Tom Seaver, helping his own cause with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, recorded his 248th major league victory and 54th career shutout as the Reds downed the Astros, 4-0. The Reds tallied their first runs in the fourth frame on a two-run single by Ray Knight. Seaver's round-tripper, the 12th of his majoe league career, came off reliever Dave Smith with Ron Oester on base and cleared the left field wall. [The Sporting News]

Cincinnati Reds 4, Houston Astros 0

Game Played on Friday, May 8, 1981 (Night game) at Riverfront Stadium

Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 6 0 Reds 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 x - 4 8 1 Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Reds AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Puhl cf 3 0 3 0 1 0 .240 Collins rf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .371 Reynolds ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .245 Mejias rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Heep 1b 2 0 0 0 2 0 .241 Griffey cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .252 Cruz lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .240 Concepcion ss 4 1 2 0 0 0 .323 Howe 3b 3 0 2 0 1 0 .333 Foster lf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .258 Woods rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .036 Bench 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .256 Ashby c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .211 Nolan c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .265 Garcia 2b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .270 Knight 3b 3 0 1 2 0 0 .225 Sutton p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000 Oester 2b 3 1 1 0 0 2 .284 Cedeno ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .292 Seaver p 3 1 1 2 0 1 .118 D. Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Ivie ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .245 Totals 29 0 6 0 6 4 Totals 31 4 8 4 1 3 Time of Game: 2:21 Attendance: 31,961 Left on Base: Astros 9, Reds 4 DP: Astros 0, Reds 2 Errors: Oester Doubles: Howe (7), Concepcion (9) Triples: Collins (4) Home Runs: Seaver (1) Caught Stealing: Puhl (1), Knight (2) Sacrifice Hits: Reynolds (4) GIDP: Woods (3), Cruz (1) Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Sutton L(2-4) 6 5 2 2 1 3 0 23 3.52 D. Smith 2 3 2 2 0 0 1 9 3.27 Totals 8 8 4 4 1 3 1 32 Reds IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Seaver W(3-1) 9 6 0 0 6 4 0 36 2.06 Totals 9 6 0 0 6 4 0 36 Umpires: HP - Ed Vargo, 1B - Satch Davidson, 2B - Terry Tata, 3B - Jerry Crawford ASTROS 1ST: Puhl singled to right; Puhl was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Reynolds popped to third in foul territory; Heep walked; Cruz popped to second; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 0. REDS 1ST: Collins flied to center; Griffey grounded out (shortstop to first); Concepcion singled to center; Foster grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 0. ASTROS 2ND: Howe doubled to left; Woods struck out; Ashby was called out on strikes; Garcia walked; Sutton was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 0. REDS 2ND: Bench grounded out (shortstop to first); Nolan grounded out (second to first); Knight grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 0. ASTROS 3RD: Puhl singled to right; Reynolds out on a sacrifice bunt (third to first) [Puhl to second]; Heep grounded out (first unassisted) [Puhl to third]; Cruz walked; Howe walked [Cruz to second]; Woods lined to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 0. REDS 3RD: Oester struck out; Seaver grounded out (shortstop to first); Collins tripled to center; Griffey lined to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 0. ASTROS 4TH: Ashby grounded out (second to first); Garcia grounded out (shortstop to first); Sutton struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 0. REDS 4TH: Concepcion doubled to left; Foster walked; Bench flied to center; Nolan grounded out (pitcher to first) [Concepcion to third, Foster to second]; Knight singled to center [Concepcion scored, Foster scored]; Knight was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 2. ASTROS 5TH: Puhl singled to right; Reynolds popped to catcher in foul territory; Heep flied to center; Cruz grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 2. REDS 5TH: Oester was called out on strikes; Seaver struck out; Collins grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 2. ASTROS 6TH: Howe singled to center; Woods grounded into a double play (shortstop to shortstop to first) [Howe out at second]; Ashby popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 2. REDS 6TH: Griffey singled to center; Concepcion flied to center [Griffey to second]; Foster grounded out (shortstop to first); Bench grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 2. ASTROS 7TH: Garcia grounded out (shortstop to first); CEDENO BATTED FOR SUTTON; Cedeno grounded out (pitcher to first); Puhl walked; Reynolds grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 2. REDS 7TH: D. SMITH REPLACED CEDENO (PITCHING); Nolan flied to center; Knight grounded out (third to first); On a bunt Oester singled to third; Seaver homered [Oester scored]; Collins singled to first; Griffey grounded out (first unassisted); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 4. ASTROS 8TH: MEJIAS REPLACED COLLINS (PLAYING RF); Heep walked; Cruz grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Heep out at second]; Howe flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 4. REDS 8TH: Concepcion flied to right; Foster grounded out (shortstop to first); Bench popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 4. ASTROS 9TH: Woods popped to catcher in foul territory; Ashby singled to center; Garcia forced Ashby (shortstop to second) [Garcia to second (error by Oester)]; IVIE BATTED FOR D. SMITH; Ivie popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Reds 4.

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet.
Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at "www.retrosheet.org".