two by Lou Brock, bringing his season's total to 35 and his career aggregate to 900. [The Sporting News]



St. Louis Cardinals 7, New York Mets 2 (Game 1)
Game Played on Friday, September 30, 1977 (Night game) at Busch Stadium II
Mets         0  0  0    0  0  0    2  0  0  -   2  8  1
Cardinals    0  1  0    0  2  0    1  3  x  -   7 10  1


Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Randle 3b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .302      Brock lf              4   3   2   1     1   0   .271
Mazzilli cf           3   0   1   0     1   0   .247        Bosetti lf          0   0   0   0     0   0   .238
Boisclair rf          4   0   1   0     0   0   .293      Mumphrey cf           5   2   2   1     0   0   .289
Henderson lf          3   0   0   0     1   0   .293      Templeton ss          5   0   3   3     0   0   .324
Milner 1b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .255      Simmons c             2   0   0   0     3   0   .318
Hodges c              4   1   1   0     0   2   .257      Hernandez 1b          3   0   1   1     1   0   .294
Youngblood 2b         3   1   2   0     1   0   .232      Reitz 3b              4   1   1   1     0   0   .265
Harrelson ss          2   0   1   0     0   0   .183      Dwyer rf              1   0   0   0     1   0   .318
  Kranepool ph        1   0   1   1     0   0   .283        Anderson rf         2   0   0   0     0   0   .220
  Flynn pr,ss         1   0   0   0     0   0   .200      Phillips 2b           4   1   1   0     0   0   .199
Todd p                2   0   0   0     0   0   .059      Denny p               3   0   0   0     0   1   .098
  Myrick p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .200
  Stearns ph          1   0   1   1     0   0   .248
  Lockwood p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .200
  Siebert p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Norman ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .444

Totals               33   2   8   2     3   2             Totals               33   7  10   7     6   1

Time of Game: 2:31
Left on Base: Mets 7, Cardinals 9
DP: Mets 0, Cardinals 3
Errors: Harrelson, Phillips
Doubles: Boisclair (19), Hodges (4)
Home Runs: Reitz (17)
Stolen Bases: Templeton 2 (27), Hernandez (7), Brock 2 (35), Mumphrey (22)
Caught Stealing: Anderson (3)
Sacrifice Hits: Denny (5)
GIDP: Todd (1), Norman (1)


Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Todd L(3-6)             4.1   4   3   3   4   1   1  21   4.77
Myrick                  1.2   0   0   0   1   0   0   6   3.75
Lockwood                1.1   3   2   2   1   0   0   8   3.38
Siebert                 0.2   3   2   2   0   0   0   5   3.48
Totals                  8    10   7   7   6   1   1  40

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Denny W(8-8)            9     8   2   2   3   2   0  36   4.51
Totals                  9     8   2   2   3   2   0  36

Wild Pitches: Denny (6)

Umpires: HP - Dutch Rennert, 1B - Nick Colosi, 2B - Andy Olsen, 3B - Joe West


METS 1ST: Randle grounded out (second to first); Mazzilli
grounded out (pitcher to first); Boisclair doubled to left;
Denny threw a wild pitch [Boisclair to third]; Henderson walked;
Milner flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 0,
Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Brock flied out to left; Mumphrey grounded out
(pitcher to first); Templeton singled to left; Templeton stole
second; Simmons was walked intentionally; Hernandez grounded out
(third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 0.

METS 2ND: Hodges struck out; Youngblood singled to shortstop;
Harrelson lined into a double play (pitcher to first)
[Youngblood out at first]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0,
Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 2ND: Reitz homered; Dwyer grounded out (second to
first); Phillips grounded out (pitcher to first); Denny flied
out to left; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 1.

METS 3RD: Todd flied out to right; Randle grounded out
(shortstop to first); Mazzilli reached on an error by Phillips
[Mazzilli to first]; Boisclair lined to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 1
E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 3RD: Brock popped to shortstop; Mumphrey flied to left
in foul territory; Templeton grounded out (shortstop to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 1.

METS 4TH: Henderson grounded out (shortstop to first); Milner
grounded out (first to pitcher); Hodges struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 4TH: Simmons popped to first in foul territory;
Hernandez walked; Hernandez stole second; Reitz flied out to
center; Dwyer walked; Phillips grounded out (first unassisted);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 1.

METS 5TH: Youngblood grounded out (third to first); Harrelson
singled to left; Todd grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Harrelson out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 5TH: Denny struck out; Brock walked; Brock stole
second; Mumphrey singled to left [Brock to third]; Mumphrey
stole second; Templeton singled to right [Brock scored, Mumphrey
scored]; Templeton stole second; MYRICK REPLACED TODD
(PITCHING); Simmons was walked intentionally; Hernandez flied
out to left; Reitz grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 3.

METS 6TH: ANDERSON REPLACED DWYER (PLAYING RF); Randle grounded
out (first unassisted); Mazzilli singled to first; Boisclair
flied out to left; Henderson grounded out (first unassisted); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 3.

CARDINALS 6TH: Anderson reached on an error by Harrelson
[Anderson to first]; Anderson was caught stealing second
(catcher to shortstop); Phillips flied out to left; Denny flied
out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 3.

METS 7TH: Milner grounded out (first to pitcher); Hodges doubled
to right; Youngblood walked; KRANEPOOL BATTED FOR HARRELSON;
Kranepool singled to left [Hodges scored, Youngblood to second];
FLYNN RAN FOR KRANEPOOL; STEARNS BATTED FOR MYRICK; Stearns
singled to right [Youngblood scored, Flynn to second]; Randle
flied out to left; Mazzilli walked [Flynn to third, Stearns to
second]; Boisclair flied out to center; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.
Mets 2, Cardinals 3.

CARDINALS 7TH: LOCKWOOD REPLACED STEARNS (PITCHING); FLYNN
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); Brock singled to center; Mumphrey
grounded out (shortstop to first) [Brock to second]; Templeton
grounded out (shortstop to first); Simmons was walked
intentionally; Hernandez singled to right [Brock scored, Simmons
to second]; Reitz lined to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets
2, Cardinals 4.

METS 8TH: Henderson flied out to left; Milner lined to first;
Hodges grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Mets 2, Cardinals 4.

CARDINALS 8TH: Anderson grounded out (shortstop to first);
Phillips singled to pitcher; SIEBERT REPLACED LOCKWOOD
(PITCHING); Denny out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second)
[Phillips to second]; Brock singled to center [Phillips scored];
Brock stole second; Mumphrey singled to center [Brock scored,
Mumphrey to second (on throw to home)]; Templeton singled to
left [Mumphrey scored]; Simmons flied out to center; 3 R, 4 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Mets 2, Cardinals 7.

METS 9TH: BOSETTI REPLACED BROCK (PLAYING LF); Youngblood
singled to shortstop; Flynn forced Youngblood (shortstop to
second); NORMAN BATTED FOR SIEBERT; Norman grounded into a
double play (third to second to first) [Flynn out at second]; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2, Cardinals 7.