Pushing across a run in the top of the 12th inning, the Astros edged the Expos, 4-3. The score was 3-3 when Dickie Thon hit a one-out single and moved to third on Tony Scott's single. Phil Garner then delivered another single to plate Thon. Expos' runs came on Andre Dawson's inside-the-park two-run homer in the third and his solo shot in the eighth. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 4, Montreal Expos 3
Game Played on Sunday, September 6, 1981 (Day game) at Stade Olympique
Astros       0  1  0    1  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  1  -   4 14  0
Expos        0  0  2    0  0  0    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   3 13  0


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Expos                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Scott cf              5   0   2   0     1   0   .260      Raines lf             6   0   1   0     0   1   .302
Garner 2b             4   0   1   1     1   1   .245      Scott 2b              5   1   1   0     1   1   .213
Puhl rf               6   0   0   0     0   1   .252      Dawson cf             5   2   3   3     1   0   .325
Cruz lf               5   0   0   0     0   1   .268      Carter c              5   0   2   0     0   0   .239
Cedeno 1b             5   2   3   1     0   0   .291      Cromartie rf          5   0   1   0     1   2   .287
Howe 3b               4   0   2   1     0   0   .320      Milner 1b             6   0   3   0     0   0   .233
  D. Smith p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .200        Manuel pr           0   0   0   0     0   0   .200
  Spilman ph          1   0   1   0     0   0   .250      Parrish 3b            4   0   0   0     1   1   .215
  Loucks pr           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Sosa p              0   0   0   0     0   0  1.000
  LaCorte p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .500        Francona ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .304
Garcia ss             5   0   1   0     0   0   .267      Speier ss             4   0   0   0     1   0   .230
Pujols c              4   1   2   0     0   1   .225      Lee p                 2   0   1   0     0   0   .385
  Ashby ph,c          1   0   0   0     0   0   .281        Reardon p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Niekro p              2   0   1   1     0   0   .195        White ph            0   0   0   0     0   0   .241
  Sambito p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Fryman p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .500
  Thon 3b             2   1   1   0     0   0   .233        Office ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .111
                                                            Jackson p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Mills 3b            1   0   1   0     0   0   .167

Totals               44   4  14   4     2   4             Totals               45   3  13   3     5   5

Time of Game: 3:33   Attendance: 47,193
Left on Base: Astros 8, Expos 13
DP: Astros 0, Expos 2
Doubles: Pujols (2), Niekro (1), Milner 2 (4), Carter (11), Scott (7), Mills (1)
Triples: Howe (3)
Home Runs: Cedeno (3), Dawson 2 (22)
Caught Stealing: Scott (9), Cedeno (7), Raines (10)
Sacrifice Hits: Niekro (9), Garner (4), White (1), Carter (2)
GIDP: Garcia (2)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro                  6     7   2   2   3   1   1  26   2.99
Sambito                 1.2   2   1   1   0   1   1   7   1.90
D. Smith                2.1   1   0   0   2   2   0  10   3.03
LaCorte W(4-2)          2     3   0   0   0   1   0   9   3.22
Totals                 12    13   3   3   5   5   2  52

Expos                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Lee                     6.1  10   3   3   1   2   1  28   2.72
Reardon                 0.2   0   0   0   0   1   0   2   2.56
Fryman                  2     0   0   0   0   1   0   6   1.74
Jackson                 1     0   0   0   1   0   0   4   2.55
Sosa L(1-2)             2     4   1   1   0   0   0   8   4.45
Totals                 12    14   4   4   2   4   1  48

Wild Pitches: Niekro (7)

Umpires: HP - Ed Vargo, 1B - Satch Davidson, 2B - Terry Tata, 3B - Jerry Crawford


ASTROS 1ST: Scott singled to left; Garner flied out to right;
Puhl was called out on strikes while Scott was caught stealing
second (catcher to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0,
Expos 0.

EXPOS 1ST: Raines grounded out (shortstop to first); Scott
struck out; Dawson singled to left; Carter flied out to center;
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Expos 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Cruz grounded out (first unassisted); Cedeno
homered; Howe grounded out (pitcher to first); Garcia singled to
left; Pujols forced Garcia (shortstop to second); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Astros 1, Expos 0.

EXPOS 2ND: Cromartie flied out to center; Milner doubled to
left; Niekro threw a wild pitch [Milner to third]; Parrish
grounded out (third to first); Speier grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1, Expos 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Niekro grounded out (second to first); Scott
grounded out (pitcher to first); Garner grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Expos 0.

EXPOS 3RD: Lee grounded out (shortstop to first); Raines
grounded out (shortstop to first); Scott walked; Dawson hit an
inside the park homer to center [Scott scored]; Carter flied out
to right; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Expos 2.

ASTROS 4TH: Puhl grounded out (second to first); Cruz was called
out on strikes; Cedeno singled to center; Howe tripled to right
[Cedeno scored]; Garcia flied out to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Astros 2, Expos 2.

EXPOS 4TH: Cromartie grounded out (first to pitcher); Milner
singled to left [Milner out at second (shortstop to second)];
Parrish grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 2, Expos 2.

ASTROS 5TH: Pujols singled to center; Niekro out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher to second) [Pujols to second]; Scott popped to
first in foul territory; Garner walked; Puhl popped to third in
foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 2, Expos 2.

EXPOS 5TH: Speier grounded out (shortstop to first); Lee singled
to left; Raines forced Lee (shortstop to second); Raines was
caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 2, Expos 2.

ASTROS 6TH: Cruz grounded out (pitcher to first); Cedeno singled
to left; Cedeno was picked off and caught stealing second
(pitcher to first to second); Howe singled to center; Garcia
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 2,
Expos 2.

EXPOS 6TH: Scott grounded out (shortstop to first); Dawson
grounded out (third to first); Carter singled to left; Cromartie
singled to second [Carter to second]; Milner popped to first in
foul territory; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 2, Expos 2.

ASTROS 7TH: Pujols doubled to right; Niekro doubled to left
[Pujols scored]; Scott flied out to right [Niekro to third];
REARDON REPLACED LEE (PITCHING); Garner struck out; Puhl flied
out to right; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 3, Expos 2.

EXPOS 7TH: Parrish walked; Speier walked [Parrish to second];
SAMBITO REPLACED NIEKRO (PITCHING); WHITE BATTED FOR REARDON;
White out on a sacrifice bunt (catcher unassisted) [Parrish to
third, Speier to second]; Raines made an out to second; Scott
flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 3, Expos 2.

ASTROS 8TH: FRYMAN REPLACED WHITE (PITCHING); Cruz grounded out
(shortstop to first); Cedeno grounded out (pitcher to first);
Howe grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 3, Expos 2.

EXPOS 8TH: Dawson homered; Carter doubled to left; Cromartie
struck out; Milner made an out to second; D. SMITH REPLACED HOWE
(PITCHING); THON REPLACED SAMBITO (PLAYING 3B); Parrish grounded
out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 3, Expos
3.

ASTROS 9TH: Garcia made an out to shortstop; Pujols struck out;
Thon flied to right in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 3, Expos 3.

EXPOS 9TH: Speier flied out to left; OFFICE BATTED FOR FRYMAN;
Office flied out to left; Raines was called out on strikes; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 3, Expos 3.

ASTROS 10TH: JACKSON REPLACED OFFICE (PITCHING); Scott walked;
Garner out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Scott to
second]; Puhl flied out to left; Cruz flied out to left; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 3, Expos 3.

EXPOS 10TH: Scott doubled to center; Dawson was walked
intentionally; Carter out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to
second) [Scott to third, Dawson to second]; Cromartie was walked
intentionally; Milner popped to catcher in foul territory;
Parrish struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Astros 3, Expos 3.

ASTROS 11TH: SOSA REPLACED PARRISH (PITCHING); MILLS REPLACED
JACKSON (PLAYING 3B); Cedeno popped to first in foul territory;
SPILMAN BATTED FOR D. SMITH; Spilman singled to right; LOUCKS
RAN FOR SPILMAN; Garcia grounded into a double play (shortstop
to second to first) [Loucks out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 3, Expos 3.

EXPOS 11TH: LACORTE REPLACED LOUCKS (PITCHING); Speier flied out
to right; Mills doubled to right; Raines singled to right [Mills
to third]; Scott flied out to left; Dawson flied out to center;
0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 3, Expos 3.

ASTROS 12TH: ASHBY BATTED FOR PUJOLS; Ashby flied out to center;
Thon singled to center; Scott singled to second [Thon to
second]; Garner singled to center [Thon scored, Scott out at
third (center to third)]; Puhl popped to catcher in foul
territory; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 4, Expos 3.

EXPOS 12TH: ASHBY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); Carter flied out
to left; Cromartie struck out; Milner doubled to right; MANUEL
RAN FOR MILNER; FRANCONA BATTED FOR SOSA; Francona flied out to
left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 4, Expos 3.