John Martin, in his first start of the season, pitched a four-hitter to lead the Cardinals past the Astros, 3-1. The Cardinals scored twice in the first inning to make a loser out of Nolan Ryan. [The Sporting News]



St. Louis Cardinals 3, Houston Astros 1
Game Played on Thursday, May       21, 1981 (Day game) at Busch Stadium II
Astros       0  0  0    0  0  0    1  0  0  -   1  4  2
Cardinals    2  0  0    0  0  0    1  0  x  -   3  5  1


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Puhl cf               4   0   1   0     0   0   .248      Templeton ss          4   0   2   1     0   1   .283
Garcia ss             4   0   0   0     0   0   .236      Scott cf              4   0   0   0     0   1   .277
Woods rf              3   0   1   0     1   0   .133      Hernandez 1b          2   1   1   0     2   0   .328
Cruz lf               4   0   0   0     0   0   .275      Hendrick rf           3   1   1   0     1   0   .275
Howe 3b               4   0   1   0     0   0   .368      Iorg lf               3   0   1   1     0   0   .262
Roberts 1b            3   1   1   1     0   0   .233        Landrum lf          0   0   0   0     0   0   .100
Ashby c               3   0   0   0     0   0   .232      Oberkfell 3b          3   0   0   0     0   1   .286
Landestoy 2b          2   0   0   0     1   0   .167      Herr 2b               3   1   0   0     0   0   .261
Ryan p                2   0   0   0     0   1   .176      Sanchez c             3   0   0   0     0   2   .308
  D. Smith p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Martin p              3   0   0   0     0   3   .000
  Pittman ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .200
  Sambito p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               30   1   4   1     2   1             Totals               28   3   5   2     3   8

Time of Game: 2:13   Attendance: 19,823
Left on Base: Astros 4, Cardinals 4
DP: Astros 1, Cardinals 1
Errors: Roberts, Landestoy, Sanchez
Home Runs: Roberts (1)
Stolen Bases: Puhl (10), Hernandez (5), Herr (3)
Caught Stealing: Templeton 2 (7)
GIDP: Cruz (4), Hendrick (2)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Ryan L(3-2)             6.1   3   3   1   3   6   0  26   1.12
D. Smith                0.2   1   0   0   0   1   0   2   6.04
Sambito                 1     1   0   0   0   1   0   3   2.22
Totals                  8     5   3   1   3   8   0  31

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Martin W(1-0)           9     4   1   1   2   1   1  32   1.88
Totals                  9     4   1   1   2   1   1  32

Wild Pitches: Ryan (6)
Balks: Martin (1)

Umpires: HP - Nick Colosi, 1B - Frank Pulli, 2B - Eric Gregg, 3B - Doug Harvey


ASTROS 1ST: Puhl popped to first in foul territory; Garcia
grounded out (shortstop to first); Woods flied to right; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Templeton singled to pitcher; Scott flied to
left; Templeton was caught stealing second (catcher to
shortstop); Hernandez walked; Hendrick singled to right
[Hernandez to third]; Iorg singled to left [Hernandez scored,
Hendrick to second]; Oberkfell reached on an error by Landestoy
[Hendrick to third, Iorg to second]; Ryan threw a wild pitch
[Hendrick scored (unearned), Iorg to third, Oberkfell to
second]; Herr grounded out (second to first); 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 1
E, 2 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 2ND: Cruz popped to shortstop; Howe singled to third;
Roberts popped to shortstop; Ashby grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 2ND: Sanchez struck out (catcher to first); Martin
struck out; Templeton struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
0, Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 3RD: Landestoy popped to shortstop; Ryan struck out; Puhl
singled to center; Puhl stole second [Puhl to third (error by
Sanchez)]; Garcia flied to center; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Astros
0, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 3RD: Scott grounded out (shortstop to first);
Hernandez popped to first in foul territory; Hendrick grounded
out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0,
Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 4TH: Woods singled to left; Martin balked [Woods to
second]; Cruz popped to second; Howe lined to center; Roberts
flied to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 4TH: Iorg grounded out (first to pitcher); Oberkfell
struck out; Herr flied to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0,
Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 5TH: Ashby popped to shortstop; Landestoy walked; Ryan
forced Landestoy (first to shortstop); Puhl popped to first in
foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 5TH: Sanchez struck out; Martin struck out; Templeton
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
0, Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 6TH: Garcia flied to center; Woods walked; Cruz grounded
into a double play (first to shortstop to first) [Woods out at
second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 6TH: Scott flied to center; Hernandez walked;
Hernandez stole second; Hendrick walked; Iorg flied to center;
Oberkfell flied to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 0,
Cardinals 2.

ASTROS 7TH: Howe grounded out (first unassisted); Roberts
homered; Ashby flied to center; Landestoy flied to right; 1 R, 1
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 7TH: Herr reached on an error by Roberts; Herr stole
second; Sanchez grounded out (first unassisted) [Herr to third];
D. SMITH REPLACED RYAN (PITCHING); Martin struck out; Templeton
singled to left [Herr scored (unearned)]; Templeton was caught
stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 3.

ASTROS 8TH: PITTMAN BATTED FOR D. SMITH; Pittman popped to
first; Puhl grounded out (first to pitcher); Garcia grounded out
(third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 3.

CARDINALS 8TH: SAMBITO REPLACED PITTMAN (PITCHING); Scott struck
out; Hernandez singled to center; Hendrick grounded into a
double play (third to second to first) [Hernandez out at
second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 3.

ASTROS 9TH: LANDRUM REPLACED IORG (PLAYING LF); Woods flied to
center; Cruz popped to third in foul territory; Howe popped to
second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Cardinals 3.