Games of Friday, Aug. 29

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               73     54       .574     ---
Atlanta                 65     59       .524      6.5
Montreal              63     60       .512      8
Chicago               62     61       .504      9
New York            60     61       .496    10
Pittsburgh            59     64       .479    12
St. Louis              58     68       .460   14.5
Philadelphia         54     67      .446    16

Saturday's games
St. Louis (Murphy) at Chicago (Reuschel)
Atlanta (Morton and Reed) at Philadelphia (Lersch and L Palmer*)
New York (Koosman) at Montreal (Torrez)
Houston (Roberts) at Pittsburgh (L Walker)

Chicago 5, St. Louis 3: The Cubs strung together four straight singles in a three-run seventh to overtake the Cardinals. Winning pitcher Burt Hooton allowed three runs on five hits in seven innings, and Jack Aker pitched around three singles and and a hit batter over two innings for the save. Jose Cardenal drove in two runs, one with a single and another on a sac fly. Ted Sizemore singled in a pair of runs in a three-run fifth for St. Louis. Reggie Cleveland took the loss.

Montreal 4, New York 3 (12 innings): Jim Lyttle singled home pinch-runner Larry Lintz to end it in the bottom of the 12th. Tom Seaver and Steve Renko carried a 1-1 pitchers duel into the eighth inning, when Ken Singleton hit a two-run homer off Seaver in the bottom of the inning for a 3-1 lead. The Expos then brought in Mike Marshall to relieve, but Rusty Staub led off the ninth with a triple, Marshall walked two and, with two outs, yielded a game-tying single to Jerry Grote. Pat Jarvis got the win, and Jim McAndrew took the loss.

Pittsburgh 6, Houston 0: Nelson Briles struck out eight Astros in his complete game shutout, and Willie Stargell blasted a three-run homer. Dave Cash doubled in a pair of runs and scored twice. The Astros twice had three baserunners in an inning, but Al Oliver gunned down Bob Watson trying to score on a fly ball in the second inning and Briles wriggled out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the fourth. All nine Astros hits were singles. Don Wilson allowed five earned runs in four innings for the loss.

Philadelphia 8, Atlanta 7: Willie Montanez hit a two-run homer in the sixth to tie the game at 7, and Mike Anderson clubbed a pinch-hit homer leading off the bottom of the eighth off Tom House for the final run. Mike Wallace threw two scoreless innings in relief of Steve Carlton for the win. Del Unser also homered for the Phillies, while Dave Johnson hit the only homer for the Braves. Henry Aaron drove in three runs, and Mike Lum (4-for-5) had three doubles.

Games of Thursday, Aug. 28

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               73     53       .579     ---
Atlanta                 65     58       .529      6.5
Montreal              63     60       .512      8.5
Chicago               61     61       .500    10
New York            60     61       .496    10.5
Pittsburgh            58     64       .475    13
St. Louis              58     67       .464   14.5
Philadelphia         53     67      .442    17

Friday's games
St. Louis (Cleveland) at Chicago (Hooton)
New York (Seaver) at Montreal (Renko)
Atlanta (Niekro) at Philadelphia (Carlton)
Houston (Wilson) at Pittsburgh (Briles)

Atlanta 12, Philadelphia 5: The Braves sent 12 men to the plate in their eight-run third inning against Larry Christenson. He allowed 10 runs in three innings, but five of them were unearned as the Phillies infield committed three errors behind him. Ron Schueler allowed four runs in seven innings for the win. Bill Robinson homered for the Phillies, and Ralph Garr homered for the Braves. Dusty Baker had a bases-loaded triple.

Atlanta 11, Philadelphia 8: Paul Casanova homered twice and drove in five runs for the Braves. Roric Harrison allowed three runs, one unearned, through eight innings but wearied in the ninth, when the Phillies scored five runs on three singles and five walks before Jimmy Freeman finally got the final out. Darrell Evans also homered off losing pitcher Jim Lonborg, and Mike Lum scored three runs.

Chicago 5, St. Louis 1: Jose Cardenal homered, singled twice, walked and drove in three runs, and Ferguson Jenkins held St. Louis to six hits. Tommy Agee homered for the sole Cardinal run. Billy Williams had three singles for the Cubs. Alan Foster took the loss.

St. Louis 6,  Chicago 4: Joe Torre hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth to put the Cards ahead and salvage a split of the doubleheader. Rick Wise went eight innings for the win; he gave up four runs, three earned, on seven hits. Bob Locker took the loss, and Diego Segui worked a perfect ninth for the save. Ted Simmons drove in two runs with a double.

Pittsburgh 5, Houston 4: The Pirates got three straight pinch-hit singles in the bottom of the ninth -- from Jackie Hernandez, Dave Cash and Vic Davalillo -- followed by another single by Al Oliver that plated Cash with the winning run. The outburst followed a three-straight-single rally in the top of the inning that put the Astros in the lead. Bob Johnson, who got the last two men in the top of the ninth, got the win. Jerry Reuss, who allowed the first two pinch-hits, took the loss. Jim York allowed the other two. Jim Wynn homered, doubled and singled, stole a base and scored three times while driving in a pair for the Astros. Willie Stargell homered and drove in two.

Games of Wednesday, Aug. 27

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               73     52       .584     ---
Atlanta                 63     58       .521      8
Montreal              63     60       .512      9
Chicago               60     60       .500    10.5
New York            60     61       .496    11
Pittsburgh            57     64       .471    14
St. Louis              57     66       .463    15
Philadelphia         53     65      .449    16.5

Thursday's games
St. Louis (Foster and Wise) at Chicago (Pappas and Jenkins),2
Atlanta (Schueler and Harrison) at Philadelphia (Christenson and Lonborg),2
Houston (Reuss) at Pittsburgh (Ellis)

Chicago 11, St. Louis 5: Billy Williams, Randy Hundley, Ron Santo and Rick Monday all homered for the Cubs. Larry Gura pitched into the seventh for the win; he allowed two runs in six innings but was charged with two more in the seventh after Tommy Agee hit a three-run pinch-hit homer off Jack Aker. Ted Simmons also homered for St. Louis. Rich Folkers, who gave up three of the Chicago long balls, was the losing pitcher.

Pittsburgh 2, Philadelphia 1: Jim Rooker and Bob Johnson combined to hold the Phillies to seven hits, and Willie Stargell's leadoff double triggered at two-run sixth inning. Rooker got the win, Johnson the save, and Ken Brett, who worked all eight innings for the Phillies, was the hard luck loser.

Games of Tuesday, Aug. 26

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               73     52       .584     ---
Atlanta                 63     58       .521      8
Montreal              63     60       .512      9
New York            60     61       .496    11
Chicago               59     60       .496    11
St. Louis              57     65       .467    14
Pittsburgh            56     64       .467    14.5
Philadelphia         53     64      .452    16

Wednesday's games
St. Louis (Folkers) at Chicago (Gura)
Philadelphia (Brett) at Pittsburgh (Rooker)

Chicago 10, New York 3: The Cubs scored four runs in the first and six more in the second, crushing Mets starter George Stone under a barrage of 10 singles, three walks and a hit batter. The Mets bullpen held the Cubs scoreless the rest of the way on three hits, but  New York could muster just two earned runs off Rick Reuschel, who granted seven hits in his complete game win.

Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 3: Bucky Brandon relieved with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the eighth and promptly threw a go-ahead wild pitch to plate the winning run. It was the second run Pittsburgh scored on a wild pitch. Tom Hutton and Greg Luzinski each homered off winning pitcher Bob Moose, who allowed eight hits in eight innings. George Culver took the loss, and Dave Giusti got a save.

Pittsburgh 9, Philadelphia 8: Willie Stargell homered twice, doubled and singled to drive in seven runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth. Stargell doubled in the first and hit a two-run homer in the third, which gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead at the time. He hit a grand slam in the fifth off starter Wayne Twitchell for a 7-4 lead. But the Phillies came back with three runs in the sixth, with Willie Montanez homering, and they took the lead 8-7 in the seventh. Mike Wallace and Barry Lersch combined to hold that lead into the ninth, when Mac Scarce took the hill for the Phillies. Rennie Stennett walked and went to third on Jackie Hernandez' single. Dave Cash plated Stennett with a fly ball to even the score. Al Oliver singled Hernandez to third, and Stargell singled to end the slugfest. Ramon Hernandez was the winning pitcher.

Atlanta 6, Houston 4: Ralph Garr singled home two runs in the top of the ninth and Gary Gentry allowed one run in three innings of relief for the win. Lee May homered twice and added a pair of singles for three RBIs for the losing Astros, who were charged with four errors and a passed ball. Cecil Upshaw took the loss.

Montreal 11, St. Louis 6: The Expos had pair of five-run innings after Bob Gibson left with a mild injury after two innings. Mike Jorgensen hit a three-run homer to highlight Montreal's first bat-around inning in the third. In the seventh, the Expos got back-to-back doubles from Tim Foli and pinch-hitter Pepe Mangual ahead of a two-run homer by Bob Bailey. Joe Torre had a solo homer for the Cardinals. Joe Gilbert got the win with an inning of scoreless relief. Tom Murphy took the loss.

Games of Monday, Aug. 25

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               73     51       .588     ---
Atlanta                 62     58       .516      9
Montreal              62     60       .508    10
New York            60     60       .500    11
Chicago               58     60       .491    12
St. Louis              57     64       .471    13
Philadelphia         53     62      .460    15.5

Pittsburgh            54     64       .457    16

Tuesday's games
New York (Stone) at Chicago (Reuschel)
Philadelphia (Twitchell and Ruthven) at Pittsburgh (Moose and Kison), 2
Atlanta (Dobson) at Houston (Richard)
Montreal (Stoneman) at St. Louis (Gibson)

Chicago 6, New York 0: Ron Santo hit a grand slam before Ray Sadecki could retire a man, and Bill Bonham got four double play grounders en route to a seven-hit shutout. Jose Cardenal tripled home a run in the second inning and Randy Hundley hit a solo homer in the third.

Chicago 1, New York 0: Burt Hooton and Dave LaRoche combined for a second shutout on the day for the Cubs. Hooton allowed five hits and three walks in seven innings with five strikeouts and was credited with the win. LaRoche got the s ave for two innings of two hit relief. The Cubs scored the games only run in the seventh when Ron Santo was hit by a Jerry Koosman pitch, advanced to when Jim Hickman walked and scored when Don Kessinger's fly ball to left dropped in.

Philadelphia 2, Pittsburgh 0: Steve Carlton struck out nine Pirates in a three-hit shutout. Del Unser scored both Philadelphia runs. Unser doubled in the third off losing pitcher Nelson Briles and scored on Denny Doyle's single, then homered off Bob Johnson in the eighth. Carlton walked two men and indced a pair of double plays.

Montreal 2, St. Louis 0: Steve Rogers shut out St. Louis on four hits. Ron Hunt doubled in the fifth inning to plate Tim Foli with the first run of the game and Bob Bailey homered to lead off the sixth, with both runs coming off Reggie Cleveland. Cleveland allowed just three hits in eight innings. Rogers walked two and struck out two.

Atlanta 7, Houston 3: Atlanta broke open a pitchers duel late,. Dave Roberts carried a 1-0 lead into the sixth, when Dusty Baker hit a solo homer. Ralph Garr put the Braves ahead in the top of the seventh with an RBI single, but the Astros scored twice in the bottom of the inning off Danny Frisella to take a 3-2 lead. The Braves responded with two runs in the eighth -- Mike Lum tripled -- and put the game away with three in the ninth, with Darrell Evans hitting a homer. Frisella vultured the win and Jim Ray took the loss.

Games of Sunday, Aug. 24

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               73     50       .593     ---
Atlanta                 61     58       .513    10
New York            60     59       .504    11
Montreal              61     60       .504    11
Chicago               57     60       .487    11.5
St. Louis              57     63      .479    13
Pittsburgh            54     63       .462    16
Philadelphia         52     62      .460    16.5

Monday's games
New York (Koosman and Sadecki) at Chicago (Hooton and Bonham), 2
Philadelphia (Carlton) at Pittsburgh (Briles)
Atlanta (Morton) at Houston (Roberts)
Montreal (Rogers) at St. Louis (Cleveland)

Chicago 10, New York 1: Rick Monday hit a three-run homer in the Cubs' five-run first and drove in five runs in all. Ron Santo also homered and totaled four RBIs. Jose Cardenal scored three times. Fergie Jenkins went eight innings, allowing one run on seven hits, for the win. Jon Matlack took the loss.

Montreal 4, St. Louis 1: Ron Fairly popped a two-run homer and Mike Torrez scattered six hits in eight innings for the win, Losing pitcher Rick Wise also allowed six hits in eight innings, but the Expos scored a pair of runs on outs in the fourth before Fairly's blase in the seventh. Joe Gilbert worked the ninth for the save.

St. Louis 7, Montreal 4: Tommy Agee drove in three runs, two of them with a grounder through a drawn-in infield in the Cardinals' four-run eighth inning. Lou Brock hit a two-run homer in the third innings, while Montreal catcher Bob Stinson had three RBIs, Orlando Pena, who had allowed a run in the top of the eighth that put the Expos ahead, was credited with the win; he allowed the one run in two innings. Ernie McAnally took the loss.

Houston 6, Atlanta 5: Two triples carried more weight in this one than three homers. Frank Tepedino, Henry Aaron and Johnny Oates each homered for Braves in the first three innings -- Tepedino and Aaron back to back -- as Atlanta built a 5-0 lead. But Skip Jutze singled in two runs in the fourth and Roger Metzger tripled home two more in the sixth, then scored on Jimmy Stewart's pinch-hit single to even the score. Jim Wynn led off the seventh with another triple and promptly scored on Lee May's single. Houston got five scoreless innings from three relievers. J.R. Richard got the win and Jim York the save. Phil Niekro was the losing pitcher.

Atlanta 3, Houston 1: Dave Johnson hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and Ron Reed took a shutout into the ninth. Tom House got the final two outs for the save. Reed allowed four hits and walked one while striking out five. Don Wilson was the losing pitcher. The doubleheader split left the Astros with a magic number of 24.

Games of Saturday, Aug. 23

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               72     49       .595     ---
Atlanta                 60     57       .513    10
New York            60     58       .509    10.5
Montreal              60     59       .504    11
Chicago               56     60       .483    13.5
St. Louis              56     61      .478    14
Pittsburgh            54     63       .462    16
Philadelphia         52     61      .460    16.5

Sunday's games
New York (Matlack) at Chicago (Jenkins)
Atlanta (Niekro and Reed) at Houston (Wilson and Griffin), 2
Montreal (Torrez and McAnally) at St. Louis (Wise and Spinks), 2

Pittsburgh 4, Atlanta 2: Al Oliver hit a three-run homer and Willie Stargell a solo shot to support Dock Ellis, who held the Braves to one earned run in eight innings. Ellis allowed four hits, one walk and one hit batter while striking out three. Dave Giusti worked a perfect ninth for the save. Roric Harrison took the loss.

Chicago 3, Montreal 1: Randy Hundley's three-run homer in the second inning stood up as Milt Pappas and Jack Aker combined for a six-hitter. Pepe Mangual homered for the only Montreal run. Pappas went seven innings and Aker worked the final two frames for the save. Steve Renko went all eight for Montreal, allowing two earned runs on three hits. Expos shortstop Tim Foli was charged with three errors.

Houston 12, Philadelphia 1: Jerry Reuss took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Astros slapped Phillies pitchers for 17 hits, 14 of them singles. Houston scored three runs in the second off Jim Lonborg, added another tally in the third and batted around in the eighth. Reuss walked eight but consistently worked out of jams before leaving for a pinch-htter after eight innings of one-run ball.

New York 5, St. Louis 1: Tom Seaver allowed one unearned run in his complete game win. He scattered eight hits while walking one and striking out seven, including Joe Torre three times. Ed Kranepool drove in two runs with a double. Alan Foster took the loss.

Games of Friday, Aug. 22

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               71     49       .592     ---
Atlanta                 60     56       .517      9
Montreal              60     58       .508    10
New York            59     58       .504    10.5
St. Louis              56     61      .478    13.5
Chicago               55     60       .478    13.5
Philadelphia         52     61      .460    15.5
Pittsburgh            53     63       .456    16

Saturday's games
Montreal (Renko) at Chicago (Pappas)
Atlanta (Harrison) at Pittsburgh (Ellis)
New York (Seaver) at St. Louis (Foster)
Philadelphia (Lonborg) at Houston (Reuss)

Chicago 3, Montreal 2: Ron Santo hit a three-run homer with two outs in the fifth, and Rich Reuschel pitched a shutout into the ninth inning. After Bob Bailey hit a two-run homer off Reuschel, Jack Aker entered to retire Ken Singleton, Mike Jorgensen and Boots Day in order for the save. Balor Moore took the loss.

Pittsburgh 5, Atlanta 4: Power mattered: The Pirates hit three doubles in their three-run third and Willie Stargell put them ahead to stay with a homer in the fifth. Luke Walker got the win with six innings in which he walked seven and allowed five singles but no extra base hits. Ramon Hernandez worked two scoreless innings and Dave Giusti worked out of his own two-on, no-outs jam for the save. Ron Schueler was the losing pitcher.

St. Louis 3, New York 2 (14 innings): An error by Ted Martinez, playing shortstop in place of the injured Bud Harrelson, set up a two-run rally in the bottom of the 14th. Mike Tyson reached on the error and was bunted to second. Tug McGraw retired Lou Brock but Ted Sizemore singled home Tyson. Joe Torre walked, and Ted Simmons singled to plate Sizemore. Wayne Granger, who yielded a pinch-hit homer to Ed Kranepool in the top of the inning, vultured the win.

Houston 4, Philadelphia 0: Ken Forsch threw a six-hitter and Lee May hit a two-run homer. Forsch walked three and fanned six, including Mike Schmidt three times. The Astros drew eight walks off Ken Brett, who went the distance for the Phillies.

Games of Thursday, Aug. 21

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               70     49       .588     ---
Atlanta                 60     55       .522      8
Montreal              60     57       .513      9
New York            59     57       .508      9.5
Chicago               54     60       .478    13.5
St. Louis              55     61      .474    13.5
Philadelphia         52     60      .464    14.5
Pittsburgh            52     63       .452    16

Friday's games
Montreal(Moore) at Chicago (Reuschel)
Atlanta (Schueler) at Pittsburgh (L Walker)
New York (Stone) at St. Louis (Folkers)
Philadelphia (Brett) at Houston (Forsch)

Montreal 12, Chicago 4: Mike Jorgensen hit a grand slam, Ron Hunt and Bob Bailey each drove in a pair of runs and three Expos relievers combined for four scoreless innings. Losing pitcher Burt Hooton was shelled for nine runs in 5.1 innings. Bill Stoneman allowed four runs in five innings for the win, with Rick Monday driving in all four Chicago runs with a single and a homer.

Pittsburgh 4, Atlanta 3: Manny Sanguillen drove in the final two runs in the Pirates' three-run bottom of the ninth rally. Al Oliver led off the inning with a double off Danny Frisella and scored on Willie Stargell's single. Richie Zisk walked. After Richie Hebner flew out, Bob Robertson singled to load the bases. Sanguillen followed with a gapper that plated both Stargell and Zisk. Dave Giusti got the win for the Pirates. Dave Johnson homered for Atlanta.

Atlanta 6, Pittsburgh 5 (12 innings): Jimmy Freeman threw four scoreless innings after Dusty Baker tied the game with a two-out homer in the top of the ninth, and Darrell Evans homered in the 12th for the decisive run. Freeman allowed one hit and two walks with two strikeouts. Evans also tripled in a pair of runs in the Braves' four-run sixth. Dave Cash had three hits and two RBIs for the Pirates; he also scored twice. Bob Johnson took the loss.

St. Louis 2, New York 0: Reggie Cleveland and Diego Segui combined for a five-hit shutout and the Cardinals scored unearned runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to saddle reliever Ray Sadecki with the loss. Jim Fregosi committed a two-base error on Jose Cruz's grounder to open the seventh; Cruz eventually scored on a Lou Brock flyball. Joe Torre opened the eighth by reaching second on an error by Don Hahn; he later scored on a Mike Tyson single. Cleveland got the win, Segui the save.

New York 3, St. Louis 2: Jerry Koosman surrendered a two-run homer to Joe Torre in the first inning but then threw eight scoreless frames to finish with a five-hitter. He walked three, struck out seven and hit a batter. Ed Kranepool scored all three runs off loser Bob Gibson, the last in the top of the ninth on Ted Martinez's base hit. Gibson went the distance, allowing two earned runs on seven hits, one walk and five strikeouts.

Philadelphia 9, Houston 4: Greg Luzinski  hit a pair of solo homers, and Bob Boone capped the Phillies' five-run outburst in the eighth with a three-run shot. Jim Ray was stung for all five runs and the loss. Wayne Twitchell went the distance for the win, giving up nine hits and three walks while striking out nine.