In the regular-season finale of two teams slated to meet in the playoffs, the Astros downed the Dodgers, 5-3, Houston's first win at Dodger Stadium after five straight losses. The score was 3-3 when Dickie Thon began the ninth inning with a double, reached second on a sacrifice and scored on a single by Gary Woods, who was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double. Scott Loucks then singled and tallied on a double by Dave Roberts. [The Sporting News]

Houston Astros 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 3

Game Played on Sunday, October 4, 1981 (Day game) at Dodger Stadium

Astros 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 - 5 13 1 Dodgers 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 3 4 0 Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Dodgers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Loucks cf 4 1 3 0 1 1 .571 Sax 2b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .277 Reynolds ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 .260 Perconte ph,2b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .222 Roberts ph,3b 2 0 1 2 1 0 .241 Landreaux cf 3 1 1 1 0 1 .251 Walling rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .234 Castillo p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .444 Ruhle p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Goltz p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .059 Sambito p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Baker lf 1 1 0 0 1 0 .320 Heep ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .250 Bradley rf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .167 D. Smith p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Garvey 1b 2 1 1 0 0 1 .283 Spilman 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .241 Smith 1b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .200 Knicely c 4 1 2 1 0 1 .571 Marshall rf,lf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Tolman lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .125 Maldonado lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .083 Garcia 3b,ss 3 0 2 0 0 0 .272 Yeager c 3 0 1 2 0 1 .209 Thon ss,2b 1 1 1 0 0 0 .274 Russell ss 2 0 1 0 0 0 .233 Pittman 2b 3 1 2 0 0 0 .281 Weiss pr,ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 .105 Pena ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 Thomas 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .248 Knepper p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .149 Hooton p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .190 Cruz ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 .267 Johnstone ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .205 Woods rf 2 0 1 1 0 0 .209 Mitchell cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .125 Totals 35 5 13 4 2 4 Totals 30 3 4 3 1 8 Time of Game: 3:17 Attendance: 47,072 Left on Base: Astros 7, Dodgers 2 DP: Astros 2, Dodgers 1 Errors: Reynolds Doubles: Thon (6), Roberts (3) Home Runs: Knicely (2), Landreaux (7) Stolen Bases: Loucks (1) Caught Stealing: Woods (1) Sacrifice Hits: Pena (1) Sacrifice Flies: Roberts (2) GIDP: Russell (13), Thomas (2) Hit by Pitch: Marshall (1,by Knepper) Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Knepper 4 4 3 3 1 3 1 17 2.18 Ruhle 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 2.91 Sambito 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1.84 D. Smith W(5-3) 2 0 0 0 0 4 0 6 2.76 Totals 9 4 3 3 1 8 1 32 Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Hooton 5 6 2 2 2 2 0 22 2.28 Castillo 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 7 5.33 Goltz L(2-7) 2 5 3 3 0 1 1 10 4.09 Totals 9 13 5 5 2 4 1 39 Hit by Pitch: Knepper (4) Umpires: HP - Jim Quick, 1B - Bob Engel, 2B - Jerry Dale, 3B - Paul Runge ASTROS 1ST: Loucks struck out; Reynolds struck out; Walling grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 0. DODGERS 1ST: Sax grounded out (pitcher to first); Landreaux homered; Baker walked; Garvey singled to left [Baker to second]; Marshall was hit by a pitch [Baker to third, Garvey to second]; Yeager singled to left [Baker scored, Garvey scored, Marshall to third]; Russell grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Yeager out at second]; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 3. ASTROS 2ND: Spilman grounded out (first unassisted); Knicely grounded out (shortstop to first); Tolman grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 3. DODGERS 2ND: Thomas struck out (catcher to first); Hooton reached on an error by Reynolds [Hooton to first]; Sax flied out to center; Landreaux grounded out (catcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Dodgers 3. ASTROS 3RD: Garcia singled to right; Pittman singled to right [Garcia to second]; Knepper forced Garcia (catcher to third) [Pittman to second]; Loucks walked [Pittman to third, Knepper to second]; ROBERTS BATTED FOR REYNOLDS; Roberts hit a sacrifice fly to center [Pittman scored]; Walling flied out to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Astros 1, Dodgers 3. DODGERS 3RD: GARCIA CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING SS); ROBERTS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); Baker grounded out (second to first); Garvey struck out; Marshall grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 1, Dodgers 3. ASTROS 4TH: BRADLEY REPLACED BAKER (PLAYING RF); SMITH REPLACED GARVEY (PLAYING 1B); MARSHALL CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); Spilman grounded out (first unassisted); Knicely singled to left; Tolman flied out to center; Garcia singled to center [Knicely to second]; Pittman forced Garcia (shortstop to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Astros 1, Dodgers 3. DODGERS 4TH: Yeager struck out; Russell singled to left; WEISS RAN FOR RUSSELL; Thomas grounded into a double play (second to first) [Weiss out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 1, Dodgers 3. ASTROS 5TH: WEISS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); CRUZ BATTED FOR KNEPPER; Cruz singled to right; Loucks singled to left [Cruz to second]; Roberts walked [Cruz to third, Loucks to second]; Walling lined into a double play (second to first) [Cruz scored (no RBI), Loucks to third, Roberts out at first]; Spilman grounded out (first to pitcher); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 2, Dodgers 3. DODGERS 5TH: RUHLE REPLACED WALLING (PITCHING); WOODS REPLACED CRUZ (PLAYING RF); JOHNSTONE BATTED FOR HOOTON; Johnstone flied out to center; PERCONTE BATTED FOR SAX; Perconte made an out to second; Landreaux struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 2, Dodgers 3. ASTROS 6TH: MITCHELL REPLACED JOHNSTONE (PLAYING CF); CASTILLO REPLACED LANDREAUX (PITCHING); PERCONTE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Knicely struck out; Tolman flied out to center; Garcia grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 2, Dodgers 3. DODGERS 6TH: THON REPLACED GARCIA (PLAYING SS); Bradley grounded out (shortstop to first); Smith grounded out (shortstop to first); Marshall flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 2, Dodgers 3. ASTROS 7TH: MALDONADO REPLACED MARSHALL (PLAYING LF); Pittman singled to shortstop; Woods forced Pittman (shortstop to second); Loucks singled to right [Woods to third, Loucks out at second (right to second)]; Roberts flied out to left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 2, Dodgers 3. DODGERS 7TH: THON CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 2B); PENA REPLACED PITTMAN (PLAYING SS); SAMBITO REPLACED RUHLE (PITCHING); Yeager grounded out (pitcher to first); Weiss flied out to center; Thomas flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 2, Dodgers 3. ASTROS 8TH: GOLTZ REPLACED CASTILLO (PITCHING); HEEP BATTED FOR SAMBITO; Heep was called out on strikes; Spilman grounded out (second to first); Knicely homered; Tolman popped to first in foul territory; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 3, Dodgers 3. DODGERS 8TH: D. SMITH REPLACED HEEP (PITCHING); Mitchell was called out on strikes; Perconte made an out to second; Goltz grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 3, Dodgers 3. ASTROS 9TH: Thon doubled to left; Pena out on a sacrifice bunt (first unassisted) [Thon to third]; Woods singled to left [Thon scored]; Woods was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Loucks singled to third; Loucks stole second; Roberts doubled to left [Loucks scored]; D. Smith grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 5, Dodgers 3. DODGERS 9TH: Bradley struck out; Smith struck out; Maldonado struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 5, Dodgers 3.

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