Joe Niekro went the route on a five-hitter, walking none and striking out nine, to lead the Astros to a 5-2 victory over the Mets. Danny Heep belted a solo homer in the fourth and Houston added three more runs in the fifth on a run-scoring infield single by Ray Knight and two-run single by Phil Garner. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 5, New York Mets 2
Game Played on Saturday, May       29, 1982 (Night game) at Shea Stadium
Astros       0  0  0    1  3  0    1  0  0  -   5  8  0
Mets         0  0  0    0  0  1    0  0  1  -   2  5  2


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Puhl rf               4   1   0   0     1   0   .234      Wilson cf             4   0   0   1     0   2   .309
Reynolds ss           4   1   1   0     1   1   .227      Backman 2b            4   0   1   0     0   0   .317
Knight 3b             4   2   2   2     1   0   .321      Foster lf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .241
Cruz lf               4   0   0   0     0   1   .257      Kingman 1b            4   1   1   1     0   1   .225
  Walling 1b          1   0   0   0     0   0   .148      Valentine rf          4   0   1   0     0   1   .235
Heep 1b               3   1   1   1     1   0   .250      Hodges c              3   0   0   0     0   3   .333
  Loucks cf           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Brooks 3b             3   0   0   0     0   1   .255
Garner 2b             4   0   1   2     0   1   .281      Veryzer ss            3   1   1   0     0   0   .366
Scott cf,lf           3   0   2   0     1   0   .263      Zachry p              1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Pujols c              3   0   0   0     0   1   .320        Falcone p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .188
Niekro p              4   0   1   0     0   1   .077        Rajsich ph          1   0   0   0     0   1   .193
                                                            Swan p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Staub ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .107
                                                            Hausman p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               34   5   8   5     5   5             Totals               32   2   5   2     0   9

Time of Game: 2:30   Attendance: 34,184
Left on Base: Astros 8, Mets 3
DP: Astros 0, Mets 0
Errors: Brooks 2
Home Runs: Heep (2), Knight (3), Kingman (14)
Stolen Bases: Reynolds (2)
Sacrifice Hits: Pujols (1)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro W(4-4)           9     5   2   2   0   9   1  32   2.65
Totals                  9     5   2   2   0   9   1  32

Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Zachry L(4-2)           4.1   6   4   4   5   3   1  24   4.89
Falcone                 1.2   0   0   0   0   0   0   5   3.93
Swan                    2     2   1   1   0   1   1   8   2.06
Hausman                 1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   1.23
Totals                  9     8   5   5   5   5   2  40

Wild Pitches: Niekro 2 (6)

Umpires: HP - Eric Gregg, 1B - Fred Brocklander, 2B - Bob Engel, 3B - Paul Runge


ASTROS 1ST: Puhl grounded out (second to first); Reynolds
walked; Reynolds stole second; Knight walked; Cruz popped to
catcher in foul territory; Heep flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Astros 0, Mets 0.

METS 1ST: Wilson struck out; Backman grounded out (second to
first); Foster grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 0, Mets 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Garner grounded out (second to first); Scott singled
to center; Pujols struck out; Niekro singled to left [Scott to
second]; Puhl grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Astros 0, Mets 0.

METS 2ND: Kingman flied out to center; Valentine singled to
right; Hodges struck out; Brooks struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Astros 0, Mets 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Reynolds popped to third in foul territory; Knight
reached on an error by Brooks [Knight to first]; Knight was
picked off first (catcher to first); Cruz was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Mets 0.

METS 3RD: Veryzer grounded out (third to first); Zachry popped
to first in foul territory; Wilson was called out on strikes; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Mets 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Heep homered; Garner was called out on strikes;
Scott walked; Pujols grounded out (third to first) [Scott to
second]; Niekro flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Astros 1, Mets 0.

METS 4TH: Backman grounded out (first unassisted); Foster flied
out to right; Kingman struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
1, Mets 0.

ASTROS 5TH: Puhl walked; On a bunt Reynolds singled to third
[Puhl to third (error by Brooks)]; Knight singled to third
[Reynolds to second, Puhl scored]; Cruz flied out to center;
Heep walked [Reynolds to third, Knight to second]; Garner
singled to center [Heep to second, Knight scored, Reynolds
scored]; FALCONE REPLACED ZACHRY (PITCHING); Scott flied out to
center; Pujols popped to shortstop; 3 R, 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.
Astros 4, Mets 0.

METS 5TH: Valentine struck out; Hodges struck out; Brooks flied
out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 4, Mets 0.

ASTROS 6TH: Niekro flied out to right; Puhl grounded out (second
to first); Reynolds grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Astros 4, Mets 0.

METS 6TH: Veryzer singled to right; RAJSICH BATTED FOR FALCONE;
Niekro threw a wild pitch [Veryzer to second]; Niekro threw a
wild pitch [Veryzer to third]; Rajsich struck out; Wilson
grounded out (second to first) [Veryzer scored]; Backman singled
to shortstop; Foster singled to center [Backman to second];
Kingman flied out to left; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 4, Mets
1.

ASTROS 7TH: SWAN REPLACED RAJSICH (PITCHING); Knight homered;
Cruz popped to second; Heep popped to third in foul territory;
Garner flied out to right; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 5, Mets
1.

METS 7TH: WALLING REPLACED CRUZ (PLAYING 1B); LOUCKS REPLACED
HEEP (PLAYING CF); SCOTT CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF);
Valentine flied out to right; Hodges was called out on strikes;
Brooks flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 5, Mets
1.

ASTROS 8TH: Scott singled to center; Pujols out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher to first) [Scott to second]; Niekro struck out;
Puhl grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Astros 5, Mets 1.

METS 8TH: Veryzer grounded out (third to first); STAUB BATTED
FOR SWAN; Staub grounded out (shortstop to first); Wilson
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 5,
Mets 1.

ASTROS 9TH: HAUSMAN REPLACED STAUB (PITCHING); Reynolds was
called out on strikes; Knight grounded out (second to first);
Walling flied to right in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 5, Mets 1.

METS 9TH: Backman flied out to left; Foster popped to second;
Kingman homered; Valentine grounded out (pitcher to first); 1 R,
1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 5, Mets 2.