Allowing just four hits, Joe Niekro hurled the Astros to a 5-0 blanking of the Cubs, for the Houston club's third shutout in the last five games. The Astros tallied three runs in the third inning on a two-run double by Alan Ashby and run-scoring single by Terry Puhl, and added singletons in the sixth and seventh frames on a sacrifice fly by Puhl and RBI groundout by Art Howe, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a two-bagger in the third inning. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 5, Chicago Cubs 0
Game Played on Friday, May       15, 1981 (Night game) at Astrodome
Cubs         0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   0  4  0
Astros       0  0  0    3  0  1    1  0  x  -   5  9  0


Cubs                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
De Jesus ss           4   0   0   0     0   1   .152      Puhl cf               2   0   1   2     1   1   .248
Strain 2b             4   0   3   0     0   0   .303      Reynolds ss           5   0   0   0     0   0   .252
Buckner 1b            3   0   0   0     1   1   .289      Walling rf            5   1   1   0     0   1   .256
Durham rf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .283      Cruz lf               4   0   0   0     0   2   .246
Tracy lf              4   0   0   0     0   0   .208      Heep 1b               4   1   2   0     0   1   .280
Reitz 3b              3   0   0   0     0   0   .173      Howe 3b               3   2   1   1     1   0   .350
  McGlothen p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .091      Ashby c               2   1   2   2     1   0   .229
Thompson cf           3   0   0   0     0   0   .171      Landestoy 2b          2   0   1   0     2   0   .135
Davis c               2   0   0   0     1   0   .214      Niekro p              4   0   1   0     0   1   .095
Caudill p             1   0   0   0     0   0   .143
  Tyson ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .200
  Kravec p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Cruz 3b             1   0   0   0     0   0   .237

Totals               30   0   4   0     2   2             Totals               31   5   9   5     5   6

Time of Game: 2:16   Attendance: 23,718
Left on Base: Cubs 5, Astros 10
DP: Cubs 0, Astros 1
Doubles: Howe (9), Ashby (4)
Stolen Bases: Puhl (6)
Sacrifice Hits: Ashby (2)
Sacrifice Flies: Puhl (1)
GIDP: Tracy (1)
Hit by Pitch: Puhl (2,by Caudill)


Cubs                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Caudill L(0-3)          5     6   3   3   1   4   0  23   4.59
Kravec                  1.1   3   2   2   2   1   0   9   7.06
McGlothen               1.2   0   0   0   2   1   0   7   3.32
Totals                  8     9   5   5   5   6   0  39

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro W(4-3)           9     4   0   0   2   2   0  32   2.14
Totals                  9     4   0   0   2   2   0  32

Hit by Pitch: Caudill (1)

Umpires: HP - Dick Stello, 1B - Terry Tata, 2B - Jerry Crawford, 3B - Satch Davidson


CUBS 1ST: De Jesus grounded out (third to first); Strain flied
out to center; Buckner struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs
0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Puhl was hit by a pitch; Puhl stole second; Reynolds
popped to shortstop; Walling grounded out (second to first)
[Puhl to third]; Cruz flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Cubs 0, Astros 0.

CUBS 2ND: Durham grounded out (first unassisted); Tracy flied
out to left; Reitz grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Heep grounded out (first to pitcher); Howe popped to
catcher in foul territory; Ashby singled to left; Landestoy
singled to left [Ashby to second]; Niekro popped to shortstop; 0
R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 0.

CUBS 3RD: Thompson grounded out (pitcher to first); Davis
grounded out (third to first); Caudill flied to right; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Puhl struck out; Reynolds flied to center; Walling
flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 0.

CUBS 4TH: De Jesus popped to second; Strain singled to center;
Buckner forced Strain (first to shortstop); Durham singled to
right [Buckner to third]; Tracy grounded out (second to
pitcher); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Cruz flied to right; Heep singled to right; Howe
doubled to right [Heep to third]; Ashby doubled to right [Heep
scored, Howe scored]; Landestoy walked; Niekro struck out; Puhl
singled to center [Ashby scored, Landestoy to third]; Reynolds
flied to right; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 3.

CUBS 5TH: Reitz grounded out (shortstop to first); Thompson
flied out to center; Davis flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 3.

ASTROS 5TH: Walling flied out to right; Cruz struck out; Heep
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 3.

CUBS 6TH: TYSON BATTED FOR CAUDILL; Tyson grounded out
(shortstop to first); De Jesus struck out (catcher to first);
Strain singled to right; Buckner popped to catcher in foul
territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 3.

ASTROS 6TH: KRAVEC REPLACED TYSON (PITCHING); Howe walked; Ashby
out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher unassisted) [Howe to second];
Landestoy was walked intentionally; Niekro singled to left [Howe
to third, Landestoy to second]; Puhl hit a sacrifice fly to
right [Howe scored, Landestoy to third]; Reynolds flied out to
right; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 4.

CUBS 7TH: Durham popped to shortstop; Tracy flied out to center;
Reitz flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 4.

ASTROS 7TH: Walling singled to center; Cruz struck out; Heep
singled to center [Walling to third]; MCGLOTHEN REPLACED REITZ
(PITCHING); CRUZ REPLACED KRAVEC (PLAYING 3B); Howe grounded out
(third to first) [Heep to second, Walling scored]; Ashby was
walked intentionally; Landestoy popped to third; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 5.

CUBS 8TH: Thompson grounded out (first unassisted); Davis
walked; Cruz flied out to left; De Jesus flied out to left; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 5.

ASTROS 8TH: Niekro grounded out (shortstop to first); Puhl
walked; Reynolds forced Puhl (second to shortstop); Walling
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 5.

CUBS 9TH: Strain singled to right; Buckner walked [Strain to
second]; Durham flied out to left; Tracy grounded into a double
play (second to shortstop to first) [Buckner out at second]; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Cubs 0, Astros 5.