Cesar Cedeno and Alan Ashby drove in two runs apiece and Art Howe extended his hitting streak to a club-record 22 games as the Astros prevailed over the Giants, 5-3. Cedeno delivered a sacrifice fly in the first inning and a run-scoring single in the third frame. Ashby drilled an RBI double in the fifth and run-scoring single in the seventh. Frank LaCorte pitched the final 3 2/3 innings to receive credit for the victory. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 5, San Francisco Giants 3
Game Played on Saturday, May       23, 1981 (Night game) at Astrodome
Giants       0  0  0    0  1  1    0  1  0  -   3 13  2
Astros       1  0  1    0  2  0    1  0  x  -   5 10  1


Giants               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Morgan 2b             4   0   0   0     1   1   .217      Puhl rf               4   2   1   0     1   1   .245
Cabell 1b             4   1   3   2     0   0   .276      Reynolds ss           3   0   0   0     0   0   .257
Evans 3b              2   0   2   1     1   0   .240      Cedeno cf             4   0   1   2     0   1   .316
  Smith 3b            2   0   0   0     0   0   .143      Cruz lf               5   1   2   0     0   0   .274
  Breining p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Howe 3b               3   2   2   0     2   0   .377
Herndon rf            5   0   0   0     0   1   .342      Walling 1b            3   0   0   0     1   1   .228
Martin cf             5   0   1   0     0   2   .272      Ashby c               4   0   2   2     0   0   .243
May c                 4   0   1   0     1   0   .283      Landestoy 2b          3   0   0   0     1   0   .148
Bergman lf            2   0   2   0     0   0   .214      Ruhle p               1   0   0   0     1   1   .400
  Wohlford ph,lf      2   1   0   0     1   1   .290        Sprowl p            1   0   1   1     0   0   .167
LeMaster ss           4   1   3   0     0   1   .259        LaCorte p           1   0   1   0     0   0   .500
Whitson p             2   0   0   0     0   0   .067
  Moffitt p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Stennett ph         1   0   1   0     0   0   .222
  Lavelle p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .250
  North ph            0   0   0   0     1   0   .228
  Pettini 3b          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               37   3  13   3     5   6             Totals               32   5  10   5     6   4

Time of Game: 3:09   Attendance: 38,586
Left on Base: Giants 13, Astros 12
DP: Giants 1, Astros 2
Errors: Cabell, Whitson, Reynolds
Doubles: Cabell (10), Puhl (8), Howe (12), Ashby (6)
Stolen Bases: Morgan (6), Puhl (11)
Caught Stealing: Cabell (7)
Sacrifice Hits: Reynolds 2 (10)
Sacrifice Flies: Cabell (2), Cedeno (1)
GIDP: Herndon (4), Landestoy (4)


Giants                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Whitson L(1-5)          4.2   7   4   4   6   2   0  27   4.03
Moffitt                 0.1   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   9.53
Lavelle                 2     2   1   0   0   1   0   7   2.42
Breining                1     1   0   0   0   1   0   6   2.42
Totals                  8    10   5   4   6   4   0  41

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Ruhle                   4.2   9   1   1   2   1   0  23   2.86
Sprowl                  0.2   2   1   1   1   1   0   5   5.09
LaCorte W(2-1)          3.2   2   1   1   2   4   0  15   1.83
Totals                  9    13   3   3   5   6   0  43

Passed Balls: May (2)
Wild Pitches: Whitson (2), LaCorte (3)

Umpires: HP - Dave Pallone, 1B - Charlie Williams, 3B - John McSherry


GIANTS 1ST: Morgan grounded out (second to first); Cabell
singled to center; Cabell was caught stealing second (catcher to
shortstop); Evans singled to left; Herndon grounded out (second
to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Puhl walked; Puhl stole second; Reynolds out on a
sacrifice bunt (catcher to first) [Puhl to third]; Cedeno hit a
sacrifice fly to right [Puhl scored]; Cruz singled to center;
Cruz was picked off first but was safe on an error by Whitson
[Cruz to second]; Howe walked; Walling flied out to right; 1 R,
1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 1.

GIANTS 2ND: Martin flied out to left; May singled to left;
Bergman singled to right [May to second]; LeMaster struck out;
Whitson forced Bergman (shortstop to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 2ND: Ashby grounded out (first unassisted); Landestoy
flied out to center; Ruhle struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 0, Astros 1.

GIANTS 3RD: Morgan walked; Morgan stole second; Cabell flied out
to center; Evans walked; Herndon grounded into a double play
(third to second to first) [Evans out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 3RD: Puhl doubled to right; Reynolds grounded out
(shortstop to first) [Puhl to third]; Cedeno singled to center
[Puhl scored]; Cruz made an out to first; Howe doubled to left
[Cedeno to third]; Walling was walked intentionally; Ashby
grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Giants
0, Astros 2.

GIANTS 4TH: Martin grounded out (shortstop to first); May
grounded out (shortstop to first); Bergman singled to right;
LeMaster singled to shortstop [Bergman to third (error by
Reynolds)]; Whitson forced LeMaster (shortstop to second); 0 R,
2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 2.

ASTROS 4TH: Landestoy grounded out (first to pitcher); Ruhle
walked; Whitson threw a wild pitch [Ruhle to second]; Puhl was
called out on strikes; Reynolds grounded out (second to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 0, Astros 2.

GIANTS 5TH: Morgan lined to first; Cabell doubled to left; Evans
singled to right [Cabell scored]; Herndon forced Evans
(shortstop to second); Martin singled to right [Herndon to
third]; SPROWL REPLACED RUHLE (PITCHING); May forced Martin
(shortstop unassisted); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 1, Astros
2.

ASTROS 5TH: SMITH REPLACED EVANS (PLAYING 3B); Cedeno flied out
to left; Cruz singled to left; Howe walked [Cruz to second];
Walling flied out to left; Ashby doubled to right [Cruz scored,
Howe to third]; Landestoy was walked intentionally; Sprowl
singled to left [Howe scored, Ashby to third, Landestoy to
second]; MOFFITT REPLACED WHITSON (PITCHING); Puhl popped to
catcher in foul territory; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Giants 1,
Astros 4.

GIANTS 6TH: WOHLFORD BATTED FOR BERGMAN; Wohlford walked;
LeMaster singled to right [Wohlford to second]; STENNETT BATTED
FOR MOFFITT; Stennett singled to center [Wohlford to third,
LeMaster to second]; Morgan struck out; LACORTE REPLACED SPROWL
(PITCHING); Cabell sacrifice flied into a double play to right
[Wohlford scored, LeMaster to third, Stennett out at second
(right to first to shortstop)]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 2,
Astros 4.

ASTROS 6TH: LAVELLE REPLACED STENNETT (PITCHING); WOHLFORD
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Reynolds grounded out (second to
first); Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); Cruz grounded
out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 2,
Astros 4.

GIANTS 7TH: Smith lined to right; Herndon grounded out (third to
first); Martin struck out but advanced to first on a wild pitch;
May popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Giants 2, Astros 4.

ASTROS 7TH: Howe singled to second; May allowed a passed ball
[Howe to second]; Walling struck out; Ashby singled to center
[Howe scored (unearned)]; Landestoy grounded into a double play
(shortstop to second to first) [Ashby out at second]; 1 R (0
ER), 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Giants 2, Astros 5.

GIANTS 8TH: Wohlford grounded out (third to first); LeMaster
singled to second; NORTH BATTED FOR LAVELLE; North walked
[LeMaster to second]; Morgan made an out to second; Cabell
singled to left [LeMaster scored, North to second]; Smith flied
out to right; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 5.

ASTROS 8TH: PETTINI REPLACED NORTH (PLAYING 3B); BREINING
REPLACED SMITH (PITCHING); LaCorte singled to center; Puhl
reached on a fielder's choice [LaCorte to second (error by
Cabell)]; Reynolds reached on a fielder's choice on a sacrifice
bunt [LaCorte to third, Puhl to second]; Cedeno struck out; Cruz
forced LaCorte (first to catcher) [Puhl to third, Reynolds to
second]; Howe made an out to first; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 3 LOB.
Giants 3, Astros 5.

GIANTS 9TH: Herndon struck out; Martin struck out; May walked;
Wohlford struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Giants 3, Astros 5.