Art Howe's five RBIs led the Astros to a 9-3 victory over the Mets, ending Houston's four-game losing skein. Howe drove in on of the Astros' three first-inning runs with a sacrifice fly, delivered a run-scoring single in the third and cracked a three-run double in the seventh. [The Sporting News]

Houston Astros 9, New York Mets 3

Game Played on Wednesday, August 26, 1981 (Night game) at Shea Stadium

Astros 3 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 0 - 9 11 0 Mets 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 3 7 1 Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Mets AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Scott cf 5 1 2 1 0 0 .246 Wilson cf 4 0 1 1 0 1 .304 Reynolds ss 4 1 0 0 1 0 .248 Taveras ss 3 0 1 1 0 0 .229 Walling rf 4 3 2 0 1 1 .241 Brooks 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .297 Cruz lf 4 1 2 1 0 1 .283 Kingman 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .226 Cedeno 1b 4 1 1 0 1 1 .284 Valentine rf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .195 Howe 3b 4 1 2 5 0 0 .305 Mazzilli lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .209 Ashby c 3 1 1 1 2 0 .249 Stearns c 2 0 1 1 0 0 .277 Pittman 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .273 Flynn 2b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .211 Sutton p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .118 Zachry p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .207 Puhl ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .271 Hodges ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 .292 Ruhle p 1 0 1 1 0 0 .400 Leach p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 D. Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Cubbage ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .239 Miller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 Searage p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 Jorgensen ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .241 Boitano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 36 9 11 9 5 4 Totals 30 3 7 3 1 7 Time of Game: 2:34 Attendance: 16,731 Left on Base: Astros 8, Mets 3 DP: Astros 1, Mets 0 Errors: Kingman Doubles: Howe 2 (15), Scott (9) Stolen Bases: Walling (2), Scott (13) Caught Stealing: Taveras (2) Sacrifice Hits: Pittman (2) Sacrifice Flies: Cruz (5), Howe (2), Taveras (2), Stearns (1) Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Sutton W(6-7) 5 6 3 3 1 4 0 20 3.29 Ruhle 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 7 3.83 D. Smith 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 3.68 Totals 9 7 3 3 1 7 0 33 Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Zachry L(6-9) 3 4 4 4 4 3 0 17 3.92 Leach 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 1.35 Miller 1 2 2 2 1 0 0 6 3.41 Searage 1 4 3 3 0 0 0 7 5.25 Boitano 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 3.52 Totals 9 11 9 9 5 4 0 44 Umpires: HP - John McSherry, 1B - Fred Brocklander, 2B - Paul Pryor, 3B - Dave Pallone ASTROS 1ST: Scott singled to center; Reynolds walked [Scott to second]; Walling walked [Scott to third, Reynolds to second]; Cruz hit a sacrifice fly to center [Scott scored]; Cedeno walked [Reynolds to third, Walling to second]; Howe hit a sacrifice fly to left [Reynolds scored]; Ashby singled to center [Walling scored, Cedeno to third]; Pittman struck out; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Astros 3, Mets 0. METS 1ST: Wilson grounded out (pitcher to first); Taveras singled to left; Taveras was caught stealing second (catcher to second); Brooks grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 3, Mets 0. ASTROS 2ND: Sutton popped to second in foul territory; Scott popped to shortstop in foul territory; Reynolds made an out to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 3, Mets 0. METS 2ND: Kingman grounded out (third to first); Valentine flied out to center; Mazzilli flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 3, Mets 0. ASTROS 3RD: Walling singled to center; Walling stole second; Cruz struck out; Cedeno was called out on strikes; Howe doubled to center [Walling scored]; Ashby walked; Pittman forced Ashby (second to shortstop); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Astros 4, Mets 0. METS 3RD: Stearns popped to first in foul territory; Flynn singled to right; HODGES BATTED FOR ZACHRY; Hodges walked [Flynn to second]; Wilson singled to center [Flynn scored, Hodges to third]; Taveras hit a sacrifice fly to left [Hodges scored, Wilson to second]; Brooks was called out on strikes; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 4, Mets 2. ASTROS 4TH: LEACH REPLACED HODGES (PITCHING); Sutton grounded out (shortstop to first); Scott reached on an error by Kingman [Scott to first]; Scott stole second; Reynolds flied out to right [Scott to third]; Walling struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Astros 4, Mets 2. METS 4TH: Kingman struck out; Valentine singled to center; Mazzilli singled to center [Valentine to third]; Stearns hit a sacrifice fly to center [Valentine scored]; Flynn struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 4, Mets 3. ASTROS 5TH: Cruz popped to third in foul territory; Cedeno lined to second; Howe grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 4, Mets 3. METS 5TH: CUBBAGE BATTED FOR LEACH; Cubbage singled to right; Wilson was called out on strikes; Taveras lined into a double play (pitcher to first) [Cubbage out at first]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 4, Mets 3. ASTROS 6TH: MILLER REPLACED CUBBAGE (PITCHING); Ashby walked; Pittman out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Ashby to second]; PUHL BATTED FOR SUTTON; Puhl grounded out (second to first); Scott doubled to right [Ashby scored]; Reynolds grounded out (first unassisted); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 5, Mets 3. METS 6TH: RUHLE REPLACED PUHL (PITCHING); Brooks grounded out (shortstop to first); Kingman flied out to center; Valentine struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 5, Mets 3. ASTROS 7TH: Walling singled to center; SEARAGE REPLACED MILLER (PITCHING); Cruz singled to right [Walling to second]; Cedeno singled to right [Walling to third, Cruz to second]; Howe doubled to right [Walling scored, Cruz scored, Cedeno scored]; Ashby made an out to shortstop; Pittman grounded out (shortstop to first) [Howe to third]; Ruhle singled to center [Howe scored]; Scott flied out to right; 4 R, 5 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 9, Mets 3. METS 7TH: Mazzilli grounded out (first unassisted); Stearns singled to center; Flynn forced Stearns (second to shortstop); JORGENSEN BATTED FOR SEARAGE; Jorgensen flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 9, Mets 3. ASTROS 8TH: BOITANO REPLACED JORGENSEN (PITCHING); Reynolds grounded out (shortstop to first); Walling flied out to center; Cruz singled to center; Cedeno forced Cruz (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 9, Mets 3. METS 8TH: D. SMITH REPLACED RUHLE (PITCHING); Wilson grounded out (first unassisted); Taveras flied out to center; Brooks struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 9, Mets 3. ASTROS 9TH: Howe flied out to center; Ashby grounded out (second to first); Pittman grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 9, Mets 3. METS 9TH: Kingman struck out; Valentine grounded out (shortstop to first); Mazzilli grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 9, Mets 3.

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