Games of Saturday. July 19

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               53     36       .596     ---
New York             47     37       .560    3.5
Atlanta                 42     43       .494     9
St. Louis              42     43       .494     9
Montreal              41     44       .482   10
Pittsburgh            38     44       .463   11.5
Chicago               39     45       .464   11.5
Philadelphia         37     47       .440  13.5

Sunday's games
Philadelphia (Brett and Christensen) at St. Louis (Cleveland and Folkers),2
Atlanta (Niekro) at Chicago (Reuschel)
New York (Matlack) at Houston (Roberts)

Pittsburgh 3, New York 2 (11 innings): The Pirates greeted Ray Sadecki with three straight singles in the bottom of the 11th, with Willie Stargell plating Gene Clines for the decisive run. Dock Ellis went 10 innings for the no-decision, with Dave Giusti picking up the win. Al Oliver had three hits for the Pirates.

St. Louis 3, Atlanta 2: Joe Torre hit a two-run homer in the first off Ron Reed and the Braves never caught up. Rick Wise allowed two runs in eight innings, scattering seven hits and walking three with five strikeouts, four of them in a row. Henry Aaron hit a solo homer. Al Hrabrosky worked a scoreless ninth, walking two (one intentionally) and striking out two, for the save.

St. Louis 4, Atlanta 2: Ted Simmons doubled in two runs in the seventh inning to break a tie and propel the Cardinals to a doubleheader sweep and their seventh win in eight games. Orlando Pena vultured the win; he allowed one run in two innings. Diego Segui threw two scoreless frames for the save. Dave Johnson homered for the one run allowed by Mike Nagy in five innings. Roric Harrison took the loss.

Houston 4, Montreal 3 (11 innings): Lee May doubled to open the bottom of the 11th off Pat Jarvis and scored two outs later on Tommy Helms' shot off the wall to win the game. Both starters, Don Wilson of the Astros and Ernie McAnally of the Expos, allowed one earned run and two unearned runs in strong starts.  Roger Metzger drove in the other three runs for Houston with a single and a triple.  J.R. Richard threw two perfect innings of relief to get the win.

Philadelphia 1, Chicago 0: Wayne Twitchell outdueled Bill Bonham in the opener of the doubleheader. Twitchell allowed four hits and five walks while striking out eight in his complete game. Bonham also went all nine innings, allowing six hits without a walk while striking out 11. The only run came in the eighth, when Terry Harmon led off with a single. Twitchell bunted him to third and Del Unser brought him around with a base hit. 

Chicago 6, Philadelphia 4: Jose Cardenal hit a pair of homers and Burt Hooton went the distance as the Cubs earned a split of the doubleheader. Hooton allowed three earned runs on 12 hits. Ken Rudolph also homered for the Cubs. Bucky Brandon took the loss; he allowed three runs in one-plus inning of relief.

Games of Friday, July 18

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               52     36       .590     ---
New York             47     36       .566    2.5
Atlanta                 42     41       .506     7.5
Montreal              41     43       .488     9
St. Louis              40     43       .482     9.5
Chicago               38     44       .463   11
Pittsburgh            37     44       .457   11.5
Philadelphia         36     46       .439   13

Saturday's games
Philadelphia (Twitchell and Lersch) at Chicago (Bonham and Hooton)
Atlanta (Reed and Harrison) at St. Louis (Wise and Nagy)
New York (Matlack) at Pittsburgh (Ellis)
Montreal (McAnally) at Houston (D Wilson)

Philadelphia 4, Chicago 1: Slap-hitting Denny Doyle hit a three-run homer in the third inning off Fergie Jenkins and Dick Ruthven held the Cubs hitless into the fifth inning. Ruthven allowed one run on four hits in 6.2 innings, and Bucky Brandon and Bill Wilson finished the combined five-hitter. Bill Robinson hit a solo homer in the eighth.

New York 2, Pittsburgh 1: Bud Harrelson bunted in the go-ahead run in the eighth and Jerry Koosman went the distance. The Mets lefty yielded four hits and walked three while striking out nine. He also hit a batter. Bob Moose allowed both runs in eight innings; the Mets got seven hits and four walks off him with four strikeouts. Richie Zisk was injured and replaced on the active roster by John Lamb. Manny Sanguillen will miss Saturday's game.

Houston 11, Montreal 6: The Astros benefited from four Expos errors and a passed ball in the rout. Ken Forsch went seven-plus innings for the win, allowing five earned runs on eight hits and six walks. Lee May homered for the Astros,and Johnny Edwards drove in three runs. Bill Stoneman took the loss. 

St. Louis 7. Atlanta 1: Ken Reitz and Bernie Carbo homered for St. Louis, Ted Simmons had a pair of RBI doubles, and Alan Foster held the Braves to four hits in his complete game win. Foster retired 11 in a row at one point and held the Braves scoreless until Dusty Baker homered leading off the ninth. Pat Dobson was the losing pitcher.

Games of Thursday, July 17

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               51     36       .586     ---
New York             46     36       .561    2.5
Atlanta                 42     40       .512     6.5
Montreal              41     42       .494     8.5
St. Louis              39     43       .476     9
Chicago               38     43       .469     9.5
Pittsburgh            37     43       .462   10.5
Philadelphia         35     46       .432   13

Friday's games
Philadelphia (Ruthven) at Chicago (Jenkins)
New York (Koosman) at Pittsburgh (Moose)
Montreal (Stoneman) at Houston (Forsch)
Atlanta (Dobson) at St. Louis (Foster) 

Chicago 6, Philadelphia 1: The Cubs drove Steve Carlton from the mound in the third inning, scoring five runs on four hits, two walks, a hit batter and an error,Don Kessinger plated three runs with a double. Milt Pappas went seven innings for the win, allowing one run on four hits.

Pittsburgh 5, New York 2: Rennie Stennett led off with a homer, Willie Stargell hit a two-run bomb in the third and Richie Zisk capped the scoring with a solo homer in the eighth. Jim Rooker allowed two runs on four hits in eight innings. He retired the final 14 men he faced. Ramon Hernandez got all three men he faced in the ninth for the save. George Stone took the loss.

Atlanta 8, St. Louis 3: The Braves scored three unearned runs in the first inning and never relinquished the lead. Marty Perez had four hits, including a triple, scored twice and drove in a pair. Darrell Evans hit a two-run homer in the first off spot-starter Rich Folkers, who allowed four runs in two innings and took the loss. The Braves had a second three-run inning in the fifth off Wayne Granger. Carl Morton allowed five runs in six innings and got credit for the win, with Jimmy Freeman getting the save.

Montreal 8, Houston 4: Mike Torrez gave up four runs in the first inning but followed with eight scoreless frames. He finished with a seven-hitter, with five walks and three strikeouts. Jerry Reuss walked six men and hit one in six innings, and threw a wild pitch that plated a run as well. He was charged with six earned runs. John Boccabella had three RBIs for the Expos.

Games of Wednesday, July 16

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               51     35       .593     ---
New York             46     35       .568     2.5
Atlanta                 41     40       .506     7.5
Montreal              40     42       .487     9.5
St. Louis              39     42       .481     9.5
Chicago               37     43       .462   11
Pittsburgh            36     43       .456   11.5
Philadelphia         35     45       .438   13

Thursday's games
Philadelphia (Carlton) at Chicago (Pappas)
New York (Stone) at Pittsburgh (Rooker)
Montreal (Torrez) at Houston (Reuss)
Atlanta (Morton) at St. Louis (Folkers)

Montreal 4, Houston 3 (13 innings): Ron Fairly pinch-hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to force the game into extra innings, and Pepe Mangual hit a solo homer in the 13th to put the Expos ahead for the first time. Mike Marshall worked out of two jams in three innings of scoreless relief, with Ken Singleton gunning down Bob Gallagher at the plate, but it was Pat Jarvis who got the win. Jim York was the losing pitcher. Cesar Cedeno had three hits, including a homer and double, stole two bases and scored twice.  

Montreal 2, Houston 1: Ron Fairly tripled and scored in the first and homered in the third to supply Steve Renko with just enough runs. Renko went the distance, granting four hits and four walks while striking out six. The Astros didn't score until the ninth, when Doug Rader walked, went to third on Tommy Helm's single and scored on Johnny Edwards's deep fly. 

St. Louis 2, Atlanta 0: Bob Gibson fired a four-hit shutout and homered off Phil Niekro. The Cardinals' first run came in the opening inning, when Lou Brock walked, stole second and came in on Joe Torre's double. Gibson homered with two out in the seventh. Gibson walked two and struck out six. Niekro also threw a complete game, allowing eight hits and three walks. He struck out four. 

St. Louis 14, Atlanta 5: The Cardinals scored five runs in the first inning off Roric Harrison and three more in the second off Jimmy Freeman and cruised to the win. Tom Murphy went the distance for St. Louis, allowing four earned runs on nine hits, including homers by Dusty Baker and Dave Johnson, Mick Kelleher had a three-run double in the first for St. Louis. Tim McCarver 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs. Lou Brock had three hits and two RBIs.

Philadelphia 7, Chicago 6: The Phillies scored four runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth, which was enough to hold off the Cubs. Bucky Brandon threw a scoreless seventh and was credited with the win. Mac Scarce got the save despite giving up a two-run homer to Billy Williams in the ninth. Willie Montanez pinch-hit a three-run homer in the seventh for Jim Lonborg, who allowed two earned runs (four runs total) in six innings. Rick Reuschel shut out the Phillies for six innings but couldn't complete the seventh. Dave LaRoche took the loss.

New York 6, Pittsburgh 0: Tom Seaver struck out nine Pirates in his six-hitter. The Mets drew six walks, four of whom scored. Wayne Garrett had two of the walks and runs. Felix Millan had three singles; he scored a run and drove in another. John Milner had a two-run double. Cleon Jones was injured and replaced on the roster by Jim Gosger. Nelson Briles took the loss.

Games of Tuesday, July 15

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               51     33       .607     ---
New York             45     35       .563     4
Atlanta                 41     38       .519     7.5
Montreal              38     42       .475   11
Chicago               37     42       .469   11.5
St. Louis              37     42       .469   11.5
Pittsburgh            36     42       .461   12
Philadelphia         34     45       .430   14

Wednesday's games
Montreal (Rogers and Renko) at Houston (Roberts and Griffin), 2
Atlanta (Niekro and Harrison) at St. Louis (Gibson and Murphy), 2
Philadelphia (Carlton) at Chicago (Reuschel)
New York (Seaver) at Pittsburgh (Briles)

New York 6, Chicago 5 (12 innings): The Mets scored three runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth to force the Cubs into extra innings, then got a two-out RBI single in the 12th from Jerry Grote to win it. Mets relievers Buzz Capra, Tug McGraw and Harry Parker threw two scoreless innings apiece, with Parker getting credit for the win. Wayne Garrett hit a three-run homer in the seventh and added an RBI double in the ninth. Jack Aker was charged with all five runs in regulation, and Larry Gura was the loser. Billy Williams had a two-run homer in the first off Jon Matlack.  Burt Hooton had six scoreless innings before leaving for a pinch hitter; he allowed six hits, three of them in the sixth inning.

Philadelphia 8, Pittsburgh 0: Ken Brett did it all for the Phillies, tossing a nine-hit shutout while going 4-for-4 with a homer, a double and three RBIs. Losing pitcher Bruce Kison allowed three earned runs in seven innings. Del Unser homered leading off the game, and Brett and Tom Hutton each homered in the eighth off reliever Bob Johnson. Brett struck out one Pirate, walked none and induced a pair of double plays.

St. Louis 6, Montreal 0: Reggie Cleveland scattered eight hits in his shutout with one walk and four strikeouts. Lou Brock drew three walks, stole a base and scored twice. Mike Tyson hit a two-run homer off loser Balor Moore and Ted Sizemore drove in a pair with a double. 

Houston 13, Atlanta 3: The Braves scored three runs in the first inning, but got just two hits the rest of the way against Don Wilson. The Astros matched the three runs in their half of the inning, added a run in the second and knocked Ron Schueler out with a three-run third. Skip Jutze had three hits, drove in three runs and scored three times. Wilson had a pair of RBI doubles. Wilson allowed four hits in his complete game with six walks and five strikeouts.

Games of Monday, July 14

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               50     33       .602     ---
New York             44     35       .557     4
Atlanta                 41     37       .526     6.5
Montreal              38     41       .481   10
Chicago               37     41       .474   10.5
Pittsburgh            36     41       .467   11
St. Louis              36     42       .461   11.5
Philadelphia         33     45       .423   14.5

Tuesday's games
New York (Matlack) at Chicago (Hooton)
Philadelphia (Brett) at Pittsburgh (Kison)
Montreal (Moore) at St. Louis (Cleveland) 
Atlanta (Schueler) at Houston (Wilson)

Chicago 4, New York 3: Fergie Jenkins gave up a three-run homer to Cleon Jones in the first inning but then threw seven scoreless frames to get the win. Don Kessinger drove in a pair of runs, and Paul Popovich's fifth-inning triple capped the Cubs' comeback against Jim McAndrew. Bob Locker entered with two on and no outs in the ninth; he got Don Hahn to bounce into a double play and then retired Jerry Grote on a grounder to earn the save.

Philadelphia 3, Pittsburgh 0: Wayne Twitchell and Mac Scarce combined to hold the Pirates to three singles and four walks. Greg Luzinski went 3-for-3 with a run scored and a walk, and Willie Montanez scored once and drove in one. Twitchell went seven innings for the win, Scarce worked two innings for the save, and Dock Ellis took the loss.

St. Louis 7, Montreal 1: Rick Wise threw a two-hitter and drove in a pair of runs with a second-inning triple. Jose Cruz had three hits for the Cardinals and also drove in two runs. Ted Simmons had three singles and an RBI. The Expos' sole run came when Hal Breeden tripled to lead off the eighth and came in on a Bob Stinson grounder to short. Wise walked one and struck out five. Ernie McAnally took the loss.

Games of Sunday, July 13

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               50     33       .602     ---
New York            44     34       .564     3
Atlanta                 41     37       .526     6.5
Montreal              38     40       .487     9.5
Pittsburgh            36     40       .474   10.5
Chicago               36     41       .467   11
St. Louis              35     42       .455   12
Philadelphia         32     45       .416   15

Monday's games
New York (McAndrew) at Chicago (Jenkins)
Philadelphia (Twitchell) at Pittsburgh (Ellis)
Montreal (McAnally) at St. Louis (Wise)

Montreal 5, St. Louis 4: Ron Woods drove in two runs with an eighth-inning single to put the Expos in front for the first time, and Mike Marshall worked in and out of two jams to get the save. Mike Torrez allowed single runs in each of the first four innings but followed with three scoreless frames for the win. Al Hrbrosky was the losing pitcher. Lou Brock homered for the Cardinals, while Ron Fairly and John Boccabella went deep for Montreal.

Atlanta 5, Houston 2: The Braves hit two triples, a homer, a double and a single in their five run fourth inning, and Pat Dobson threw a complete-game eight-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader. Henry Aaron and Dave Johnson had the triples off Jerry Reuss, Mike Lum the double and Marty Perez the inning-capping homer. Lee May homered for the Astros.

Atlanta 5, Houston 3 (10 innings):  Mike Lum drove in two runs in the sixth inning and scored the go-ahead run in the 10th after a leadoff double. Tommy Helms had a pair of RBI singles for Houston. Ken Forsch and Carl Morton each pitched into the eighth but wound up with no-decisions. Gary Gentry, who worked a 1-2-3 ninth, was credited with the win and Danny Frisella got the save. Jim Crawford was charged with the loss.

Chicago 1, New York 0 (10 innings): Carmen Fanzone hit a pinch-hit homer with two out in the bottom of the 10th to walk off Ray Sadecki and the Mets. Bob Locker threw two scoreless innings to get the win. Chicago starter Bill Bonham struck out eight in 7.2 innings. He left with the bases loaded, and Dave LaRoche fanned Ed Kranepool, the only man he faced. Jerry Koosman allowed four hits in eight innings.

Games of Saturday, July 12

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               50     31       .617     ---
New York            44     33       .571     4
Atlanta                 39     37       .513     8.5
Montreal              37     40       .481   11
Pittsburgh            36     40       .474   11.5
Chicago               35     41       .460   12.5
St. Louis              35     41       .460   12.5
Philadelphia         32     45       .416   16

Sunday's games
New York (Koosman) at Chicago (Bonham)
Atlanta (Dobson and Morton) at Houston (Reuss and Forsch), 2
Montreal (Torrez) at St. Louis (Foster)

Philadelphia 3, Pittsburgh 2: A ninth-inning error by Rennie Stennett helped the Phillies score two runs in the top of the ninth to take the lead, and then Mac Scarce pitched around an error in the bottom of the inning by Mike Schmidt, who was filling in at shortstop. Dave Giusti took the loss; he allowed two runs, none earned, on one hit and two walks. Bucky Brandon, who entered in the eighth and ended the inning with a double play ball, got the win. 

Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 5 (10 innings): The Pirates scored three in the eighth and two more in the 10th to get the split of the doubleheader. Richie Hebner hit a two-run homer off George Culver in the eighth, which at the time gave the Pirates a 4-3 lead. But with two outs and nobody on in the top of the ninth, Luke Walker walked Terry Harmon. Dave Giusti relieved and gave up consecutive singles to Bob Boone and Cesar Tovar to tie the game. The Phillies scored again in the top of the 10th, but Mike Wallace gave up a leadoff double to Willie Stargell in the bottom of the inning. Richie Zisk followed with an RBI single. Manny Sanguillen and pinch-hitter Rennie Stennett then walked to load the bases. After a forceout at the plate, Dale Maxvill singled off Bill Wilson for the walkoff. Giusti vultured the win, and Wallace was the loser.

New York 8, Chicago 3: The Cubs led 3-0 after two innings, but the Mets scored two in the fifth, four in the sixth and two more in the ninth to overtake the home team. George Stone went the distance for the Mets, allowing one earned run on seven hits. Stone had four singles himself and drove in a run. Jerry Grote and Bud Harrelson had two RBIs apiece. Rick Reuschel was the losing pitcher.