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.