Making a rare relief appearance, Tommy John gained his 10th victory of the season when the Dodgers defeated the Astros, 7-5, to complete the sweep of a twi-night doubleheader. Burt Hooton pitched a five-hitter and won the first game, 7-1. The Dodgers backed Hooton with a 14-hit attack that included a homer by Reggie Smith.

In the nightcap, the Astros knocked out Bob Welch in the fifth inning and took a 5-4 lead with a four-run outburst that included a two-run triple by Bob Watson after Lanc eRautzhan took over in relief. The Dodgers came back with a three-run rally in the sixth. Dusty Baker and Rick Monday singled and Bill North walked to load the bases. Johnny Oates sent the Dodgers ahead with a two-run single and Joe Ferguson added an insurance tally with a sacrifice fly. John pitched the last four innings and was awarded the decision. [The Sporting News]



Los Angeles Dodgers 7, Houston Astros 1 (Game 1)
Game Played on Saturday, July      8, 1978 (Night game) at Astrodome
Dodgers      1  2  1    0  0  2    1  0  0  -   7 14  1
Astros       0  0  0    0  0  0    1  0  0  -   1  5  2


Dodgers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Lopes 2b              6   2   2   1     0   0   .301      Puhl cf               4   0   0   0     0   0   .306
Russell ss            5   0   3   2     0   1   .279        Sambito p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Smith rf              4   1   2   1     1   0   .307      Walling lf            4   0   0   0     0   0   .244
Cey 3b                3   0   2   0     1   0   .269      Cabell 3b             4   0   1   0     0   0   .301
  Martinez pr,3b      1   1   0   0     0   1   .238      Cruz rf               4   1   2   0     0   0   .279
Garvey 1b             4   0   1   0     1   2   .298      Watson 1b             1   0   0   1     2   0   .292
Baker lf              4   1   2   0     0   1   .281      Howe 2b               4   0   0   0     0   0   .275
  Davalillo lf        1   0   0   0     0   0   .265      Landestoy ss          3   0   1   0     0   0   .333
Ferguson c            4   1   1   0     1   1   .227      Pujols c              3   0   0   0     0   0   .176
North cf              4   1   1   1     1   1   .263      Bannister p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .095
Hooton p              3   0   0   0     0   0   .107        Baldwin ph          1   0   1   0     0   0   .241
                                                            Williams p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Bergman ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .143
                                                            McLaughlin p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Forsch p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .143
                                                            Howard ph,cf        1   0   0   0     0   0   .246

Totals               39   7  14   5     5   7             Totals               30   1   5   1     2   0

Time of Game: 2:29
Left on Base: Dodgers 12, Astros 5
DP: Dodgers 1, Astros 1
Errors: Smith, Pujols, Forsch
Doubles: Lopes (14), Baker (17), Ferguson (9), Cruz (15)
Triples: Russell (4)
Home Runs: Smith (12)
Stolen Bases: Baker (7), Lopes (24), Cabell (18)
Sacrifice Hits: Hooton 2 (11)
Sacrifice Flies: Watson (8)
GIDP: Hooton (1), Howe (10)


Dodgers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hooton W(8-7)           9     5   1   0   2   0   0  33   3.18
Totals                  9     5   1   0   2   0   0  33

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Bannister L(3-4)        3     7   4   4   1   4   1  16   3.43
Williams                2     1   0   0   1   1   0   8   3.77
McLaughlin              1     3   3   1   2   1   0   9   4.50
Forsch                  2     2   0   0   0   1   0   8   3.44
Sambito                 1     1   0   0   1   0   0   5   3.08
Totals                  9    14   7   5   5   7   1  46

Wild Pitches: Bannister (6), McLaughlin 2 (3)

Umpires: HP - Charlie Williams, 1B - Terry Tata, 2B - Jim Quick, 3B - Paul Pryor


DODGERS 1ST: Lopes doubled to left; Russell singled to left
[Lopes scored, Russell out at second (left to third to second to
first to shortstop)]; Smith grounded out (third to first); Cey
walked; Garvey struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 1,
Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Puhl flied out to center; Walling made an out to
third; Cabell singled to center; Cabell stole second; Cruz flied
out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Astros 0.

DODGERS 2ND: Baker doubled to left; Baker stole third; Bannister
threw a wild pitch [Baker scored]; Ferguson grounded out (third
to first); North singled to center; Hooton out on a sacrifice
bunt (first to second) [North to second]; Lopes singled to left
[North scored]; Russell struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Dodgers 3, Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Watson walked; Howe grounded into a double play
(second to shortstop to first) [Watson out at second]; Landestoy
singled to shortstop; Pujols made an out to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 3, Astros 0.

DODGERS 3RD: Smith homered; Cey singled to center; Garvey struck
out; Baker forced Cey (shortstop to second); Ferguson struck
out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 4, Astros 0.

ASTROS 3RD: BALDWIN BATTED FOR BANNISTER; Baldwin singled to
right; Puhl flied out to center; Walling flied out to left;
Cabell lined to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 4, Astros
0.

DODGERS 4TH: WILLIAMS REPLACED BALDWIN (PITCHING); North
grounded out (second to first); Hooton popped to catcher in foul
territory; Lopes grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 4, Astros 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Cruz grounded out (shortstop to first); Watson flied
out to center; Howe grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 4, Astros 0.

DODGERS 5TH: Russell grounded out (shortstop to first); Smith
walked; Cey flied out to right; Garvey singled to center [Smith
to third]; Baker struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 4,
Astros 0.

ASTROS 5TH: Landestoy flied out to right; Pujols grounded out
(second to first); BERGMAN BATTED FOR WILLIAMS; Bergman flied
out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 4, Astros 0.

DODGERS 6TH: MCLAUGHLIN REPLACED BERGMAN (PITCHING); Ferguson
walked; McLaughlin threw a wild pitch [Ferguson to second];
McLaughlin threw a wild pitch [Ferguson to third]; North struck
out; Hooton reached on an error by Pujols [Ferguson scored
(unearned) (no RBI), Hooton to first]; Lopes forced Hooton
(second to shortstop); Lopes stole second; Russell tripled to
center [Lopes scored (unearned)]; Smith lined to second; 2 R (0
ER), 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 6, Astros 0.

ASTROS 6TH: Puhl flied out to center; Walling grounded out
(second to first); Cabell grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 6, Astros 0.

DODGERS 7TH: Cey singled to pitcher; MARTINEZ RAN FOR CEY;
Garvey walked [Martinez to second]; Baker singled to left
[Martinez to third, Garvey to second]; FORSCH REPLACED
MCLAUGHLIN (PITCHING); Ferguson popped to catcher in foul
territory; North reached on an error by Forsch (assist by
Watson) [Martinez scored (RBI), Garvey to third, Baker to
second, North to first]; Hooton grounded into a double play
(shortstop to second to first) [North out at second]; 1 R, 2 H,
1 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 7, Astros 0.

ASTROS 7TH: MARTINEZ STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); Cruz doubled
to right [Cruz to third (error by Smith)]; Watson hit a
sacrifice fly to right [Cruz scored (unearned)]; Howe flied out
to left; Landestoy made an out to third; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0
LOB.  Dodgers 7, Astros 1.

DODGERS 8TH: Lopes flied out to center; Russell singled to
shortstop; Smith singled to right [Russell to third]; Martinez
struck out; Garvey grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 7, Astros 1.

ASTROS 8TH: DAVALILLO REPLACED BAKER (PLAYING LF); Pujols flied
out to center; HOWARD BATTED FOR FORSCH; Howard made an out to
shortstop; Puhl grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Dodgers 7, Astros 1.

DODGERS 9TH: SAMBITO REPLACED PUHL (PITCHING); HOWARD STAYED IN
GAME (PLAYING CF); Davalillo flied out to center; Ferguson
doubled to left; North walked; Hooton out on a sacrifice bunt
(catcher to second) [Ferguson to third, North to second]; Lopes
flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 7, Astros 1.

ASTROS 9TH: Walling flied out to center; Cabell flied out to
center; Cruz singled to right; Watson walked [Cruz to second];
Howe grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Dodgers 7, Astros 1.