Piling up 17 hits, Pirates slugged their way to a 9-4 victory over the Braves. The only bright spot for the Braves was supplied by Bob Horner, third baseman from Arizona State, who made his pro debut. In his third time at bat, Horner smashed a two-run homer.

The Pirates belted Phil Niekro, who had pitched shutouts in his previous two starts, for nine hits and seven runs in the first 3 1/3 innings. Bill Robinson and Frank Taveras each had three hits in the game for the Pirates. [The Sporting News]



Pittsburgh Pirates 9, Atlanta Braves 4
Game Played on Friday, June      16, 1978 (Night game) at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Pirates      1  2  3    1  0  0    1  1  0  -   9 17  0
Braves       0  0  0    0  2  2    0  0  0  -   4  7  1


Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Taveras ss            6   2   3   0     0   1   .276      Royster 2b            4   1   1   0     1   1   .283
Milner lf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .270      Beall 1b              3   0   1   1     1   0   .222
  Moreno cf           1   0   1   0     0   0   .205      Matthews rf           5   0   1   0     0   2   .277
Parker rf             5   1   2   2     0   1   .294      Burroughs lf          3   0   0   0     2   1   .321
B. Robinson cf,lf     5   1   3   1     0   1   .255      Office cf             5   0   0   0     0   2   .230
Stargell 1b           3   1   1   0     2   0   .265      Murphy c              4   1   1   0     0   2   .198
Stennett 3b           4   1   1   1     0   1   .256      Horner 3b             3   1   1   2     1   0   .333
  Mendoza 3b          1   0   0   0     0   0   .242      Chaney ss             4   0   1   0     0   2   .264
Ott c                 5   1   2   3     0   0   .268      Niekro p              1   0   0   0     0   0   .256
Garner 2b             3   1   1   0     2   1   .238        Skok p              0   0   0   0     0   0  1.000
Blyleven p            3   1   2   0     0   1   .121        Maddox ph           1   1   1   0     0   0   .214
  Whitson p           2   0   0   0     0   1   .000        Solomon p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .250
                                                            Nolan ph            0   0   0   0     1   0   .222
                                                            Camp p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Gaston ph           1   0   0   0     0   1   .186
                                                            Easterly p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .286

Totals               42   9  17   7     4   8             Totals               34   4   7   3     6  11

Time of Game: 3:00   Attendance: 18,572
Left on Base: Pirates 10, Braves 10
DP: Pirates 0, Braves 0
Errors: Royster
Doubles: B. Robinson (11), Stargell (8)
Home Runs: Ott (4), Parker (10), Horner (1)
Stolen Bases: Taveras (19), Ott (1), Garner (10)
Caught Stealing: Taveras (11)
Hit by Pitch: Beall (1,by Whitson)


Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blyleven W(5-5)         5.2   6   4   3   4   7   1  27   4.23
Whitson SV(2)           3.1   1   0   0   2   4   0  14   1.69
Totals                  9     7   4   3   6  11   1  41

Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro L(7-7)           3.1   9   7   6   1   4   1  20   3.15
Skok                    1.2   1   0   0   1   2   0   7   0.00
Solomon                 1     1   0   0   0   0   0   3   4.54
Camp                    2     5   2   2   2   0   1  12   5.11
Easterly                1     1   0   0   0   2   0   4   5.51
Totals                  9    17   9   8   4   8   2  46

Passed Balls: Ott (6), Murphy 2 (6)
Hit by Pitch: Whitson (1)

Umpires: HP - Harry Wendelstedt, 1B - Dutch Rennert, 2B - Ed Montague, 3B - Lee Weyer


PIRATES 1ST: Taveras singled to left; Milner grounded out
(second to first) [Taveras to second]; Parker struck out; B.
Robinson doubled to left [Taveras scored]; Stargell flied out to
left; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 1, Braves 0.

BRAVES 1ST: Royster walked; Beall grounded out (second to first)
[Royster to second]; Matthews struck out; Burroughs walked;
Office grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Pirates 1, Braves 0.

PIRATES 2ND: Stennett struck out; Ott flied out to center;
Garner walked; Blyleven singled to left [Garner to third];
Murphy allowed a passed ball [Garner scored, Blyleven to
second]; Taveras singled to shortstop [Blyleven to third];
Taveras stole second; Murphy allowed a passed ball [Blyleven
scored (unearned), Taveras to third]; Milner struck out; 2 R (1
ER), 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Braves 0.

BRAVES 2ND: Murphy was called out on strikes; Horner grounded
out (shortstop to first); Debut game for Bob Horner;
Chaney grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 3, Braves 0.

PIRATES 3RD: Parker grounded out (second to first); B. Robinson
singled to left; Stargell grounded out (second to first) [B.
Robinson to second]; Stennett singled to second [B. Robinson
scored, Stennett to second (error by Royster)]; Ott homered
[Stennett scored]; Garner struck out; 3 R, 3 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 6, Braves 0.

BRAVES 3RD: Niekro popped to shortstop; Royster was called out
on strikes; Beall walked; Matthews grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 6, Braves 0.

PIRATES 4TH: Blyleven singled to left; Taveras forced Blyleven
(pitcher to shortstop); Milner singled to center [Taveras to
third]; SKOK REPLACED NIEKRO (PITCHING); Parker singled to left
[Taveras scored, Milner to second]; B. Robinson was called out
on strikes; Stargell walked [Milner to third, Parker to second];
Stennett flied out to center; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Pirates 7,
Braves 0.

BRAVES 4TH: Burroughs was called out on strikes; Office was
called out on strikes; Murphy grounded out (shortstop to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 7, Braves 0.

PIRATES 5TH: Ott flied out to left; Garner grounded out
(shortstop to first); Blyleven struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Pirates 7, Braves 0.

BRAVES 5TH: Horner flied out to center; Chaney struck out;
MADDOX BATTED FOR SKOK; Maddox singled to right; Royster singled
to center [Maddox to third]; Ott allowed a passed ball [Maddox
scored, Royster to second]; Beall singled to left [Royster
scored (unearned)]; Matthews was called out on strikes; 2 R (1
ER), 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 7, Braves 2.

PIRATES 6TH: SOLOMON REPLACED MADDOX (PITCHING); Taveras singled
to left; Taveras was caught stealing second (catcher to
shortstop); Milner flied out to right; Parker popped to third in
foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 7, Braves 2.

BRAVES 6TH: Burroughs grounded out (second to first); Office
popped to shortstop; Murphy singled to left; Horner homered
[Murphy scored]; Chaney singled to center; NOLAN BATTED FOR
SOLOMON; Nolan walked [Chaney to second]; WHITSON REPLACED
BLYLEVEN (PITCHING); Royster grounded out (third to first); 2 R,
3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 7, Braves 4.

PIRATES 7TH: CAMP REPLACED NOLAN (PITCHING); B. Robinson flied
out to left; Stargell walked; Stennett grounded out (second to
first) [Stargell to second]; Ott singled to right [Stargell
scored]; Ott stole second; Garner was walked intentionally;
Whitson forced Garner (shortstop unassisted); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Pirates 8, Braves 4.

BRAVES 7TH: MORENO REPLACED MILNER (PLAYING CF); B. ROBINSON
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); MENDOZA REPLACED STENNETT
(PLAYING 3B); Beall grounded out (pitcher to first); Matthews
flied out to right; Burroughs walked; Office struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 8, Braves 4.

PIRATES 8TH: Taveras grounded out (third to first); Moreno
singled to first; Moreno was picked off first (pitcher to
first); Parker homered; B. Robinson singled to center; Stargell
doubled to left [B. Robinson to third]; Mendoza popped to
catcher in foul territory; 1 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 9,
Braves 4.

BRAVES 8TH: Murphy struck out; Horner walked; Chaney struck out;
GASTON BATTED FOR CAMP; Gaston was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 9, Braves 4.

PIRATES 9TH: EASTERLY REPLACED GASTON (PITCHING); Ott grounded
out (shortstop to first); Garner singled to right; Garner stole
second; Whitson struck out; Taveras struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Pirates 9, Braves 4.

BRAVES 9TH: Royster grounded out (shortstop to first); Beall was
hit by a pitch; Matthews singled to left [Beall to second];
Burroughs flied out to left; Office popped to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 9, Braves 4.