Shut out until the eighth inning, the Giants erupted for five runs and defeated the Astros, 5-3. Ken Forsch, pitching with a 3-0 lead, allowed only three hits going into the eighth before Dennis Littlejohn tripled and pinch-hitter Terry Whitfield drove in the Giants' first run with a single. Bill North walked and Rob Andrews sacrificed.

Joaquin Andujar relieved and was the loser after facing only one batter. Andujar walked Mike Ivie and threw a wild pitch on the fourth ball, allowing Jack Clark, the pinch-runner for Whitfield, to score. Joe Sambito took over and retired Willie McCovey on a pop foul, but Darrell Evans singled, driving in the tying run and pinch-hitter Larry Herndon followed with a triple for the winning pair. [The Sporting News]



San Francisco Giants 5, Houston Astros 3
Game Played on Saturday, September 15, 1979 (Day game) at Candlestick Park
Astros       0  0  1    0  0  2    0  0  0  -   3  7  2
Giants       0  0  0    0  0  0    0  5  x  -   5  7  0


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Giants               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Landestoy 2b          5   1   2   0     0   0   .264      North cf              3   1   1   0     1   0   .262
Cedeno cf             5   0   0   0     0   1   .269      Andrews 2b            3   0   0   0     0   0   .268
Cruz lf               4   1   2   0     0   1   .291      Ivie lf               2   1   0   0     2   1   .300
  Wiedenbauer lf      0   0   0   0     0   0  1.000      McCovey 1b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .260
Leonard rf            4   0   1   1     0   1   .294      Evans 3b              4   1   2   1     0   0   .254
Cabell 1b             4   1   2   0     0   0   .269      Venable rf            2   0   0   0     1   0   .204
Howe 3b               3   0   0   0     1   0   .249        Herndon ph,rf       1   0   1   2     0   0   .252
Bochy c               1   0   0   0     1   1   .208      LeMaster ss           3   0   0   0     1   2   .251
  Alou ph             0   0   0   1     1   0   .263      Littlejohn c          3   1   2   0     0   0   .210
  Pujols c            1   0   0   0     0   1   .278      Knepper p             1   0   0   0     0   0   .188
Sexton ss             1   0   0   1     2   0   .162        Griffin p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .077
  Heep ph             1   0   0   0     0   0   .143        Johnston ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .194
Forsch p              3   0   0   0     0   3   .163        Borbon p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .333
  Andujar p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .088        Whitfield ph        1   0   1   1     0   0   .291
  Sambito p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .286        Clark pr            0   1   0   0     0   0   .274
  Walling ph          1   0   0   0     0   1   .310        Minton p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               33   3   7   3     5   9             Totals               28   5   7   4     5   3

Time of Game: 3:04   Attendance:  9,795
Left on Base: Astros 8, Giants 5
DP: Astros 2, Giants 0
Errors: Pujols, Sexton
Doubles: Cabell (27)
Triples: Littlejohn (1), Herndon (5)
Stolen Bases: Landestoy (10), Venable (3), North (52), Evans (6)
Caught Stealing: Cabell (16), Venable (3)
Sacrifice Hits: Andrews (4)
GIDP: North (5), LeMaster (6)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Forsch                  7.1   5   3   3   4   2   0  29   3.20
Andujar L(12-12)        0     0   1   1   1   0   0   1   3.25
Sambito                 0.2   2   1   1   0   1   0   4   1.85
Totals                  8     7   5   5   5   3   0  34

Giants                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Knepper                 5.1   5   3   3   5   6   0  26   4.60
Griffin                 0.2   0   0   0   0   1   0   2   3.66
Borbon W(6-5)           2     1   0   0   0   1   0   6   4.02
Minton SV(2)            1     1   0   0   0   1   0   4   2.06
Totals                  9     7   3   3   5   9   0  38

Wild Pitches: Andujar (5)

Umpires: HP - John Kibler, 1B - Dick Stello, 2B - Terry Tata, 3B - Jerry Crawford


ASTROS 1ST: Landestoy flied out to right; Cedeno grounded out
(shortstop to first); Cruz singled to pitcher; Leonard struck
out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

GIANTS 1ST: North popped to third in foul territory; Andrews
lined to second; Ivie grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Cabell grounded out (shortstop to first); Howe
grounded out (shortstop to first); Bochy walked; Sexton walked
[Bochy to second]; Forsch struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Astros 0, Giants 0.

GIANTS 2ND: McCovey grounded out (pitcher to first); Evans made
an out to second; Venable reached on an error by Sexton [Venable
to first]; LeMaster struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0,
Giants 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Landestoy singled to second; Cedeno struck out;
Landestoy stole second; Cruz was called out on strikes; Leonard
singled to right [Landestoy scored]; Cabell flied out to right;
1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1, Giants 0.

GIANTS 3RD: Littlejohn singled to right; Knepper forced
Littlejohn (pitcher to shortstop); North grounded into a double
play (first to shortstop to first) [Knepper out at second]; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Giants 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Howe flied out to right; Bochy struck out; Sexton
made an out to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Giants 0.

GIANTS 4TH: Andrews grounded out (third to first); Ivie was
called out on strikes; McCovey lined to pitcher; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Astros 1, Giants 0.

ASTROS 5TH: Forsch struck out; Landestoy grounded out (third to
first); Cedeno grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 1, Giants 0.

GIANTS 5TH: Evans grounded out (first to pitcher); Venable
walked; Venable stole second; LeMaster walked; Venable was
caught stealing third (catcher to third) [LeMaster to second];
Littlejohn grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Astros 1, Giants 0.

ASTROS 6TH: Cruz singled to second; Leonard flied out to right;
Cabell doubled to left [Cruz to third]; Howe was walked
intentionally; ALOU BATTED FOR BOCHY; Alou walked [Cruz scored,
Cabell to third, Howe to second]; Sexton walked [Cabell scored,
Howe to third, Alou to second]; GRIFFIN REPLACED KNEPPER
(PITCHING); Forsch struck out; Landestoy popped to third in foul
territory; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 3, Giants 0.

GIANTS 6TH: PUJOLS REPLACED ALOU (PLAYING C ); JOHNSTON BATTED
FOR GRIFFIN; Johnston flied out to right; North singled to left;
Andrews lined to left; North stole second [North to third (error
by Pujols)]; Ivie walked; McCovey popped to third in foul
territory; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 3, Giants 0.

ASTROS 7TH: BORBON REPLACED JOHNSTON (PITCHING); Cedeno flied
out to center; Cruz flied out to center; Leonard grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 3, Giants 0.

GIANTS 7TH: Evans singled to right; Venable made an out to
second; LeMaster grounded into a double play (second to
shortstop to first) [Evans out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Astros 3, Giants 0.

ASTROS 8TH: Cabell singled to left; Howe made an out to pitcher;
Cabell was caught stealing second (catcher to second); Pujols
struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 3, Giants 0.

GIANTS 8TH: WIEDENBAUER REPLACED CRUZ (PLAYING LF); Littlejohn
tripled to center; WHITFIELD BATTED FOR BORBON; Whitfield
singled to left [Littlejohn scored]; CLARK RAN FOR WHITFIELD;
North walked [Clark to second]; Andrews out on a sacrifice bunt
(first to second) [Clark to third, North to second]; ANDUJAR
REPLACED FORSCH (PITCHING); Ivie walked while Clark advanced to
home and North advanced to third on a wild pitch; SAMBITO
REPLACED ANDUJAR (PITCHING); McCovey popped to third in foul
territory; Evans singled to right [North scored, Ivie to third];
HERNDON BATTED FOR VENABLE; Evans stole second; Herndon tripled
to left [Ivie scored, Evans scored]; LeMaster was called out on
strikes; 5 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 3, Giants 5.

ASTROS 9TH: HERNDON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); MINTON REPLACED
CLARK (PITCHING); HEEP BATTED FOR SEXTON; Heep grounded out
(second to first); WALLING BATTED FOR SAMBITO; Walling was
called out on strikes; Landestoy singled to pitcher; Cedeno
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 3,
Giants 5.