Games of Sunday, June 8

                            W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               27     18       .600     ---
New York            25     21       .543     2.5
St. Louis              24     22       .522     3.5
Chicago               24     22       .522     3.5
Pittsburgh            22     22       .500     4.5
Atlanta                 20     21       .488     5
Montreal              19     24       .441     7
Philadelphia         15     26       .366   10

Monday's games
Chicago (Pappas) at Montreal (Moore)
Pittsburgh (Kison) at New York (Stone)
Houston (Reuss) at Philadelphia (Carlton)
St. Louis (Gibson) at Atlanta (Dobson)

Chicago 5, Montreal 4: Pat Bourque homered in the top of the eighth to break the tie, and Ray Burris worked around hits in the eighth and ninth innings to protect the lead. Bob Locker, who got the final out of the seventh with bases loaded, got the win, and Ernie McAnally took the loss. Ron Santo hit a two-run homer off Mike Torrez in the third.

Pittsburgh 2, New York 0: Dock Ellis allowed one hit in seven innings before leaving for a pinch-hitter, and relievers Bob Moose and Dave Giusti completed the shutout. Both runs scored by the Pirates were unearned. Al Oliver reached on an error by first baseman John Milner and scored on Richie Zisk's triple in the first; Bob Robertson reached on a two-base error by shortstop Jim Fregosi and scored on pinch-hitter Vic Davalillo's groundout in the seventh. Tom Seaver allowed four hits in eight inning for the loss.

Games of Saturday, June 7

                           W      L        Pct.     GB
Houston               27     18       .600     ---
New York            25     20       .556     2
St. Louis              24     22       .522     3.5
Chicago               23     22       .511     4
Pittsburgh            21     22       .488     5
Atlanta                 20     21       .488     5
Montreal              19     23       .452     6.5
Philadelphia         15     26       .366   10

Sunday's games
Chicago (Reuschel) at Montreal (Torrez)
Pittsburgh (Ellis) at New York (Seaver)

Montreal 2, Pittsburgh 1: The Expos tied the game in the eighth inning on Ron Hunt's two-out single and won it in the ninth when Ken Singleton, who had doubled to lead off the inning, came in on Ron Wood's grounder past shortstop Gene Alley. Mike Marshall, who allowed singles to the first two men to face him in the ninth and stranded both, got the win for his one scoreless inning. Bob Moose took the loss. Steve Renko (eight innings, three hits) and Jim Rooker (7.2 innings, seven hits) got no-decisions.

Chicago 4, New York 2: Don Kessinger and Ken Rudolph had RBI singles off a wearying Jon Matlack in the eighth inning to lift the Cubs to the win. Dave LaRoche, who got Rusty Staub to pop up with two on the in seventh to get out of Burt Hooton's jam, was credited with the win. Bob Locker threw two perfect innings for the save. John Milner and Jose Cardenal each hit solo homers.

Houston 4, Philadelphia 2: Lee May and Jim Wynn each clubbed two-run doubles for the Astros. Ken Forsch allowed two runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings for the win. Jim Crawford got the final out of the seventh, and Jim Ray worked two scoreless innings for the save. Dick Ruthven allowed all four runs, two earned in seven innings for the loss.

St. Louis 4, Atlanta 0: Rick Wise allowed five hits in eight innings, and Orlando Pena one in the ninth, as they combined to shut out the Braves. A pair of two base errors -- one by second baseman Dave Johnson, the other by left fielder Sonny Jackson -- resulted in three unearned runs by the Cardinals. The hitter friendly "Launching Pad" yielded just one extra base hit, a Lou Brock double off loser Carl Morton that did not figure in the scoring.

Games of Friday, June 6

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
Houston               26     18       .591     ---
New York            25     19       .568     1
St. Louis              23     22       .511     3.5
Chicago               22     22       .500     4
Pittsburgh            21     21       .500     4
Atlanta                 20     20       .503     4
Montreal              18     23       .439     6.5
Philadelphia         15     25       .375     9

(Note: A St. Louis loss on April 25 was not recorded in the standings and has been added now)

Saturday's games
Pittsburgh (Rooker) at Montreal (Renko)
St. Louis (Wise) at Atlanta (Morton)
Houston (Forsch) at Philadelphia (Ruthven)
Chicago (Hooton) at New York (Matlack)

St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 4: A four-run rally in the seventh inning lifted the Cardinals to their third straight victory. St. Louis peppered Phillies reliever George Culver for five singles and a double in the inning. Tim McCarver had a pair of RBIs for St. Louis. Alan Foster, who allowed three runs in six innings, was credited with the win. Rich Folkers allowed one run in three innings for the save.

Houston 12, Atlanta 4: Cesar Cedeno went 4-for-4 with a walk and a double, scored three times, drove in a pair and stole two bases as the Astros clobbered Phil Niekro and the Braves bullpen. Doug Rader hit a three-run homer off Ron Schueler in the seventh. Dave Roberts shut out Atlana for six innings but didn't get an out in the seventh, when the Braves scored all four of their runs.

Games of Thursday, June 5

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
Houston               25     18       .581     ---
New York            25     19       .568     0.5
St. Louis              22     21       .517     3
Atlanta                 20     19       .513     3
Chicago               22     22       .500     3.5
Pittsburgh            21     21       .500     3.5
Montreal              18     23       .439     6
Philadelphia         15     24       .385     8

Friday's games
St. Louis (Foster) at Philadelphia (Lonborg)
Houston (Roberts) at Atlanta (Niekro)

Pittsburgh 8, Montreal 5: Nelson Briles hit a two-run homer in the sixth to put the Pirates ahead for good and picked up the win. He worked six innings, allowing four runs on five hits. One of the runs was unearned. Manny Sanguillen went 3-for-4 and scored twice, while Rennie Stennett hit a pair of doubles. Bob Bailey and Bob Stinson each homered for the Expos. Balor Moore was the loser; Dave Giusti got the save.

Chicago 3, New York 0: The Mets were shut out for the third straight game, this time by Fergie Jenkins (six innings) and Jack Aker (three innings). Paul Popovich hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh pinch-hitting for Jenkins. Jerry Koosman took the loss; he allowed two earned runs in seven innings. The Mets got six hits off Jenkins and one off Aker, and their scoreless streak is at 30 innings.

St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 0: Reggie Cleveland fired a three-hit shutout at the Phillies. He hit one batter (Greg Luzinski, who will miss Fridy' game), walked one and struck out three. Ted Sizemore doubled, singled, walked twice and scored two runs. Wayne Twitchell took the lose; two of the four runs he allowed over eight innings were earned.

Houston 6, Atlanta 2: The Astros took advantage of two errors to score three runs in the first inning and forced Carl Morton out of the box after two innings. Don Wilson held the Braves scoreless until Dave Johnson homered in the sixth. The Braves scored a run in the eighth but left the bases loaded in both the eighth and ninth innings. Jim York got the final out for the save, and the Astros nosed ahead of the Mets for first place in the standings.

 

Game of Wednesday, June 4

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            25     18       .581    ---
Houston               24     18       .571    0.5
Atlanta                 20     18       .526    2.5
St. Louis              21     21       .500    3.5
Chicago               21     22       .488    4
Pittsburgh            20     21       .488    4
Montreal              18    22       .450     5.5
Philadelphia         15    23       .395     7.5

Thursday's games
St. Louis (Cleveland) at Philadelphia (Twitchell)
Pittsburgh (Briles) at Montreal (Moore)
Houston (Wilson) at Atlanta (Morton)
Chicago (Jenkins) at New York (Koosman)

St. Louis 7, Philadelphia 0: Bob Gibson allowed just three hits and Joe Torre homered in his first two at-bats as the Cardinals roughed up Steve Carlton. The Phillies lefty allowed all seven runs in the first four inning and departed after the leadoff man in the fifth doubled. Gibson walked one and struck out three.

 

Games of Tuesday, June 3

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            25     18       .581    ---
Houston               24     18       .571    0.5
Atlanta                 20     18       .526    2.5
Chicago               21     22       .488    4
Pittsburgh            20     21       .488    4
St. Louis              20     21       .488    4
Montreal              18    22       .450     5.5
Philadelphia         15    22       .405     7

Wednesday's game
St. Louis (Gibson) at Philadelphia (Carlton) 

Montreal 4, New York 0: Four Expos pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout to beat Tom Seaver in the first game of a doubleheader. Mike Torrez allowed two hits in the first three innings before leaving with a mild injury; he will not miss a start. Joe Gilbert followed with three hitless frames and got credit for the win. Bill Stoneman got one out while allowing a hit and a walk, and Pat Jarvis got out of that jam and finished the game without another Mets hit. Bob Stinson hit a two-run homer off Buzz Capra in the eighth for the final margin. Seaver allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings for the loss.

Montreal 6, New York 0: Steve Rogers threw a seven-hit shutout as the Mets went scoreless in the doubleheader. The Expos scored four runs in the first inning off Ray Sadecki and were never challenged. Ken Singleton went 3-for-5 with a double and homer and scored three times. John Boccabella was 4-for-5 with a triple and double and two RBIs. 

Philadelphia 6, St. Louis 3: Del Unser singled to open the Phillies' three-run sixth inning, then hit a two-run homer in the seventh as the Phils overtook the Cardinals. Winner Ken Brett pitched into the ninth inning, allowing three runs on nine hits. George Culver retired all three men he faced in the ninth for the save after the first two Cardinals got hits off Brett. Rick Wise took the loss.

Houston 12, Atlanta 4: Pat Dobson shut out the Astros for four innings, but the visitors started putting up crooked numbers at that point -- five runs in the fifth, two in the sixth, two in the eighth and three in the ninth. The Astros put up 18 hits, 16 of them after the fourth inning, and hit four doubles in the fifth inning alone. Jerry Reuss went eight innings for the win. Lee May drove in four runs and scored three; he was 4-for-5 with two doubles and a sac fly.

Games of Monday, June 2

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            25     16       .610    ---
Houston               23     18       .561    2
Atlanta                 20     17       .540    3
St. Louis              20     20       .500    4.5
Chicago               21     22       .488    5
Pittsburgh            20     21       .488    5
Montreal              16    22       .421     7.5
Philadelphia         14    22       .388     8.5

Tuesday's games
Montreal (Torrez and Rogers) at New York (Sadecki and Seaver), 2
Houston (Reuss) at Atlanta (Dobson)
St. Louis (Wise) at Philadelphia (Brett) 

Atlanta 9, New York 2: Phil Niekro scattered seven hits and hit a home run off Jon Matlack. But the Braves' win came with a loss as Henry Aaron was injured and will be out until June 11. Marty Perez and Dave Johnson each had a pair of RBIs for Atlanta. Four of the six runs allowed by Matlack were unearned.

St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 4: The Cardinals, held scoreless for seven inning by Bob Johnson, erupted for six runs in the eighth against Dave Giusti to steal the win. Bernie Carbo hit a three-run homer off the Pirates bullpen ace to put the visiting Cardinals in the lead. Mike Nagy got the win with two scoreless innings of relief for Scipio Spinks, who was deactivated after the game in favor of Ed Sprague. Diego Segui gave up a run in the ninth but was still credited with a save.

 

Games of Sunday, June 1

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            25     15       .625    ---
Houston               23     18       .561    2.5
Atlanta                 19     17       .527    4
Pittsburgh            20     20       .500    5
Chicago               21     22       .488    5.5
St. Louis              19     20       .487    5.5
Montreal              16    22       .421     8
Philadelphia         14    22       .388     9

Monday's games
Atlanta (Niekro) at New York (Matlack)
St. Louis (Spinks) at Pittsburgh (Johnson) 

Philadelphia 2, Montreal 0: Jim Lonborg allowed five hits in eight-plus innings and drove in the Phillies second run with a sac fly. Larry Bowa tripled past Expos left fielder Ron Fairly to plate Bob Boone with the first run in the second inning, and Lonborg followed with a fly to center that ended the scoring. Mac Scarce relieved Lonbord in the ninth after a lead off single by Ken Singleton; he walked two but struck out two and kept the Expos off the board. Loser Steve Renko went all nine innings, allowing six hits while striking out 10.

New York 6, Atlanta 2: Cleon Jones hit two of the Mets' four homers and drove in three runs to back Jerry Koosman's five-hitter. Rusty Staub and Wayne Garrett also homered for the Mets off loser Ron Schueler. Dusty Baker and Darrell Evans hit solo homers for Atlanta. Bud Harrelson was injured late in the game and was taken off the active list, with Jim Fregosi reactivated.

Chicago 15, Pittsburgh 9: The Pirates' winning streak ended with a crash of bats as the Cubs scored in six of their eight innings. Rick Monday drove in five runs, three of them on a sixth-inning homer that widened the margin after the Pirates had pulled within a run. Jim Hickman had four RBIs and Billy Williams scored five times. Larry Gura went five innings, allowing three earned runs and two unearned runs, for the win. Mike Paul gave up a grand slam to Manny Sanguillen in the ninth. Dock Ellis took the loss.

St. Louis 4, Houston 3 (14 innings): The St. Louis bullpen threw eight scoreless innings of relief as the Cardinals came back from a three-run deficit to beat the Astros. The Astros scored all three of their runs in the fourth, with two of those runs unearned. St. Louis got a run back in the sixth and tied it in the seventh. With one out in the top of the 14th, Jose Cruz doubled off Cecil Upshaw and came in on Tim McCarver's single for the go-ahead run. Mike Nagy got the win after pitching the 12th and 13th innings; Diego Segui picked up the save.

Games of Saturday, May 31

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            24     15       .615    ---
Houston               23     17       .575    1.5
Atlanta                 19     16       .542    3
Pittsburgh            20     19       .513    4
Chicago               20     22       .475    5.5
St. Louis              18     20       .474    5.5
Montreal              16    21       .432     7
Philadelphia         13    22       .371     9

Sunday's games
Philadelphia (Twitchell) at Montreal (Renko)
Atlanta (Schueler) at New York (Koosman)
St. Louis (Foster) at Houston (Roberts)
Pittsburgh  (Ellis) at Chicago (Gura)

Atlanta 8, Montreal 7: Paul Casanova's pinch-hit single in the top of the ninth plated Marty Perez with the eventual winning run. The Braves scored four runs in the first, with consecutive RBI doubles by Darrell Evans, Dave Johnson and Mike Lum. Ralph Garr had three hits, a steal and three runs. Pepe Frias drove in three runs for the Expos. Adrian Devine (one run in two innings) was credited with the win, Tom Walker took the loss and Dan Frisella got the save.

Pittsburgh 7, St. Louis 2: Willie Stargell homered twice and Richie Hebner added a three-run homer as the Pirates won their seventh straight. Luke Walker took a shutout into the seventh inning; he allowed two runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings. John Morlan retired all four men he faced, and Steve Blass wriggled out of his own ninth-inning jam to finish. Dave Cash had three singles and scored on each of the Pittsburgh homers, all off loser Reggie Cleveland.

New York 6, Philadelphia 2: Willie Mays hit a two-run homer in the third inning off Steve Carlton and Jim McAndrew held the Phillies scoreless into the sixth inning. Cleon Jones tripled in a pair of runs in the top of the ninth. McAndrew went 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits. Ray Sadecki got the final two outs of the sixth, then Tug McGraw and Harry Parker combined for three innings of one-hit ball. 

Chicago 7, Houston 6: Randy Hundley homered twice and drove in four runs as the Cubs broke a six-game losing streak. Four of the six runs winner Rich Reuschel allowed in 8.1 innings were unearned. Bob Locker got two outs in the ninth for the save. Don Wilson took the loss; three of the seven runs he allowed were unearned.

Games of Friday, May 30

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            23     15       .605    ---
Houston               23     16       .590    0.5
Atlanta                 18     16       .529    3
Pittsburgh            19     19       .500    4
St. Louis              18     19       .486    4.5
Chicago               19     22       .463    5.5
Montreal              16    20       .444     6
Philadelphia         13    21       .406     8

Saturday's games
Houston  (Wilson) at Chicago (Rueschel)
Atlanta (Morton) at Montreal (McAnally)
New York (McAndrew) at Philadelphia (Carlton)
St. Louis (Cleveland) at Pittsburgh (L Walker)

Montreal 6, Atlanta 5: Ken Singleton led off the bottom of the ninth with a homer off Adrian Devine to give the Expos the win in a game they led almost the entire way.  Montreal scored four runs in the first inning, drawing five walks from Atlanta starter Roric Harrison. The Braves tied it at four in the fifth on Dave Johnson's three-run homer off Balor Moore. John Boccabella doubled in Ron Woods in the seventh to put the Expos back in front, but Johnson hit another homer with two out in the ninth to tie the game again. Mike Marshall vultured the win.

Atlanta 9, Montreal 5: The Braves battered Mike Torrez for seven runs in five innings. Dusty Baker doubled in a pair of runs in the third and scored runs in the second and fifth innings. Dave Johnson hit his third homer of the day in the fifth, and Darrell Evans homered in the seventh, scoring his third run of the game. Gary Gentry allowed two runs in six innings for the win; Tom House got the final two outs with two men on for the save. Bob Bailey had three RBI for the Expos.

New York 7, Philadelphia 0: George Stone threw a five-hit shutout and Felix Millan drove in four runs with a pair of doubles. The Mets scored all seven runs off starter Mike Wallace, but only three of them were earned. Stone walked two Phillies and struck out six.

New York 4, Philadelphia 1: Tom Seaver sealed the double-header sweep with four-hitter, with Willie Montanez' homer the only time the Phillies dented home plate in the two games. Felix Millan tripled home a run and scored in the first inning for the Mets. Don Hahn also scored a run and drove in one. Seaver hit a batter, walked one and struck out seven.

Pittsburgh 8, St. Louis 2: Nelson Briles went the distance, allowing five hits, and Gene Clines drove in three runs for the Pirates. Richie Hebner doubled in a pair of runs and both he and Willie Stargell scored twice at the home team racked up Bob Gibson for six earned runs in eight innings.

Pittsburgh 4, St. Louis 2: Dave Parker pinch-hit a two-run homer in the seventh to break the tie and propel the Pirates to their sixth straight win. Bob Moose (seven innings, six hits, two runs) was the winner, and Ramon Hernandez retired the final six Cardinals for the save. Loser Rick Wise pitched all eight innings for St. Louis, allowing nine hits. He got three double plays in the first four innings.

Houston 1, Chicago 0: Jerry Reuss threw a six-hit shutout. Cesar Cedeno doubled in the eighth inning and scored on Jim Wynn's single to saddle Fergie Jenkins with the loss. The Cubs had 11 baserunners but never got a man past second base.

Houston 4, Chicago 3 (10 innings): Cesar Cedeno's two-run homer in the seventh evened the score. He led off the 10th by getting hit by a Mike Paul pitch and eventually scored on a pinch-hit single by Jesus Alou. Jim York threw three scoreless innings for the win; Jim Crawford got the final out for the save. Lee May also homered for the Astros, who swept the doubleheader.

Games of Thursday, May 29

                              W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            21     15       .583    ---
Houston               21     16       .568    0.5
Atlanta                 17     15       .531    2
St. Louis              18     17       .514    2.5
Chicago               19     20       .487    3.5
Pittsburgh            17     19       .472    4
Montreal              15    19       .441    5
Philadelphia         13    19       .406    6

Friday's games
Houston  (Reuss and Forsch) at Chicago (Jenkins and Bonham)
Atlanta (Harrison and Gentry) at Montreal (Torrez and Moore)
New York (Seaver and Stone) at Philadelphia (Ruthven and Wallace)
St. Louis (Gibson and Wise) at Pittsburgh (Moose and Briles)

Pittsburgh 8, Chicago 6: The Pirates swept the series with this sloppy win. The Cubs committed four errors and misplayed other potential outs into base hits, and Pirates starter Bruce Kison walked six men in five innings. John Lamb allowed one run in two innings of relief for the win, and Dave Guisti picked up his third straight save. He will be sidelined for their doubleheader on Friday. Willie Stargell had a pair of RBI doubles and Dave Parker came off the bench to double and triple and score two runs. Burt Hooton took the loss.

Philadelphia 3, Atlanta 1: A pair of errors by Ralph Garr led to three unearned runs for the Phillies and a hard-luck loss for Phil Niekro, who allowed six hits in eight innings. Wayne Twitchell, however, was better for the visiting Phillies. Twitchell gave up five hits in nine innings; the only run the Braves got came in the first inning, when Mike Lum doubled and came around on a pair of wild pitches.

Games of Wednesday, May 28

                              W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            21     15       .583    ---
Houston               21     16       .568    0.5
Atlanta                 17     14       .548    1.5
St. Louis              18     17       .514    2.5
Chicago               19     19       .500    3
Pittsburgh            16     19       .457    4.5
Montreal              15    19       .441    5
Philadelphia         12    19       .487    6.5

Thursday's games
Philadelphia (Twitchell) at Atlanta (Niekro)
Pittsburgh  (Kison) at Chicago (Hooton)

New York 4, Montreal 3 (10 innings): Ed Kranepool's sac fly plated Rusty Staub with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. Jerry Koosman carried a 2-1 lead -- built on solo homers by Staub and Don Hahn -- into the eighth inning. But the lefty walked three of the four men he faced in that inning, and by the time Buzz Capra got out of the inning, two of them had scored to give the Expos a 3-2 lead. The Mets promptly tied it, with Staub leading off the bottom of the inning with a single and scoring on John Milner's triple. Tug McGraw pitched a scoreless top of the 10th for the win; Pat Jarvis took the loss.

Montreal 8, New York 7: The Expos erupted for five runs in the top of the ninth off Tug McGraw to overtake the Mets and get a split of the doubleheader. McGraw followed a perfect eighth inning with a wild ninth -- a hit batter, four walks and three singles. Pepe Frias drove in three runs for the Expos, two on a fourth inning double off Jon Matlack, and another with a bases-loaded walk in the ninth. Mike Marshall got the win, and Bill Stoneman got the final out in the ninth with two men on for the save.

Houston 9, St. Louis 5: The bottom half of the Astros order put together a big eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie and give Larry Dierker the win in his first start of the season. Roger Metzger scored three runs and drove in one with a triple.. Lee May hit a three-run homer in the third inning off St. Louis starter Rich Folkers. Orlando Pena took the loss.

Houston 10, St. Louis 5: Cesar Cedeno's sixth-inning grand slam reversed a two-run deficit for Houston. Dave Roberts staggered through the first six innings, allowing five runs on 14 hits, but then retired the final 10 Cardinals hitters for the complete game win. Bob Watson hit a two-run homer in the first for the Astros off loser Scipio Spinks, and Johnny Edwards tripled, drove in two runs and scored a pair.

Pittsburgh 4, Chicago 1: Bob Johnson carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning for the Pirates, and Bob Robertson supplied the punch with a homer and two doubles. Robertson scored a pair of runs. Jose Cardenal broke up Johnson's no-hit bid and shutout with a homer; after a single and walk, Johnson departed, and a parade of Pirate relievers shut down the Cubs. Dave Giusti worked the ninth and got the save. Dale Maxvill was injured and taken off the active roster; his injury ends June 2, his eligibility to return is June 7.

Atlanta 9, Philadelphia 5: Henry Aaron hit a pair of two-run homers off Ken Brett. The Braves battered the lefty for 18 hits in 7.1 innings; they also drew four walks. Pat Dobson staggered through seven innings for the win; he allowed four runs on eight hits.

Games of Tuesday, May 27

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            20     14       .588    ---
St. Louis              18     15       .545    1.5
Houston               19     16       .542    1.5
Atlanta                 16     14       .533    2
Chicago               19     18       .514    2.5
Pittsburgh            15     19       .441    5
Montreal              14     18       .438    5
Philadelphia         12     18       .400    6

Wednesday's games
Philadelphia (Brett) at Atlanta (Dobson)
Montreal (Renko and Rogers) at New York (Koosman and Matlack), 2
Houston (Roberts and Dierker) at St. Louis (Spinks and Folkers), 2
Pittsburgh  (Johnson) at Chicago (Pappas)

Philadelphia 8, Atlanta 4: Willie Montanez went 4-for-5 with two runs and an RBI triple, and the Phillies got homers from Del Unser, Bill Robinson and Mike Schmidt. Jim Lonborg allowed one run in seven innings for the win. Mac Scarce entered to get the final two outs with the bases loaded for the save. 

Atlanta 10, Philadelphia 3: Carl Morton threw a five hitter and allowed two earned runs as the Braves split the doubleheader. Steve Carlton, starting on short rest after a disastrous start on Saturday, allowed nine runs in five innings. The Braves collected 12 hits and four walks. Henry Aaron scored four runs and drove in two, but his only hit was a homer. 

Pittsburgh 5, Chicago 2: Richie Hebner and Milt May hit back-to-back homers and Dock Ellis carried a three-hit shutout into the ninth inning. May had three hits and scored a second run. Rick Monday hit a two-run homer off Ellis in the ninth, and the Cubs got the tying run to the plate before Dave Giusti entered to pop up Jose Cardenal for the final out. Rick Reuschel took the loss.

Houston 4, St. Louis 1: Tom Griffin allowed one run on four hits in six innings, and Cecil Upshaw tacked on three scoreless frames as Astros took the first game of the doubleheader. Jim Wynn and Lee May hit back-to-back homers in the third inning off Alan Foster, who preserved the Cardinals bullpen by going the distance despite the loss.

St. Louis 5, Houston 3: The Cardinals secured a split of the doubleheader with Reggie Cleveland working all nine innings. Houston starter J.R. Richard walked nine, struck out five, committed a balk with the bases loaded and was charged with all five runs in 5.1 innings. St. Louis got just three hits off him, one a bunt single by Cleveland.

Game of Monday, May 26

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            20     14       .588    ---
St. Louis              17     14       .548    1.5
Houston               18     15       .545    1.5
Atlanta                 15     13       .536    2
Chicago               19     17       .528    2
Montreal              14     18       .438    5
Pittsburgh            14     19       .424    5.5
Philadelphia         11     17       .393    6

Tuesday's games
Philadelphia (Lonborg and Carlton) at Atlanta (Morton and Schueler), 2
Houston (Richard and Griffin) at St. Louis (Foster and Cleveland), 2
Pittsburgh  (Ellis) at Chicago (Reuschel)

Houston 5, St. Louis 2 (17 innings): Doug Rader hit a two-run homer in top of the ninth to spoil Tom Murphy's shutout, and the game dragged on for a bullpen-depleting additions eight innings before the Astros broke through against Mike Nagy. Jim Ray got the win with 5.2 scoreless innings of relief; Dave Roberts, who had been scheduled to start in Tuesday's double header, got the final out with the bases loaded. Roberts' start will be pushed back to Wednesday's double header. Cesar Cedeno and Jim Wynn had consecutive RBI  doubles in the winning rally.

Games of Sunday, May 25

                             W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            20     14       .588    ---
St. Louis              17     13       .567    1
Atlanta                 15     13       .536    2
Houston               17     15       .531    2
Chicago               19     17       .528    2
Montreal              14     18       .438    5
Pittsburgh            14     19       .424    5.5
Philadelphia         11     17       .393    6

Monday's game
Houston (Wilson) at St. Louis (Murphy)

Pittsburgh 12, Montreal 6 (17 innings): Al Oliver hit a three-run homer in the ninth to tie the game and a three-run double in the 17th to help break the game open. Dave Giusti, who blew a save in the 16th, got credit for the win, but the pitching hero for Pittsburgh was Bob Moose, who allows one hit in five innings of scoreless relief. Ernie McAnally worked six scoreless innings out of the Montreal bullpen. Tom Walker took the loss for the Expos.

St. Louis 6, Philadelphia 1: Ted Simmons drove in three runs while Rick Wise allowed one run in eight innings. The Cardinals scored four runs over the first three innings against Dick Ruthven, with Bernie Carbo clubbing a two-run homer in the third. Ruthven steadied for three innings after that, but Ted Simmons singled in two runners in the seventh off Bucky Brandon to widen the score to the final margin.

Atlanta 2, Chicago 1: Phil Niekro went the distance, allowing one run on four hits. He walked nne and struck out two. Nineteen of the 27 outs came on ground balls. He also drove in the eventual winning run with a bases loaded safety squeeze. Ron Santo homered for the only Chicago run. Fergie Jenkins allowed two runs in eight innings for the loss. He allowed six hits.

Houston 3, New York 2 (14 innings): Tom Seaver and Jerry Reuss dueled into extra innings, but the real standout was Cesar Cedeno, who hit solo homers off Seaver in his first two at-bats and gunned down two Mets at the plate to end innings -- Ted Martinez in in the fifth and Jerry Grote in the sixth. The Astros broke through in the 14th against Ray Sadecki when Doug Rader singled in Jim Wynn, who had led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on grounder.

 

Games of Saturday, May 24

                              W      L        Pct.     GB
New York            20     13       .606    ---
St. Louis              16     13       .551    2
Chicago               19     16       .543    2
Atlanta                 14     13       .519    3
Houston               16     15       .516    3
Montreal              14     17       .452    5
Philadelphia         11     16       .407    6
Pittsburgh            13     19       .406    6.5

Sunday's games
Pittsburgh (Briles) at Montreal (Torrez)
Atlanta (Niekro) at Chicago (Jenkins)
Philadelphia (Ruthven) at St. Louis (Wise)
New York (Seaver) at Houston (Reuss)

Chicago 7, Atlanta 6: Randy Hundley's grand slam highlighted the Cubs' seven run sixth inning. Hundley's blast was immediately followed by a homer by Paul Popovich. Both homers came off reliever Tom House, who took the loss. Roric Harrison, in his first start since his no-hitter against the Astros, took a one-hit shutout into the sixth but was unable to retire a batter. Henry Aaron homered twice off winner Burt Hooton, who gave up six runs (one unearned) in 6.2 innings. Dave LaRoche and Jack Aker got the final eight outs, with Aker earning the save.

St. Louis 8, Philadelphia 5: The Cardinals shelled Steve Carlton for eight runs on seven hits and three walks in the first two innings. Joe Torre hit a two-run homer. St. Louis didn't score again, but eight was enough. Bob Gibson went six innings for the win, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits; the Cardinals committed three errors behind him.The Phillies got five scoreless innings from Mike Wallace and got the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but pinch-hitter Bill Robinson grounded into a double play off Al Hrbrosky to end it.

New York 6, Houston 4: The Mets took the lead in the sixth on a suicide squeeze but by Bud Harrelson and picked up three necessary insurance runs in the top of the ninth. George Stone allowed two runs in seven inning for the win; the lefty scattered seven hits. Tug McGraw staggered through the ninth, allowing two runs, including a leadoff homer from Doug Rader, but finished the game.