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.