Hitting a homer with two men on base, Larry Christenson helped himself to victory as the Phillies defeated the Astros, 4-2. Larry Bowa batted in the Phillies' first run with an infield out in the second inning before Christenson rapped his round-tripper off Joe Niekro. A sore elbow forced Christenson to leave the mound after five innings. Kevin Saucier and Dickie Noles finished wrapping up the victory. [The Sporting News]



Philadelphia Phillies 4, Houston Astros 2
Game Played on Saturday, May       17, 1980 (Night game) at Astrodome
Phillies     0  4  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   4 12  0
Astros       0  0  2    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   2  9  1


Phillies             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Rose 1b               5   0   2   0     0   0   .243      Walling 1b            4   0   0   0     0   1   .267
McBride rf            4   0   1   0     0   1   .305      Puhl rf               4   1   2   0     0   0   .308
Schmidt 3b            4   0   1   0     0   0   .300      Morgan 2b             4   0   2   0     0   0   .229
Luzinski lf           4   1   2   0     0   1   .250      Cruz lf               3   0   2   0     1   1   .311
  Gross lf            0   0   0   0     0   0   .128      Cedeno cf             4   0   1   2     0   1   .318
Boone c               3   0   0   0     1   0   .229      Cabell 3b             3   0   0   0     1   1   .303
Maddox cf             4   0   2   0     0   1   .250      Ashby c               4   0   1   0     0   1   .246
Bowa ss               4   1   0   1     0   1   .255      Reynolds ss           2   0   0   0     0   0   .198
Trillo 2b             4   1   2   0     0   1   .381        Landestoy ph,ss     2   0   0   0     0   1   .182
Christenson p         2   1   1   3     0   0   .500      Niekro p              2   1   1   0     0   1   .211
  Saucier p           1   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Gonzalez ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .136
  G. Vukovich ph      1   0   1   0     0   0   .300        Andujar p           0   0   0   0     0   0  1.000
  Noles p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .667

Totals               36   4  12   4     1   5             Totals               33   2   9   2     2   7

Time of Game: 2:25   Attendance: 43,525
Left on Base: Phillies 6, Astros 6
DP: Phillies 0, Astros 2
Errors: Andujar
Doubles: Puhl (5), Morgan (4)
Home Runs: Christenson (1)
Stolen Bases: Maddox (5)
GIDP: Rose (6)


Phillies               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Christenson W(3-0)      5     7   2   2   1   5   0  21   4.76
Saucier                 3     2   0   0   1   1   0  11   3.18
Noles SV(3)             1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   2.20
Totals                  9     9   2   2   2   7   0  35

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro L(4-3)           7     9   4   4   1   4   1  30   3.17
Andujar                 2     3   0   0   0   1   0   7   2.63
Totals                  9    12   4   4   1   5   1  37

Wild Pitches: Niekro (3)

Umpires: HP - Jim Quick, 1B - Jerry Dale, 2B - Lanny Harris, 3B - Paul Runge


PHILLIES 1ST: Rose grounded out (shortstop to first); McBride
singled to right; Schmidt lined into a double play (center to
first) [McBride out at first]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies
0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Walling flied out to right; Puhl lined to center;
Morgan singled to center; Morgan was picked off first (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 0.

PHILLIES 2ND: Luzinski singled to center; Boone walked [Luzinski
to second]; Niekro threw a wild pitch [Luzinski to third];
Maddox lined to center; Bowa forced Boone (second unassisted)
[Luzinski scored]; Trillo singled to right [Bowa to second];
Christenson homered [Bowa scored, Trillo scored]; Rose grounded
out (first to pitcher); 4 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 4,
Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Cruz singled to left; Cedeno struck out; Cabell
struck out; Ashby singled to center [Cruz to second]; Reynolds
flied out to left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Phillies 4, Astros 0.

PHILLIES 3RD: McBride struck out; Schmidt singled to left;
Luzinski singled to right [Schmidt to second]; Boone popped to
second; Maddox struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Phillies 4,
Astros 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Niekro singled to center; Walling struck out; Puhl
singled to center [Niekro to second]; Morgan flied out to right;
Cruz walked [Niekro to third, Puhl to second]; Cedeno singled to
center [Niekro scored, Puhl scored, Cruz to second]; Cruz was
picked off second (pitcher to shortstop); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Phillies 4, Astros 2.

PHILLIES 4TH: Bowa grounded out (pitcher to first); Trillo
struck out (catcher to first); Christenson grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 4, Astros 2.

ASTROS 4TH: Cabell popped to second; Ashby struck out; Reynolds
lined to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 4, Astros 2.

PHILLIES 5TH: Rose singled to shortstop; McBride flied out to
center; Schmidt popped to second; Luzinski grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 4, Astros 2.

ASTROS 5TH: Niekro struck out; Walling grounded out (third to
first); Puhl doubled to right; Morgan flied out to center; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 4, Astros 2.

PHILLIES 6TH: Boone grounded out (first to pitcher); Maddox
singled to left; Maddox stole second; Bowa struck out; Trillo
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies
4, Astros 2.

ASTROS 6TH: SAUCIER REPLACED CHRISTENSON (PITCHING); Cruz struck
out; Cedeno flied out to center; Cabell walked; Ashby forced
Cabell (third to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 4,
Astros 2.

PHILLIES 7TH: Saucier grounded out (shortstop to first); Rose
singled to center; McBride grounded out (first unassisted) [Rose
to second]; Schmidt grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 4, Astros 2.

ASTROS 7TH: LANDESTOY BATTED FOR REYNOLDS; Landestoy popped to
first; GONZALEZ BATTED FOR NIEKRO; Gonzalez flied out to right;
Walling grounded out (catcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Phillies 4, Astros 2.

PHILLIES 8TH: LANDESTOY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); ANDUJAR
REPLACED GONZALEZ (PITCHING); Luzinski struck out; Boone popped
to second; Maddox singled to center; Maddox was picked off first
but was safe on an error by Andujar [Maddox to second]; Bowa
flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 4, Astros 2.

ASTROS 8TH: GROSS REPLACED LUZINSKI (PLAYING LF); Puhl flied out
to center; Morgan doubled to right [Morgan out at third (right
to second to third)]; Cruz singled to left; Cedeno forced Cruz
(third to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 4, Astros 2.

PHILLIES 9TH: Trillo singled to left [Trillo out at second (left
to second)]; G. VUKOVICH BATTED FOR SAUCIER; G. Vukovich singled
to center; Rose grounded into a double play (pitcher to
shortstop to first) [G. Vukovich out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Phillies 4, Astros 2.

ASTROS 9TH: NOLES REPLACED G. VUKOVICH (PITCHING); Cabell
grounded out (pitcher to first); Ashby popped to shortstop;
Landestoy struck out (catcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Phillies 4, Astros 2.