A pinch-single by Denny Walling in the eighth inning drove in the winning run as the Astros prevailed over the Giants, 5-4. The score was 4-4 when Luis Pujols opened the eighth with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Kiko Garcia, who moved to second on a wild pitch, to third on a sacrifice and scored on Walling's blow. The Giants had rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game in the sixth on an RBI single by Jack Clark, two-run homer by Darrell Evans and solo blast by Jerry Martin. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 5, San Francisco Giants 4
Game Played on Wednesday, August    12, 1981 (Day game) at Candlestick Park
Astros       0  0  3    0  1  0    0  1  0  -   5 14  2
Giants       0  0  0    0  0  4    0  0  0  -   4  7  1


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Giants               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Scott cf              5   0   1   1     0   0   .233      Morgan 2b             3   0   0   0     1   0   .246
Pittman 2b            5   1   2   0     0   0   .314      Cabell 1b             4   1   1   0     0   0   .258
Cedeno 1b             5   0   1   0     0   0   .309      Clark rf              4   1   1   1     0   1   .235
Cruz lf               5   1   2   1     0   0   .279      Evans 3b              4   1   1   2     0   0   .239
Howe 3b               5   0   1   1     0   1   .327      Herndon lf            4   0   2   0     0   0   .310
Pujols c              3   0   1   0     1   0   .258      Martin cf             4   1   1   1     0   1   .231
  Garcia pr,ss        0   1   0   0     0   0   .233      May c                 3   0   0   0     0   0   .300
Puhl rf               3   1   3   0     0   0   .274      LeMaster ss           3   0   1   0     0   1   .250
Thon ss               3   1   2   1     0   0   .182        Wohlford ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .237
  Spilman ph          0   0   0   0     1   0   .222      Blue p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .190
  Ashby c             0   0   0   0     0   0   .266        Breining p          1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Ruhle p               2   0   0   0     0   1   .375        Leonard ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .150
  Sambito p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Holland p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .200
  Walling ph          1   0   1   1     0   0   .225        Minton p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  D. Smith p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Bergman ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .224
  B. Smith p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               37   5  14   5     2   2             Totals               33   4   7   4     1   5

Time of Game: 2:51   Attendance:  8,707
Left on Base: Astros 9, Giants 5
DP: Astros 1, Giants 0
Errors: Garcia, Thon, Evans
Doubles: Thon 2 (3), Pittman (3), Cabell (12)
Home Runs: Evans (10), Martin (3)
Stolen Bases: Pittman (2)
Caught Stealing: Scott (8), Pittman (4)
Sacrifice Hits: Ruhle (2), Puhl (3), Holland (5), May (2)
GIDP: Cabell (4)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Ruhle                   5.2   6   4   4   0   4   2  24   3.29
Sambito W(3-3)          1.1   1   0   0   1   0   0   5   1.53
D. Smith                1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   4.46
B. Smith SV(1)          1     0   0   0   0   1   0   4   3.86
Totals                  9     7   4   4   1   5   2  36

Giants                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blue                    2.2   6   3   3   0   1   0  13   2.46
Breining                2.1   4   1   0   1   0   0  11   2.27
Holland L(3-3)          2.1   3   1   1   0   1   0  10   3.04
Minton                  1.2   1   0   0   1   0   0   7   3.61
Totals                  9    14   5   4   2   2   0  41

Wild Pitches: Holland (2)

Umpires: HP - John McSherry, 1B - Fred Brocklander, 2B - Charlie Williams, 3B - Lanny Harris


ASTROS 1ST: Scott grounded out (third to first); Pittman popped
to catcher in foul territory; Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

GIANTS 1ST: Morgan flied out to center; Cabell flied out to
left; Clark grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Cruz grounded out (first unassisted); Howe struck
out; Pujols grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

GIANTS 2ND: Evans grounded out (second to first); Herndon
singled to right; Martin flied out to center; May forced Herndon
(second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Giants 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Puhl singled to center; Thon doubled to left [Puhl
scored]; Ruhle out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Thon
to third]; Scott singled to center [Thon scored]; Scott was
caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Pittman singled
to left; Pittman stole second; Cedeno singled to third [Pittman
to third]; Cruz singled to left [Pittman scored, Cedeno to
second]; BREINING REPLACED BLUE (PITCHING); Howe forced Cruz
(shortstop to second); 3 R, 6 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 3, Giants 0.

GIANTS 3RD: LeMaster grounded out (third to first); Breining
struck out; Morgan flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 3, Giants 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Pujols walked; Puhl singled to right [Pujols to
second]; Thon flied out to center; Ruhle popped to catcher in
foul territory; Scott grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 3, Giants 0.

GIANTS 4TH: Cabell grounded out (shortstop to first); Clark
struck out; Evans flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 3, Giants 0.

ASTROS 5TH: Pittman doubled to left; Pittman was picked off and
caught stealing third (pitcher to shortstop to third); Cedeno
flied out to right; Cruz singled to third [Cruz to second (error
by Evans)]; Howe singled to center [Cruz scored (unearned)];
Pujols flied out to center; 1 R (0 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Astros
4, Giants 0.

GIANTS 5TH: Herndon singled to center; Martin struck out; May
reached on an error by Thon (assist by Pittman) [Herndon to
second, May to first]; LeMaster struck out; LEONARD BATTED FOR
BREINING; Leonard grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 1
E, 2 LOB.  Astros 4, Giants 0.

ASTROS 6TH: HOLLAND REPLACED LEONARD (PITCHING); Puhl singled to
center; Thon doubled to right [Puhl to third]; Ruhle struck out;
Scott popped to first in foul territory; Pittman flied out to
center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 4, Giants 0.

GIANTS 6TH: Morgan popped to third in foul territory; Cabell
doubled to left; Clark singled to center [Cabell scored]; Evans
homered [Clark scored]; Herndon made an out to second; Martin
homered; SAMBITO REPLACED RUHLE (PITCHING); May lined to second;
4 R, 4 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 4, Giants 4.

ASTROS 7TH: Cedeno flied out to center; Cruz grounded out (first
unassisted); Howe flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 4, Giants 4.

GIANTS 7TH: LeMaster singled to shortstop; Holland out on a
sacrifice bunt (pitcher unassisted) [LeMaster to second]; Morgan
walked; Cabell grounded into a double play (pitcher to shortstop
to first) [Morgan out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros
4, Giants 4.

ASTROS 8TH: Pujols singled to right; GARCIA RAN FOR PUJOLS;
Holland threw a wild pitch [Garcia to second]; Puhl out on a
sacrifice bunt (third to first) [Garcia to third]; MINTON
REPLACED HOLLAND (PITCHING); SPILMAN BATTED FOR THON; Spilman
walked; WALLING BATTED FOR SAMBITO; Walling singled to left
[Garcia scored, Spilman to second]; Scott forced Walling
(pitcher to shortstop) [Spilman to third]; Pittman grounded out
(pitcher to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 5, Giants 4.

GIANTS 8TH: GARCIA STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); ASHBY REPLACED
SPILMAN (PLAYING C ); D. SMITH REPLACED WALLING (PITCHING);
Clark grounded out (shortstop to first); Evans flied out to
center; Herndon grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Astros 5, Giants 4.

ASTROS 9TH: Cedeno flied out to left; Cruz flied out to center;
Howe grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 5, Giants 4.

GIANTS 9TH: B. SMITH REPLACED D. SMITH (PITCHING); Martin
reached on an error by Garcia; May out on a sacrifice bunt
(catcher to second) [Martin to second]; WOHLFORD BATTED FOR
LEMASTER; Wohlford struck out; BERGMAN BATTED FOR MINTON;
Bergman grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
Astros 5, Giants 4.