A booming triple by Willie McCovey snapped a 1-1 tie and sent the Giants on their way to a 5-1 victory over the Braves. San Francisco trailed, 1-0, going into the bottom of the fifth when starting and winning pitcher Vida Blue led off with a walk. He moved to second on Larry Herndon's single and both runners advanced on a balk.

Darrell Evans was given an intentional pass to load the bases before Bill Madlock scored Blue with a sacrifice fly and McCovey followed with his three-bagger to right center. It was the veteran first baseman's first three-base hit since 1974. Skip James, filling in for McCovey, doubled home two more tallies in the seventh stanza. [The Sporting News]



San Francisco Giants 5, Atlanta Braves 1
Game Played on Monday, April     17, 1978 (Day game) at Candlestick Park
Braves       1  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  6  0
Giants       0  0  0    0  3  0    2  0  x  -   5  9  0


Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Giants               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Royster 2b            4   1   1   0     0   0   .385      Herndon cf            4   1   2   0     1   1   .278
Bonnell cf            3   0   0   0     0   1   .250      Evans 3b              3   2   1   0     1   0   .212
  Office ph,cf        1   0   1   0     0   0   .238      Madlock 2b            3   1   1   1     0   1   .429
Gaston rf             3   0   0   0     0   0   .077      McCovey 1b            3   0   1   2     0   0   .222
  Asselstine ph,rf    1   0   0   0     0   0   .500        James pr,1b         1   0   1   2     0   0   .167
Burroughs lf          3   0   1   0     1   1   .259      Clark rf              3   0   0   0     1   0   .270
Murphy 1b             4   0   0   0     0   3   .103      Whitfield lf          4   0   2   0     0   1   .344
Pocoroba c            3   0   2   0     1   0   .368      Hill c                3   0   1   0     1   0   .290
Gilbreath 3b          3   0   1   0     0   0   .273      LeMaster ss           2   0   0   0     1   1   .138
Rockett ss            3   0   0   0     0   0   .087      Blue p                1   1   0   0     1   1   .000
Boggs p               2   0   0   0     0   1   .000        Heintzelman ph      1   0   0   0     0   0   .286
  Camp p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Moffitt p           1   0   0   0     0   1   .500
  Easterly p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Beall ph            1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
  Campbell p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               31   1   6   0     2   7             Totals               29   5   9   5     6   6

Time of Game: 2:17   Attendance:  5,882
Left on Base: Braves 5, Giants 8
DP: Braves 1, Giants 0
Doubles: Herndon (3), James (1)
Triples: McCovey (1)
Stolen Bases: Royster (3)
Caught Stealing: Burroughs (1), Gilbreath (1), Hill (2)
Sacrifice Hits: LeMaster (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Madlock (1)
GIDP: Hill (1)


Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Boggs L(0-2)            4.2   5   3   3   4   2   0  22   5.40
Camp                    2     3   2   2   0   1   0   8   4.50
Easterly                0.1   1   0   0   1   1   0   3   0.00
Campbell                1     0   0   0   1   2   0   4   7.36
Totals                  8     9   5   5   6   6   0  37

Giants                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blue W(1-1)             7     5   1   1   2   4   0  26   4.50
Moffitt                 2     1   0   0   0   3   0   7   4.32
Totals                  9     6   1   1   2   7   0  33

Wild Pitches: Easterly (1), Blue (1)
Balks: Boggs (1)

Umpires: HP - Ed Vargo, 1B - Paul Pryor, 2B - Satch Davidson, 3B - Terry Tata


BRAVES 1ST: Royster singled to right; Royster stole second;
Bonnell struck out; Gaston grounded out (first unassisted)
[Royster to third]; Blue threw a wild pitch [Royster scored];
Burroughs walked; Burroughs was caught stealing second (catcher
to shortstop); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 0.

GIANTS 1ST: Herndon doubled; Evans grounded out (first
unassisted) [Herndon to third]; Madlock grounded out (third to
first); McCovey grounded out (second to pitcher); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 0.

BRAVES 2ND: Murphy struck out; Pocoroba singled to center;
Gilbreath singled to left [Pocoroba to second]; Rockett grounded
out (first unassisted) [Pocoroba to third, Gilbreath to second];
Boggs grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Braves 1, Giants 0.

GIANTS 2ND: Clark made an out to catcher; Whitfield flied out to
center; Hill singled to center; LeMaster walked [Hill to
second]; Blue struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 1,
Giants 0.

BRAVES 3RD: Royster made an out to catcher; Bonnell made an out
to third; Gaston made an out to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Braves 1, Giants 0.

GIANTS 3RD: Herndon walked; Evans forced Herndon (shortstop to
second); Madlock struck out; McCovey made an out to third; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 0.

BRAVES 4TH: Burroughs flied out to right; Murphy struck out;
Pocoroba walked; Gilbreath flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 0.

GIANTS 4TH: Clark flied out to right; Whitfield singled; Hill
grounded into a double play (second to first) [Whitfield out at
second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 0.

BRAVES 5TH: Rockett made an out to catcher; Boggs struck out;
Royster grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Braves 1, Giants 0.

GIANTS 5TH: LeMaster grounded out (second to first); Blue
walked; Herndon singled [Blue to second]; Boggs balked [Blue to
third, Herndon to second]; Evans was walked intentionally;
Madlock hit a sacrifice fly to right [Blue scored]; McCovey
tripled to center [Herndon scored, Evans scored]; JAMES RAN FOR
MCCOVEY; CAMP REPLACED BOGGS (PITCHING); Clark grounded out
(third to first); 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 3.

BRAVES 6TH: JAMES STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Bonnell made an
out to second; Gaston flied out to center; Burroughs singled to
center; Murphy made an out to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Braves 1, Giants 3.

GIANTS 6TH: Whitfield singled; Hill forced Whitfield (second
unassisted); Hill was caught stealing second (catcher to
shortstop); LeMaster struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves
1, Giants 3.

BRAVES 7TH: Pocoroba singled to left; Gilbreath forced Pocoroba
(third to second); Gilbreath was caught stealing second (catcher
to shortstop); Rockett made an out to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 3.

GIANTS 7TH: HEINTZELMAN BATTED FOR BLUE; Heintzelman flied out
to center; Herndon grounded out (shortstop to first); Evans
singled to center; Madlock singled to center [Evans to second];
EASTERLY REPLACED CAMP (PITCHING); James doubled to center
[Evans scored, Madlock scored]; Clark was walked intentionally;
Easterly threw a wild pitch [James to third, Clark to second];
Whitfield struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 5.

BRAVES 8TH: MOFFITT REPLACED HEINTZELMAN (PITCHING); BEALL
BATTED FOR EASTERLY; Beall was called out on strikes; Royster
grounded out (shortstop to first); OFFICE BATTED FOR BONNELL;
Office singled; ASSELSTINE BATTED FOR GASTON; Asselstine
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1,
Giants 5.

GIANTS 8TH: OFFICE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); ASSELSTINE
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); CAMPBELL REPLACED BEALL (PITCHING);
Hill walked; LeMaster out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second)
[Hill to second]; Moffitt struck out; Herndon struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 5.

BRAVES 9TH: Burroughs struck out; Murphy struck out; Pocoroba
flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1, Giants 5.