Phil Niekro posted the 180th victory of his career and helped get it by driving in two runs with a single in the third inning when the Braves did all their scoring to defeat the Cubs, 5-0. Jerry Royster singled to touch off the Braves' outburst and Barry Bonnell was safe on an error by Manny Trillo.

When the runners worked a double steal, Royster scored on a wild throw by catcher Dave Rader. Singles by Jeff Burroughs, Cito Gaston, Dale Murphy and Niekro followed to kayo Woodie Fryman. [The Sporting News]



Atlanta Braves 5, Chicago Cubs 0
Game Played on Saturday, April     29, 1978 (Night game) at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Cubs         0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   0  6  3
Braves       0  0  5    0  0  0    0  0  x  -   5 13  0


Cubs                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
De Jesus ss           4   0   2   0     0   1   .313      Royster 2b            5   1   3   0     0   0   .338
Gross lf              4   0   2   0     0   0   .333      Bonnell cf,lf         4   1   0   0     0   1   .203
Buckner 1b            4   0   0   0     0   1   .367      Burroughs lf          3   1   3   1     1   0   .413
Murcer rf             4   0   0   0     0   1   .257        Office pr,cf        0   0   0   0     0   0   .256
Ontiveros 3b          3   0   1   0     1   0   .118      Gaston rf             3   0   1   0     0   1   .114
Trillo 2b             3   0   0   0     1   0   .259        Asselstine ph,rf    1   0   0   0     0   0   .321
Rader c               3   0   0   0     0   1   .246      Murphy c              4   1   2   1     0   2   .191
Wallis cf             3   0   1   0     0   0   .400      Paciorek 1b           3   1   1   0     0   1   .286
Fryman p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Beall 1b            1   0   0   0     0   0   .063
  Krukow p            1   0   0   0     0   1   .000      Rockett ss            3   0   1   0     1   1   .107
  Meoli ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Chaney 3b             4   0   1   0     0   2   .333
  Roberts p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Niekro p              4   0   1   2     0   1   .154

Totals               30   0   6   0     2   5             Totals               35   5  13   4     2   9

Time of Game: 2:20   Attendance:  7,638
Left on Base: Cubs 6, Braves 8
DP: Cubs 3, Braves 1
Errors: Gross, Trillo, Rader
Doubles: Burroughs (6)
Triples: Gross (1)
Stolen Bases: Royster (11), Bonnell (2)
Caught Stealing: De Jesus (3), Royster (3), Beall (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Fryman (3)
GIDP: Trillo (3), Bonnell (3)


Cubs                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Fryman L(0-2)           2.2   7   5   2   2   5   0  18   5.40
Krukow                  3.1   5   0   0   0   2   0  13   6.43
Roberts                 2     1   0   0   0   2   0   6   3.00
Totals                  8    13   5   2   2   9   0  37

Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro W(2-4)           9     6   0   0   2   5   0  33   2.66
Totals                  9     6   0   0   2   5   0  33

Passed Balls: Rader (1), Murphy 2 (4)

Umpires: HP - John McSherry, 1B - Paul Runge, 2B - Bob Engel, 3B - Jerry Dale


CUBS 1ST: De Jesus lined to center; Gross tripled to center;
Buckner struck out; Murcer popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Cubs 0, Braves 0.

BRAVES 1ST: Royster singled to shortstop; Bonnell grounded into
a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Royster out at
second]; Burroughs walked; Gaston struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Cubs 0, Braves 0.

CUBS 2ND: Ontiveros popped to catcher in foul territory; Trillo
grounded out (pitcher to first); Rader lined to center; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 0, Braves 0.

BRAVES 2ND: Murphy struck out; Paciorek struck out; Rockett
walked; Chaney singled to center [Rockett to third]; Niekro
struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 0, Braves 0.

CUBS 3RD: Wallis singled to right; Fryman out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher to second) [Wallis to second]; Murphy allowed a
passed ball [Wallis to third]; De Jesus struck out; Gross
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 0,
Braves 0.

BRAVES 3RD: Royster singled to center; Bonnell reached on an
error by Trillo [Royster to second, Bonnell to first]; Royster
stole third and Bonnell stole second [Royster scored (error by
Rader)]; Burroughs singled to right [Bonnell scored (unearned)];
Gaston singled to right [Burroughs to third]; Murphy singled to
right [Burroughs scored, Gaston to third]; Paciorek reached on a
fielder's choice [Gaston out at home (third to catcher), Murphy
to second]; Rockett flied out to center; Chaney struck out but
Murphy advanced to third and Paciorek advanced to second and
Chaney advanced to first on a passed ball; Niekro singled to
left [Murphy scored (unearned), Paciorek scored (unearned),
Chaney to third (error by Gross)]; KRUKOW REPLACED FRYMAN
(PITCHING); Royster popped to first in foul territory; 5 R (2
ER), 5 H, 3 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 0, Braves 5.

CUBS 4TH: Buckner grounded out (pitcher to first); Murcer lined
to first; Ontiveros singled to center; Trillo walked [Ontiveros
to second]; Rader struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 0,
Braves 5.

BRAVES 4TH: Bonnell grounded out (shortstop to first); Burroughs
doubled to left; Gaston grounded out (second to first)
[Burroughs to third]; Murphy struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Cubs 0, Braves 5.

CUBS 5TH: Wallis grounded out (second to first); Krukow struck
out (catcher to first); De Jesus singled to left; Gross singled
to right [De Jesus to third]; Murphy allowed a passed ball
[Gross to second]; Buckner grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R,
2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 0, Braves 5.

BRAVES 5TH: Paciorek singled to center; Rockett singled to
second [Paciorek to second]; Chaney grounded out (second to
pitcher) [Paciorek to third, Rockett to second]; Niekro hit into
a double play (left to catcher) [Paciorek out at home]; 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 0, Braves 5.

CUBS 6TH: Murcer struck out (catcher to first); Ontiveros
walked; Trillo grounded into a double play (shortstop to second
to first) [Ontiveros out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs
0, Braves 5.

BRAVES 6TH: Royster singled to shortstop; Bonnell struck out
while Royster was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop);
Burroughs singled to center; ASSELSTINE BATTED FOR GASTON;
OFFICE RAN FOR BURROUGHS; Asselstine grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 0, Braves 5.

CUBS 7TH: OFFICE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); BONNELL CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); ASSELSTINE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF);
BEALL REPLACED PACIOREK (PLAYING 1B); Rader grounded out (second
to first); Wallis grounded out (second to first); MEOLI BATTED
FOR KRUKOW; Meoli lined to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 0,
Braves 5.

BRAVES 7TH: ROBERTS REPLACED MEOLI (PITCHING); Murphy singled to
third; Beall forced Murphy (pitcher to shortstop); Beall was
picked off and caught stealing second (pitcher to first to
shortstop); Rockett struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 0,
Braves 5.

CUBS 8TH: De Jesus singled to left; De Jesus was caught stealing
second (catcher to shortstop); Gross flied out to right; Buckner
popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs
0, Braves 5.

BRAVES 8TH: Chaney struck out; Niekro grounded out (third to
first); Royster flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs
0, Braves 5.

CUBS 9TH: Murcer lined to center; Ontiveros flied out to right;
Trillo lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 0, Braves 5.