Winning their sixth straight, the Pirates moved to within two games of the first-place Phillies in the East division by beating the Expos, 5-3. A three-run homer by Dave Parker in the third inning, following a single by Frank Taveras and walk to Omar Moreno, was the big blow of the game.

Willie Stargell stole home on the front end of a double steal in the second inning and Bill Robinson had a run-scoring double in the eighth. [The Sporting News]



Pittsburgh Pirates 5, Montreal Expos 3
Game Played on Sunday, September 17, 1978 (Day game) at Three Rivers Stadium
Expos        0  0  0    0  1  0    0  1  1  -   3  5  0
Pirates      0  1  3    0  0  0    0  1  x  -   5  7  1


Expos                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Papi 2b               4   0   0   0     0   1   .248      Taveras ss            4   1   1   0     0   0   .281
Hutton 1b             3   0   0   0     1   0   .240      Moreno cf             3   1   0   0     1   2   .229
Valentine rf          4   1   2   1     0   1   .292      Parker rf             4   2   3   3     0   0   .323
Carter c              4   0   0   0     0   1   .257      B. Robinson lf        4   0   1   1     0   0   .245
Cromartie lf          4   1   1   1     0   0   .302      Stargell 1b           3   1   0   0     1   2   .295
Unser cf              3   0   0   0     1   0   .189      Garner 2b             4   0   1   0     0   0   .270
Parrish 3b            3   1   2   0     0   0   .273      Berra 3b              3   0   0   0     1   0   .209
Speier ss             3   0   0   0     0   0   .253      Ott c                 3   0   1   0     0   0   .277
May p                 1   0   0   0     0   1   .154      Blyleven p            3   0   0   0     0   2   .138
  Mejias ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .204        Tekulve p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .095
  Palmer p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Perez ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .289
  Knowles p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .167

Totals               31   3   5   2     2   4             Totals               31   5   7   4     3   6

Time of Game: 2:24   Attendance:  8,544
Left on Base: Expos 3, Pirates 5
DP: Expos 0, Pirates 2
Errors: Taveras
Doubles: Parrish (37), B. Robinson (33)
Triples: Parker (10)
Home Runs: Cromartie (9), Valentine (25), Parker (27)
Stolen Bases: Ott (4), Stargell (3)
GIDP: Carter (9), Parrish (19)


Expos                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
May L(7-10)             5     5   4   4   3   5   1  23   4.13
Palmer                  2     0   0   0   0   0   0   6   0.00
Knowles                 1     2   1   1   0   1   0   5   2.51
Totals                  8     7   5   5   3   6   1  34

Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blyleven W(14-9)        7     4   2   1   2   4   1  25   2.96
Tekulve SV(30)          2     1   1   1   0   0   1   8   1.89
Totals                  9     5   3   2   2   4   2  33

Umpires: HP - Dick Stello, 1B - Bruce Froemming, 2B - Joe West, 3B - Bill Williams


EXPOS 1ST: Papi grounded out (pitcher to first); Hutton grounded
out (pitcher to first); Valentine was called out on strikes; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos 0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 1ST: Taveras flied out to center; Moreno was called out
on strikes; Parker tripled to left; B. Robinson lined to center;
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Expos 0, Pirates 0.

EXPOS 2ND: Carter flied out to left; Cromartie grounded out
(first unassisted); Unser grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos 0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 2ND: Stargell walked; Garner flied out to right; Berra
flied out to center; Ott singled to right [Stargell to third];
Stargell stole home and Ott stole second; Blyleven struck out; 1
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Expos 0, Pirates 1.

EXPOS 3RD: Parrish singled to center; Speier grounded out (first
unassisted) [Parrish to second]; May struck out; Papi was called
out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Expos 0, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 3RD: Taveras singled to center; Moreno walked [Taveras
to second]; Parker homered [Taveras scored, Moreno scored]; B.
Robinson grounded out (shortstop to first); Stargell grounded
out (second to first); Garner singled to center; Berra walked
[Garner to second]; Ott flied out to center; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Expos 0, Pirates 4.

EXPOS 4TH: Hutton grounded out (shortstop to first); Valentine
singled to right; Carter grounded into a double play (second to
shortstop to first) [Valentine out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Expos 0, Pirates 4.

PIRATES 4TH: Blyleven struck out; Taveras flied out to center;
Moreno was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos
0, Pirates 4.

EXPOS 5TH: Cromartie homered; Unser walked; Parrish grounded
into a double play (pitcher to second to first) [Unser out at
second]; Speier flied out to right; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos
1, Pirates 4.

PIRATES 5TH: Parker lined to first; B. Robinson flied out to
left; Stargell was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Expos 1, Pirates 4.

EXPOS 6TH: MEJIAS BATTED FOR MAY; Mejias grounded out (shortstop
to first); Papi flied out to left; Hutton walked; Valentine
forced Hutton (second unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Expos
1, Pirates 4.

PIRATES 6TH: PALMER REPLACED MEJIAS (PITCHING); Garner grounded
out (pitcher to first); Berra grounded out (shortstop to first);
Ott grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Expos 1, Pirates 4.

EXPOS 7TH: Carter was called out on strikes; Cromartie grounded
out (second to first); Unser grounded out (pitcher to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos 1, Pirates 4.

PIRATES 7TH: Blyleven grounded out (second to first); Taveras
grounded out (second to first); Moreno flied out to center; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Expos 1, Pirates 4.

EXPOS 8TH: Parrish doubled to center; TEKULVE REPLACED BLYLEVEN
(PITCHING); Speier grounded out (pitcher to first); PEREZ BATTED
FOR PALMER; Perez flied out to center; Papi reached on an error
by Taveras [Parrish scored (unearned) (no RBI), Papi to first];
Hutton grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E,
1 LOB.  Expos 2, Pirates 4.

PIRATES 8TH: KNOWLES REPLACED PEREZ (PITCHING); Parker singled
to second; B. Robinson doubled to left [Parker scored]; Stargell
was called out on strikes; Garner popped to first in foul
territory; Berra popped to first in foul territory; 1 R, 2 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Expos 2, Pirates 5.

EXPOS 9TH: Valentine homered; Carter popped to second; Cromartie
flied out to left; Unser flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Expos 3, Pirates 5.