Games of Wednesday, July 30

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               59     41       .590     ---
New York             48    46       .510     8
Atlanta                 48     48       .500     9
St. Louis              48     48       .500     9
Pittsburgh            45     48       .484   10.5
Montreal              46     50       .479   11
Chicago               45     49       .478   11
Philadelphia         42     51       .451  13.5

Thursday's games
St. Louis (Cleveland) at Philadelphia (Twitchell)
Pittsburgh (Kison) at New York (Seaver)
Chicago (Pappas) at Montreal (Renko)

Atlanta 7, Houston 4: The Braves knocked Jerry Reuss out early, plating five runs in the first and another in the second. Phil Niekro allowed just one unearned run in the first eight innings but left after three straight hits to open the ninth. All three scored. Paul Casanova hit a two-run homer in the first, and Darrell Evans collected three RBIs. Jim Wynn homered in the ninth for the Astros.

Houston 11, Atlanta 2: Lee May hit a grand slam and Doug Rader a three-run homer. J.R. Richard allowed two runs, one earned, in 5.1 innings for the win. He allowed seven hits, one a homer by Henry Aaron. The Astros totaled 12 hits and six walks and benefited from three Atlanta errors. Pat Dobson took the loss.

Chicago 8, Montreal 6: Billy Williams hit one of three homers for the Cubs and drove in three runs as Chicago overtook the Expos. Williams homered in the first, had a sac fly in the third and drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth. Ron Santo and Rick Monday had the other Chicago homers. Mike Jorgensen had a two-run homer for the Expos. Dave LaRoche was credited with the win, with Larry Gura working two scoreless innings for the save. Ernie McAnally took the loss.

Philadelphia 11, St. Louis 9: The Phillies drove Rick Wise from the box early with five runs in the first, then tagged Wayne Granger for four runs in the third and hung on for the win. The Cafdinals made it close with two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth, with George Culver coming in with two on to get Ken Reitz to end it. Jim Lonborg went seven-plus innings for the win; he allowed six runs on 11 hits, including homers by Ted Sizemore and Joe Torre. Mike Schmidt and Bob Boone each homered for Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh 7, New York 5: The Pirates scored four runs in the first inning off Jon Matlack and added two more in the second, then hung on despite three Mets home runs. Nelson Briles worked into the seventh for the win, allowing homers to Felix Milan, Ed Kranepool and John Milner. Ramon Hernandez pitched two scoreless innings, and Bob Johnson threw a perfect ninth for the save. Dave Cash and Rennie Stennett each scored two runs, and Richie Zisk drove in three.