Pressed into the opening day assignment when Jerry Reuss pulled a calf muscle, Fernando Valenzuela made his first major league start successful by hurling a five hitter to carry the Dodgers to a 2-0 blanking of the Astros. The first run came in the fourth inning on a triple by Steve Garvey and a sacrifice fly by Ron Cey. A single by Garvey, wild pitch and double by Pedro Guerrero provided an insurance marker in the sixth. [The Sporting News]

Los Angeles Dodgers 2, Houston Astros 0

Game Played on Thursday, April 9, 1981 (Day game) at Dodger Stadium

Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 0 Dodgers 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 x - 2 8 0 Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Dodgers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Puhl rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Lopes 2b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Reynolds ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 .500 Landreaux cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250 Cedeno cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .250 Baker lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Cruz lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Garvey 1b 4 2 2 0 0 1 .500 Howe 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .333 Cey 3b 2 0 0 1 1 0 .000 Roberts 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Guerrero rf 4 0 3 1 0 0 .750 Thon 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Scioscia c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Pujols c 3 0 1 0 0 1 .333 Russell ss 3 0 2 0 0 0 .667 Niekro p 1 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Valenzuela p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Leonard ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 D. Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 31 0 5 0 2 5 Totals 29 2 8 2 2 3 Time of Game: 2:17 Attendance: 50,511 Left on Base: Astros 6, Dodgers 7 DP: Astros 0, Dodgers 1 Doubles: Cedeno (1), Landreaux (1), Guerrero (1) Triples: Garvey (1) Stolen Bases: Guerrero (1), Lopes (1) Caught Stealing: Russell (1) Sacrifice Hits: Valenzuela (1) Sacrifice Flies: Cey (1) GIDP: Puhl (1) Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Niekro L(0-1) 7 8 2 2 1 1 0 29 2.57 D. Smith 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 4 0.00 Totals 8 8 2 2 2 3 0 33 Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Valenzuela W(1-0) 9 5 0 0 2 5 0 33 0.00 Totals 9 5 0 0 2 5 0 33 Wild Pitches: Niekro (1) Umpires: HP - Bob Engel, 1B - Jerry Dale, 2B - Paul Runge, 3B - Jim Quick ASTROS 1ST: Puhl grounded out (shortstop to first); Reynolds singled to center; Cedeno grounded out (second to first) [Reynolds to second]; Cruz flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 0. DODGERS 1ST: Lopes flied out to center; Landreaux doubled to left; Baker made an out to second; Garvey flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 0. ASTROS 2ND: Howe walked; Roberts flied out to center [Howe to second]; Thon grounded out (second to first) [Howe to third]; Pujols made an out to first; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 0. DODGERS 2ND: Cey grounded out (shortstop to first); Guerrero singled to right; Guerrero stole second; Scioscia struck out; Russell grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 0. ASTROS 3RD: Niekro walked; Puhl grounded into a double play (first to first to shortstop) [Niekro out at second]; Reynolds grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 0. DODGERS 3RD: Valenzuela lined to second; Lopes grounded out (shortstop to first); Landreaux flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 0. ASTROS 4TH: Cedeno struck out; Cruz lined to first; Howe made an out to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 0. DODGERS 4TH: Baker flied out to left; Garvey tripled to right; Cey hit a sacrifice fly to left [Garvey scored]; Guerrero singled to left; Scioscia flied out to left; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 1. ASTROS 5TH: Roberts flied out to center; Thon grounded out (shortstop to first); Pujols singled to second; Niekro struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 1. DODGERS 5TH: Russell singled to left; Valenzuela popped to pitcher; Russell was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Lopes walked; Lopes stole second; Landreaux flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 1. ASTROS 6TH: Puhl popped to catcher in foul territory; Reynolds singled to center; Cedeno doubled to left [Reynolds to third]; Cruz lined to shortstop; Howe grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 1. DODGERS 6TH: Baker flied out to left; Garvey singled to left; Cey grounded out (catcher to first) [Garvey to second]; Niekro threw a wild pitch [Garvey to third]; Guerrero doubled to left [Garvey scored]; Scioscia made an out to second; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 2. ASTROS 7TH: Roberts flied out to center; Thon flied out to center; Pujols struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 2. DODGERS 7TH: Russell singled to left; Valenzuela out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Russell to second]; Lopes grounded out (third to first); Landreaux popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 2. ASTROS 8TH: LEONARD BATTED FOR NIEKRO; Leonard struck out; Puhl grounded out (pitcher to first); Reynolds grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 2. DODGERS 8TH: D. SMITH REPLACED LEONARD (PITCHING); Baker struck out; Garvey struck out; Cey walked; Guerrero popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 2. ASTROS 9TH: Cedeno popped to third in foul territory; Cruz grounded out (third to first); Howe singled to center; Roberts struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 2.

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