The Giants took advantage of J.R. Richard's departure and scored in the eighth inning on a pinch-single by Tom Heintzelman to defeat the Astros, 3-2. Richard struck out seven, leaving him three short of 300 for the season, before a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand forced him to leave the mound after seven innings with the score tied, 2-2.

In the Giants' eighth, Marc Hill doubled off joaquin Andujar. Vic Harris went in to run and was bunted to third by Roger Metzger. After pinch-hitter John Tamargo walked, Houston brought in Dan Warthen, who was greeted by Heintzelman's single. [The Sporting News]



San Francisco Giants 3, Houston Astros 2
Game Played on Saturday, September 23, 1978 (Day game) at Candlestick Park
Astros       0  0  0    1  1  0    0  0  0  -   2  7  1
Giants       0  0  0    0  2  0    0  1  x  -   3  8  1


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Giants               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Landestoy ss          4   0   2   0     0   0   .270      Whitfield lf          4   1   1   0     1   0   .296
Cannon cf             4   0   1   1     0   1   .154      Dwyer 1b              2   0   0   0     2   1   .221
Walling lf            3   1   0   0     0   1   .250        Ivie ph,1b          0   0   0   0     1   0   .310
Cruz rf               3   0   0   0     1   1   .306      Clark rf              4   1   2   1     1   0   .309
Cabell 3b             4   0   1   0     0   1   .296      Evans 3b              3   0   1   0     1   0   .248
Obradovich 1b         4   0   0   0     0   1   .200      Cruz cf               4   0   0   0     0   1   .229
Drumright 2b          3   0   1   0     0   1   .133        Herndon cf          0   0   0   0     0   0   .259
  Howard ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .235      Hill c                4   0   1   0     0   2   .235
Bochy c               3   0   1   0     0   1   .265        Harris pr           0   1   0   0     0   0   .150
Richard p             3   1   1   0     0   1   .172        Moffitt p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .143
  Andujar p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .130      Metzger ss            3   0   2   0     0   0   .240
  Warthen p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Andrews 2b            2   0   0   0     0   1   .229
                                                            Tamargo ph,c        0   0   0   0     1   0   .227
                                                          Halicki p             2   0   0   0     0   2   .143
                                                            Madlock ph          0   0   0   0     1   0   .313
                                                            Lavelle p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .067
                                                            James ph            0   0   0   0     0   0   .095
                                                            Heintzelman ph,2b   1   0   1   1     0   0   .233

Totals               32   2   7   1     1   8             Totals               29   3   8   2     8   7

Time of Game: 2:26   Attendance:  6,433
Left on Base: Astros 5, Giants 12
DP: Astros 1, Giants 0
Errors: Cannon, Metzger
Doubles: Metzger (10), Whitfield (20), Clark (45), Evans (24), Hill (13)
Stolen Bases: Cruz (35), Dwyer (6), Clark (15)
Caught Stealing: Landestoy (3)
Sacrifice Hits: Andrews (5), Metzger (9)
GIDP: Clark (15)
Hit by Pitch: Walling (1,by Halicki)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Richard                 7     6   2   2   6   7   0  32   3.16
Andujar L(5-7)          0.1   1   1   1   1   0   0   3   3.38
Warthen                 0.2   1   0   0   1   0   0   4  10.80
Totals                  8     8   3   3   8   7   0  39

Giants                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Halicki                 6     6   2   1   1   5   0  25   2.94
Lavelle W(13-10)        2     1   0   0   0   3   0   6   3.47
Moffitt SV(12)          1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   3.20
Totals                  9     7   2   1   1   8   0  34

Hit by Pitch: Halicki (7)
Wild Pitches: Richard (16)

Umpires: HP - Eric Gregg, 1B - John Kibler, 2B - Nick Colosi, 3B - Frank Pulli


ASTROS 1ST: Landestoy grounded out (first unassisted); Cannon
flied out to right; Walling grounded out (second to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

GIANTS 1ST: Whitfield walked; Dwyer walked [Whitfield to
second]; Clark grounded into a double play (third to second to
first) [Whitfield to third, Dwyer out at second]; Evans flied
out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Cruz walked; Cruz stole second; Cabell struck out;
Obradovich struck out; Drumright was called out on strikes; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

GIANTS 2ND: Cruz grounded out (second to first); Hill struck
out; Metzger doubled; Andrews grounded out (second to first); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Bochy singled to center; Richard struck out;
Landestoy made an out to third; Cannon flied out to right; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

GIANTS 3RD: Halicki struck out; Whitfield grounded out
(shortstop to first); Dwyer walked; Dwyer stole second; Clark
walked; Evans walked [Dwyer to third, Clark to second]; Cruz
flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Walling was hit by a pitch; Cruz flied out to right;
Cabell singled to left [Walling to second]; Obradovich flied out
to left; Drumright singled to second [Walling scored (error by
Metzger) (unearned), Cabell to third, Drumright to second];
Bochy struck out; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 1, Giants
0.

GIANTS 4TH: Hill grounded out (shortstop to first); Metzger
flied out to left; Andrews struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 1, Giants 0.

ASTROS 5TH: Richard singled to right; Landestoy singled to first
[Richard to third]; Cannon singled to right [Richard scored,
Landestoy out at third (right to third), Cannon to second (on
throw to 3b)]; Walling grounded out (second to first) [Cannon to
third]; Cruz lined to third; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 2,
Giants 0.

GIANTS 5TH: Halicki struck out; Whitfield doubled to left; Dwyer
made an out to second; Clark doubled to center [Whitfield
scored, Clark to third (error by Cannon)]; Richard threw a wild
pitch [Clark scored]; Evans doubled to right; Cruz grounded out
(third to first); 2 R, 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 2, Giants 2.

ASTROS 6TH: Cabell flied out to left; Obradovich made an out to
shortstop; Drumright flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 2, Giants 2.

GIANTS 6TH: Hill struck out; Metzger singled to left; Andrews
out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Metzger to second];
MADLOCK BATTED FOR HALICKI; Madlock walked; Whitfield flied out
to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 2, Giants 2.

ASTROS 7TH: LAVELLE REPLACED MADLOCK (PITCHING); Bochy grounded
out (shortstop to first); Richard grounded out (pitcher to
first); Landestoy singled to center; Landestoy was caught
stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 2, Giants 2.

GIANTS 7TH: Dwyer struck out; Clark singled to left; Clark stole
second; Evans made an out to third; Cruz struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Astros 2, Giants 2.

ASTROS 8TH: HERNDON REPLACED CRUZ (PLAYING CF); Cannon struck
out; Walling struck out; Cruz was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2, Giants 2.

GIANTS 8TH: ANDUJAR REPLACED RICHARD (PITCHING); Hill doubled to
left; HARRIS RAN FOR HILL; Metzger out on a sacrifice bunt
(catcher to first) [Harris to third]; TAMARGO BATTED FOR
ANDREWS; Tamargo walked; JAMES BATTED FOR LAVELLE; WARTHEN
REPLACED ANDUJAR (PITCHING); HEINTZELMAN BATTED FOR JAMES;
Heintzelman singled to left [Harris scored, Tamargo to second];
Whitfield flied out to center; IVIE BATTED FOR DWYER; Ivie
walked [Tamargo to third, Heintzelman to second]; Clark forced
Heintzelman (third unassisted); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 2,
Giants 3.

ASTROS 9TH: IVIE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); HEINTZELMAN STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); TAMARGO STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C );
MOFFITT REPLACED HARRIS (PITCHING); Cabell flied out to center;
Obradovich grounded out (first unassisted); HOWARD BATTED FOR
DRUMRIGHT; Howard grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Astros 2, Giants 3.