Games of Friday, July 11

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               50     31       .617     ---
New York            43     33       .566     4.5
Atlanta                 39     37       .513     8.5
Montreal              37     40       .481   11
Pittsburgh            35     39       .473   11.5
Chicago               35     40       .467   12
St. Louis              35     41       .460   12.5
Philadelphia         31     44       .413   16

Saturday's games
New York (Stone) at Chicago (Reuschel)
Philadelphia (Ruthven and Carlton) at Pittsburgh (Rooker and Briles), 2

Montreal 5, Chicago 2: Ron Woods entered the game after Boots Day was injured and homered, singled and drove in two runs. Steve Renko allowed one run in seven innings, allowing two hits, one a homer by Ron Santo. Ernie McAnally worked the final two innings, allowing a run on four hits and a walk. Tim Foli singled twice, walked twice and scored two runs. Burt Hooton took the loss. Day was replaced on the active roster by Felipe Alou.

Atlanta 9, Pittsburgh 1: Henry Aaron returned to the Braves lineup with a pair of homers, a double, a single and three RBIs. Roric Harrison threw a six-hit complete game, with the only Pirates run being a homer by Richie Hebner in the second inning. Ralph Garr drove in three runs as the Braves piled on late against Steve Blass in a mop-up assignment; he yielded five runs on five hits and five walks in two innings. Bob Johnson was charged with the loss.

St. Louis 2, New York 0: Bob Gibson threw a three-hit shutout and scored on Lou Brock's homer in fifth. Gibson walked one and struck out six. Losing pitcher Tom Seaver allowed five hits in seven innings with one walk and five strikeouts.

Houston 5, Philadelphia 0: Tom Griffin allowed four hits in eight innings and Jim Crawford worked a perfect ninth for the combined shutout. The Astros scored four runs in the fourth off Jim Lonborg, with Johnny Edwards plating two runs with a single and Roger Metzger following with a triple. Metzger scored a pair of runs. Griffin walked one man, hit a batter and struck out seven. Denny Doyle must sit out Saturday's doubleheader.

Games of Thursday, July 10

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               49     31       .613     ---
New York            43     32       .573     3.5
Atlanta                 38     37       .507     8.5
Pittsburgh            35     38       .479   10.5
Montreal              36     40       .473   11
Chicago               35     39       .473   11
St. Louis              34     41       .453   12.5
Philadelphia         31     43       .419   15

Friday's games
Montreal (Renko) at Chicago (Hooton)
Atlanta (Harrison) at Pittsburgh (Johnson)
New York (Seaver) at St. Louis (Gibson)
Philadelphia (Lonborg) at Houston (Griffin)

Chicago 10, Montreal 6: Milt Pappas hit a grand slam and pitched into the seventh inning for the win. Pappas gave up six runs on 12 hits, but that was good enough. Ron Santo also homered for the Cubs and drove in three runs. Balor Moore took the loss. Mike Jorgensen had three hits and stole two bases.

Chicago 5, Montreal 2: Ferguson Jenkins held the Expos scoreless through eight innings and finished with a 10-hit complete game as the Cubs swept the doubleheader. The Cubs turned three double plays behind him. Jose Cardenal led off with a homer and drove in three runs, all off losing pitcher Steve Rogers, who walked five men in four innings.

Pittsburgh 4, Atlanta 2: Bob Moose threw a four-hitter for the Pirates -- two of the hit solo homers by Darrell Evans -- and Richie Zisk hit a two-run double in a three-run third off Phil Niekro. Moose struck out seven and walked one. Richie Hebner hit a solo homer for Pittsburgh.

St. Louis 4, New York 3: Reggie Cleveland allowed two runs in eight innings, and Diego Segui entered to get the final out with the tying run on third. Lou Brock drove in Mike Tyson twice. Jon Matlack took the loss.

Philadelphia 9, Houston 7: Ken Brett hit better than he pitched, but he pitched well enough to come away with the win. Brett was 3-for4 at the plate with a triple and three RBIs. He also worked 7.2 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits and four walks. Mike Schmidt homered off losing pitcher Dave Roberts and scored four times. Terry Harmon drove in two runs. Bill Wilson allowed a run in the ninth inning while picking up the save.

Games of Wednesday, July 9

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               49     30       .620     ---
New York            43     31       .581     3.5
Atlanta                 38     36       .514     8.5
Montreal              36     38       .486   10.5
Pittsburgh            34     38       .472   11.5
Chicago               33     39       .458   12.5
St. Louis              33     41       .446   13.5
Philadelphia         30     43       .411   16

Thursday's games
Montreal (Moore and Rogers) at Chicago (Pappas and Jenkins)
Atlanta (Niekro) at Pittsburgh (Moose)
New York (Matlack) at St. Louis (Cleveland)
Philadelphia (Brett) at Houston (Roberts)

Pittsburgh 7, Atlanta 6: Willie Stargell hit a three-run homer in a five-run eighth inning and scored the winning run in the ninth on Manny Sanguillen's base hit. Ron Schueler carried a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but a Dave Johnson error set up the big inning, which also featured an RBI double by Rennie Stennett and a run-scoring single from Gene Clines.  Dave Giusti blew the save but vultured the win. Tom House took the loss. Dusty Baker will miss the next three days.

Houston 3, Philadelphia 2: Gary Sutherland, filling in for the injured Tommy Helms, doubled twice and scored both times, the second in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. Don Wilson allowed one run on two hits for the win. Phillies reliever Bill Wilson, no relation, took the loss.

Games of Tuesday, July 8

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               48     30       .615     ---
New York            43     31       .581     3
Atlanta                 38     35       .521     7.5
Montreal              36     38       .486   10
Pittsburgh            33     38       .465   11.5
Chicago               33     39       .458   12
St. Louis              33     41       .446   13
Philadelphia         30     42       .417   15

Wednesday's games
Philadelphia (Twitchell) at Houston (Wilson)
Atlanta (Schueler) at Pittsburgh (Kison)

Montreal 11, Chicago 6: The Expos got a two-run homer in the first inning from Ron Fairly and a three-run homer in the ninth from Hal Breeden, but it was four unearned runs in the third that broke the game open for the visitors. Mike Torrez went 6.2 innings for the win, allowing four runs on nine hits. Mike Marshall entered with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth and quickly ended the game with a double-play ball, which earned him a save. Rick Reuschel took the loss.

Houston 2, Philadelphia 1: Cesar Cedeno led off with a homer, and Jerry Reuss spun a two-hitter as the first-place Astros hit the midway point of their schedule. Barry Lersch allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings for the hard-luck loss. Mike Schmidt homered in the fifth for the Phillies' run. 

Philadelphia 13, Houston 2: Del Unser's three-run homer in the first capped a four-run outburst as the Phillies earned the split of the doubleheader. Steve Carlton went the distance, scattering eight hits. Unser had five RBIs. Cesar Tovar had five hits, two of them doubles; he scored three times and drove in a pair. Mike Ryan had a pair of RBI triples. 

Pittsburgh 5, Atlanta 4: Al Oliver hit a two-out two-run homer off Tom House in the bottom of the ninth to flip the score and give the Pirates the win. The Braves had taken the lead in the top of the inning by taking advantage of a Manny Sanguillen error in right field. Ramon Hernandez got the win.

New York 5, St. Louis 4: John Milner tied the game with a double in the seventh and scored on a single by Ron Hodges to give Jerry Koosman just enough runs. Koosman allowed nine hits in his complete game win, four of them in the Cardinals' three-run second. Wayne Garrett opened the game with a homer off losing pitcher Rick Wise. Cleon Jones had four hits. Felix Millan must sit the next three days.

Games of Monday, July 7

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               47     29       .618     ---
New York            42     31       .575     3.5
Atlanta                 38     34       .528     7
Montreal              35     38       .479   10.5 
Chicago               33     38       .465   11.5
Pittsburgh            32     38       .457   12
St. Louis              33     40       .452   12.5
Philadelphia         29     41       .414  15

Tuesday's games
Philadelphia (Carlton and Lersch) at Houston (Reuss and Forsch)
Montreal (Torrez) at Chicago (Reuschel)
Atlanta (Morton) at Pittsburgh (Briles)
New York (Koosman) at St. Louis (Wise)

Pittsburgh 3, Montreal 2 (11 innings): Dave Parker led off the bottom of the 11th with a homer off Tom Walker. Willie Stargell homered in the fourth off Steve Renko, who allowed two runs on four hits in six innings. Jim Rooker got the win with 3.2 innings of one-hit relief. 

St. Louis 5, Chicago 4 (12 innings): Ted Simmons doubled to lead off the bottom of the 12th and Joe Torre brought him home with a base hit to the gap to win it for St. Louis. The Cubs trailed 4-1 coming into the eighth, but Jose Cardenal hit a solo homer off Alan Foster in the eighth and Randy Hundley tied it in the ninth with a two-run shot off Diego Segui. Rich Folkers got the win with two scoreless innings. Ray Burris took the loss. Cardenal was 5-for-6 with two runs and a double.

Games of Sunday, July 6

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               47     29       .618     ---
New York            42     31       .575     3.5
Atlanta                 38     34       .528     7
Montreal              35     37       .486   10
Chicago               33     37       .471   11
Pittsburgh            31     38       .449   12.5
St. Louis              32     40       .444   13
Philadelphia         29     41       .414  15

Monday's games
Montreal (Renko) at Pittsburgh (Ellis)
Chicago (Hooton) at St. Louis (Foster)

Atlanta 7, Montreal 5: Darrell Evans homered and both he and Dusty Baker scored a pair of runs as the Braves outlasted the Expos for their sixth win in seven games. Jimmy Freeman entered to fan Ken Singleton with the bases loaded in the sixth inning; that one batter sufficed to get him the win. Danny Frisella got five outs for the save, and Joe Gilbert was charged with the loss.

Montreal 5, Atlanta 4: Howie Reed came off the taxi squad to allow three earned runs in eight innings for the win, giving Montreal a split of the doubleheader. Mike Marshall pitched a scoreless ninth for the save. Bob Stinson brought home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out hit off Phil Niekro, who allowed just the one earned run in eight innings but took the loss. Darrell Evans homered in the first for the Braves.

Philadelphia 8, New York 3: Light-hitting Terry Harmon drove in three runs and the Phillies bullpen got 11 outs without allowing a hit. Philadelphia peppered Jim McAndew and Ray Sadecki for 15 hits, including a homer by Bill Robinson. Dick Ruthven allowed three runs, two earned, in 5.1 innings; Bill Wilson worked the final three innings and was credited with the save. McAndrew took the loss.

Philadelphia 1, New York 0 (11 innings): Tom Seaver and Jim Lonborg dueled brilliantly, although neither was around when the Phillies finally broke through for the game's sole run in the 11th. Seaver went 10 innings, scattering seven hits while striking out 12 with no walks. Lonborg worked nine innings, allowing four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Bucky Brandon threw a perfect inning for the win, and Mac Scarce a 1-2-3 11th for the save. Mike Schmidt got the third single of the top of the 11th off Tug McGraw to drive in Terry Harmon for the winning run. Larry Bowa was injured and replaced on the roster by Denny Doyle.

Pittsburgh 6, Houston 1: The Pirates scored five runs in the fifth inning, a rally that began after Astros starter Dave Roberts retired the first two hitter. Dave Cash started things with a double that eluded Jim Wynn in right. The next four Pirates singled, a walk loaded the bases and then Dave Parker capped the scoring with a two-run single. Bob Johnson went the distance for the Buccos, allowing five hits (one a homer by Wynn), walking one and striking out six.

St. Louis 5, Chicago 4: The Cardinals responded to a three-run rally in the top of the seventh by the Cubs with four runs in the bottom half of the inning, with Joe Torre's single capping the inning. Lou Brock stole three bases for the Cardinals and scored two runs while driving in one. Bob Gibson got the win, with Al Hrbrosky throwing two scoreless inning for the save. Dave LaRoche took the loss for the Cubs.

Games of Saturday, July 5

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               47     28       .627     ---
New York            42     29       .591     3
Atlanta                 37     33       .529     7.5
Montreal              34     36       .486   10
Chicago               33     36       .478   11
Pittsburgh            30     38       .442   13.5
St. Louis              31     40       .437   14
Philadelphia         27     41       .391  16.5

Sunday's games
Atlanta (Dobson and Niekro) at Montreal (McAnally and Reed), 2
Philadelphia (Lonborg and Ruthven) at New York (Seaver and McAndrew), 2
Chicago (Jenkins) at St. Louis (Gibson)
Pittsburgh (Johnson) at Houston (Roberts)

New York 3, Philadelphia 2 (10 innings): Larry Bowa booted a grounder with two outs in the bottom of the tenth, allowing Ron Hodges to score the winning run. The Phillies loaded the bases with none out in the top of the ninth, but Harry Parker managed to strand all three runners, then worked around a leadoff double in the top of the 10th and wound up the winning pitcher. Bucky Brandon took the loss.Cleon Jones hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Ken Brett, who allowed the two runs on five hit in nine innings. Jon Matlack struck out nine Phillies in eight innings.

Houston 9, Pittsburgh 5 (16 innings): Houston scored four runs in the first and four more in the 16th; in between, the Pirates bullpen held them to one run. Tommy Helms hit a two-run double in the first to make a short start for Nelson Briles, and he drove in the first run in the 16th with a single. Richie Hebner homered twice for the Priates and also doubled and singled twice. He drove in and scored three runs. Each team used every eligible reliever. Larry Dierker got the win and Steve Blass took the loss. Bob Robertson was injured for the Pirates, who activated Gene Clines in his place after the game.

Atlanta 5, Montreal 2: Darrell Evans hit a two-run homer in the first and Marty Perez singled in a pair of runs in the eighth to power the Braves. Roric Harrison allowed two runs in 6.2 innings, scattering nine hits, for the win. Tom House retired all four men he faced, and Jimmy Freeman worked a scoreless ninth for the save. Steve Rogers took the loss. John Oates is out for Sunday's doubleheader.

Chicago 5, St. Louis 4: Jose Cardenal scored two runs and drove in another to support Larry Gura and the Cubs bullpen. Gura allowed two runs in five innings before leaving for a pinch-hitter in the Cubs' three-run sixth. Ray Burris threw two scoreless innings, Dave LaRoche gave up a two-run homer to Jose Cruz in the eighth, and Bob Locker faced just three men in the ninth for the save. Ron Santo must sit out Sunday. Reggie Cleveland took the loss.

Games of Friday, July 4

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               46     28       .621     ---
New York            41     29       .586     3
Atlanta                 36     33       .521     7.5
Montreal              34     35       .493     9
Chicago               32     36       .471   11
Pittsburgh            30     37       .448   12.5
St. Louis              31     39       .443   13
Philadelphia         27     40       .403   15.5

Saturday's games
Houston (Wilson) at Pittsburgh (Briles)
Montreal (Rogers) at Atlanta (Harrison)
Philadelphia (Brett) at New York (Matlack)
Chicago (Gura) at St. Louis (Cleveland)

Pittsburgh 4, Houston 1: Bruce Kison allowed two hits and one run in eight innings and the Pirated got to J.R. Richard in the third for three runs on three hits, a pair of walks and an error. Milt May followed Richie Hebner's game-tying double with a two-run single. Richie Zisk homered in the fifth. Kison walked two and struck out six, allowing one unearned run. Dave Giusti allowed one hit in the ninth while striking out two for the save. 

Houston 16, Pittsburgh 2: The Astros knocked Bob Moose out after three innings, then battered Steve Blass for seven runs in the fourth inning. Roger Metzger drove in five runs on three singles and a triple, John Edwards had three RBI singles, Doug Rader had four hits and scored three times and Tommy Helms scored three runs. Jerry Reuss went the distance, scattering 10 hits while striking out nine.

Philadelphia 6, New York 2: Steve Carlton threw a complete game, allowing eight hits and striking out nine. Bill Robinson drove in three runs, two with a first-inning homer, and Mike Schmidt two. Greg Luzinski scored three times. Jerry Koosman yielded five runs in five innings for the loss. Cleon Jones homered for the Mets.

Philadelphia 7, New York 4: Bill Robinson hit a two-run homer and Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski hit solo shots to support Wayne Twitchell's eight innings of four-hit ball. He walked four, struck out four and threw a run-scoring wild pitch. George Culver worked a perfect ninth for the save. Cesar Tovar had three hits and scored twice. George Stone took the loss.

Montreal 2, Atlanta 0: Mike Torrez and Mike Marshall combined for a six-hit shutout, and the Expos pieced together a pair of runs off Carl Morton. A John Boccabella groundout plated Ken Singleton in the second, and Jim Lyttle singled in Mike Jorgensen in the sixth. Morton went the distance, allowing six hits and three walks. Torrez allowed three walks and five hits in eight innings, and Marshall allowed a harmless single in the ninth.

Atlanta 2, Montreal 1 (10 innings): The Braves tied it in the bottom of the ninth when Frank Tepedino's pinch-hit single plated Mike Lum, and won it in the tenth on Dave Johnson's leadoff homer. Jimmy Freeman pitched a scoreless top of the 10th to get the win in his season debut. Mike Marshall took the loss. The one run allowed by either starter -- a fourth inning tally off Ron Schueler -- was unearned. Clyde Mashore was injured for Montreal and is replaced on the roster by Pepe Mangual.

Chicago 3, St. Louis 2: Billy Williams and Jose Cardenal each homered and Rick Reuschel allowed two runs on six hits in six innings for the win. Mike Paul got five outs and Jack Aker the final four for the save. Rick Wise went six innings and took the loss. Luis Melendez drove in both St. Louis runs with a sixth-inning single.

St. Louis 2, Chicago 2: Tom Murphy threw a three-hit shutout as the Cardinals and Cubs split their doubleheader. Ron Santo had two of the three singles off Murphy, who struck out five without issuing a walk. Lou Brock led off the game with a double, stole third and scored on a wild pitch while No. 2 hitter Ted Sizemore was still at bat. The Cardinals scored an unearned run in the second off losing pitcher Milt Pappas, who went seven innings and allowed four hits.

Games of Thursday, July 3

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               45     27       .625     ---
New York            41     27       .603     2
Atlanta                 35     32       .522     7.5
Montreal              33     34       .493     9
Chicago               31     35       .470   11
Pittsburgh            29     36       .446   12.5
St. Louis              30     38       .441   13
Philadelphia         25    40       .384   16.5

Friday's games
Houston (Richard and Reuss) at Pittsburgh (Kison and Moose)
Montreal (Torrez and Moore) at Atlanta (Morton and Schueler)
Philadelphia (Carlton and Twitchell) at New York (Koosman and Stone)
Chicago (Reuschel and Pappas) at St. Louis (Wise and Murphy)

Chicago 5, Houston 4: Pinch-hitter Paul Popovich punched a grounder past the drawn-in infield with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cubs the final lead. Cesar Cedeno led off the game with a homer off Burt Hooton, and an error in the third by Jose Cardenal gave the Astros a 3-0 lead. But Randy Hundley's fifth-inning homer off Ken Forsch made it 3-2, and in the bottom of the eighth Carmen Fanzone hit a two-run homer to put the Cubs up 4-3. Lee May promptly evened the score with a solo homer off Jack Aker -- a fourth-straight day with a homer for May. Tom Griffin gave up a single to open the bottom of the ninth and Doug Rader booted a grounder. A bunt moved the runners to second and third. Don Kessinger walked, which brought up Popovich for the game-winner.

Atlanta 5, Montreal 3: Henry Aaron hit a three-run homer before sustaining an injury that will kepp him out of action for a week. Ron Reed allowed 10 hits and three runs in 6.2 innings, which was good enough to get him the win. Tom House threw 2.1 hitless innings of relief for the save; he walked two and struck out three. Ken Singleton hit three doubles. Steve Renko took the loss.

Games of Wednesday, July 2

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               45     26       .634     ---
New York            41     27       .603     2.5
Atlanta                 34     32       .515     8.5
Montreal              33     33       .500     9.5
Chicago               30     35       .461   12
Pittsburgh            29     36       .446   13
St. Louis              30     38       .441   13.5
Philadelphia         25    40       .384   17

Thursday's games
Houston (Forsch) at Chicago (Hooton)
Montreal (Renko) at Atlanta (Reed)

Houston 5, Chicago 3: Lee May homered twice, driving in and scoring three times each, to power the first-place Astros. It was May's third straight day with at least one home run. His second homer, in the eighth, was a two-run that broke a tie. Jim York got the win with two hitless innings of relief, Ferguson Jenkins took the loss and Jim Ray got the save. John Edwards must sit  Thursday's game.

New York 8, Montreal 6: The Mets scored four runs in the eighth inning to overtake the Expos. Jerry Grote tripled in the big inning to plate the first run and scored the second run of the inning to tie the game. The Expos hit a pair of three-run homers off Tom Seaver: Mike Jorgensen in the first inning and Bob Bailey in the fifth, but Seaver still got the win, allowing seven hits in eight innings. Cleon Jones had three RBIs for the Mets, and Rusty Staub doubled twice among his three hits and scored a pair of runs. Tug McGraw allowed two hits in the ninth but got the save. Tom Walker was the losing pitcher.

Atlanta 7, Philadelphia 3: Dave Johnson hit a three-run homer and added an RBI single to support Phil Niekro's complete game. John Oates also homered off losing pitcher Barry Lersch. Niekro yielded six hits and one walk while striking out seven, including the first three hitters of the game. Del Unser homered and drove in two runs for the Phillies.

St. Louis 7, Pittsburgh 0: Alan Foster threw a two-hitter, while Joe Torre, Tim McCarver and Jose Cruz each drove in a pair of runs. Rennie Stennett had the only hits off Foster, both singles, one in the sixth inning and the other in the ninth. Stennett also drew the only walk Foster granted. Foster struck out four. The Cardinals had 14 hits, all of them singles. Dock Ellis took the loss.