Game of Monday, Sept. 8

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               78     59       .569     ---
Atlanta                 74     62       .544      3.5
Montreal              70     68       .507      8.5
Chicago               66     66       .500      9.5
New York            67     68       .496    10
Pittsburgh            64     68       .485    11.5
St. Louis              62     72       .463    14.5
Philadelphia         58    76       .433    18.5

Tuesday's games
Houston (Roberts) at Chicago (Reuschel)
Pittsburgh (Ellis and Kison) at St. Louis (Cleveland and Foster)

New York 7, Montreal 6 (14 innings): Ron Hodges came off the bench to deliver a two-run pinch-hit single in the bottom of the 13th, then stayed in to catch and drive in the winning run in the 14th. Pepe Mangual had a two-run pinch-hit single in the eighth to put the Expos up 3-1, but Don Hahn tied it with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning off Joe Gilbert. The two bullpens traded zeros for four innings, then Montreal scored three runs in the top of the 13th and the Mets matched it in the bottom of the inning. Ron Woods threw Bud Harrelson out at the plate one batter before Hodges got his game-winning single. John Strohmayer got the win. Tom Walker took the loss.

Games of Sunday, Sept. 7

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               78     59       .569     ---
Atlanta                 74     62       .544      3.5
Montreal              70     67       .511      8
Chicago               66     66       .500      9.5
New York            66     68       .493    10
Pittsburgh            64     68       .485    11.5
St. Louis              62     72       .463    14.5
Philadelphia         58    76       .433    18.5

Monday's game
Montreal (Wilcox*) at New York (Koosman)

Pittsburgh 3, Houston 2 (11 innings): Richie Hebner homered in the top of the 11th off Jim York to break the tie. Dave Giusti pitched three scoreless innings for the win, and Bob Johnson retired all three men he faced for the save. The game was scoreless after six innings, but the Astros scored two runs in the seventh off Nelson Briles (one run unearned) and the Pirates replied with a two-run homer in the top of eighth off Don Wilson by Willie Stargell.

Pittsburgh 6, Houston 1: The race pennant race got a bit tighter with Pittsburgh's sweep of the Astros. Willie Stargell's homer capped a four-run second inning again JR Richard, and John Morlan took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He ended up allowing three hits in 8.1 innings, with Ramon Hernandez finishing the game. Morlan also scored a pair of runs.

Montreal 3,  New York 2: Tom Seaver lost the strike zone for three batters in the sixth inning, and lost the game in the process. Leading 2-1, he walked the first three men he faced in the sixth, starting with opposing pitcher Mike Torrez. Torrez and Ron Hunt eventually scored, and the Mets never caught up. Torrez went 7.1 innings for the win. Joe Gilbert got two outs in the eighth, amd Mike Marshall loaded the bases in the ninth but got out of the jam with a double-play grounder.

St. Louis 6, Chicago 1: Scipio Spinks allowed one run on five hits in 6.2 innings, and Rich Folkers and Wayne Granger combined for 2.1 hitless frames. The Cardinals plated four runs in the fourth inning off loser Burt Hooton with four singles, a double, a walk and an error. Billy Williams homered for the Cubs sole tally.

Games of Saturday, Sept. 6

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               78     57       .578     ---
Atlanta                 74     62       .544      4.5
Montreal              69     67       .507      9.5
Chicago               66     65       .504    10
New York            66     67       .496    11
Pittsburgh            62     68       .476    13,5
St. Louis              61     72       .459   16
Philadelphia         58    76       .433    19.5

Sunday's games
New York (Seaver) at Montreal (Torrez)
Pittsburgh (Briles and Morlan) at Houston (Wilson and Richard), 2
Chicago (Hooton) at St. Louis (Spinks)

Atlanta 6, Montreal 5: Dave Johnson hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Ron Reed held the Expos hitless for the first four innings as the Braves built a 6-0 lead. They spent the rest of the game hanging on to that lead. Bernie Allen hit a two-run homer for Montreal in the fifth and the Expos scored three runs, all charged to Reed, in the eighth. Dan Frisella got the final out of the eighth and worked a scoreless ninth for the save. Steve Rogers took the loss.

Atlanta 15, Montreal 1: The Braves scored five runs before making an out and were never challenged in the nightcap. Dusty Baker hit a three-run homer in the first, Dave Johnson a two-run homer in the second and Darrell Evans a three-run homer in the fourth. Evans also tripled and singled, scored three runs and drove in six. Phil Niekro went the distance, allowing an unearned run on two hits and six walks. He struck out six. Steve Renko took the loss.

Philadelphia 3, New York 0: Steve Carlton threw a two-hitter, allowing singles to Ted Martinez and Willie Mays. He fanned 10 and walked four. Bob Boone homered off losing pitcher Jim McAndrew, who allowed three runs in seven innings.

Philadelphia 8, New York 7: Billy Grabarkewitz pinch-hit a solo homer to lead off the eighth inning against Tug McGraw for the winning run. It was the third homer the Phillies hit; Cesar Tovar hit a three-run homer in the second and Bill Robinson a two-run blast in the fifth, both off George Stone. Wayne Twitchell staggered through eight innings, allowing six earned runs, for the win. Mac Scarce walked two in the ninth but got the save.

St. Louis 15, Pittsburgh 3: The Cardinals went Moose hunting early, and bagged seven runs off the Pirates righty in the first two innings. Mick Kelleher had a three-run double in the first and Ted Simmons single to a pair in the second. The Cards also scored three runs in the sixth off Luke Walker and five in the top of the ninth off Steve Blass, who was mopping up. Bob Gibson allowed three runs in seven innings for the win.

Pittsburgh 6, St. Louis 4: The Pirates hit for the cycle in the first inning to score three runs and led 4-0 going into the fourth. The Cardinals tied it with three consecutive homers, from Joe Torre, Ted Simmons and Ken Reitz. The tie lasted until the bottom of the seventh, when winning pitcher Jim Rooker, Al Oliver and Willie Stargell each doubled. Rick Wise took the loss. Ramon Hernandez entered with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth to strike out Jose Cruz for the save.

Houston 3, Chicago 2: Bob Watson hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Fergie Jenkins and Jerry Reuss went the distance with a four-hitter. One of the three runs the Astros scored off Jenkins in seven innings was unearned. Reuss walked two and struck out six. Houston's magic number is now 15.

Games of Friday, Sept. 5

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               77     57       .574     ---
Atlanta                 72     62       .537      5
Montreal              69     65       .515      8
Chicago               66     64       .508      9
New York            66     65       .504      9.5
Pittsburgh            61     67       .477    13
St. Louis              60     71       .458   15.5
Philadelphia         56    76       .424    20

Saturday's games
Montreal (Rogers and Renko) at Atlanta (Reed and Niekro), 2
New York (Stone and McAndrew) at Philadelphia (Carlton and Twitchell), 2
St. Louis (Gibson and Wise) at Pittsburgh (Rooker and Moose), 2
Chicago (Jenkins) at Houston (Reuss)

Philadelphia 5, New York 4: Tom Hutton tied the score at four with a two-run pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the eighth, and Mike Ryan plated Mike Anderson with the game winning run with a singled in the bottom of the ninth. Buzz Capra gave up the eight-inning homer, but Phil Hennigan took the loss. Mac Scarce was the winner. Bill Champion came off the taxi squad to pitch six innings, allowing three earned runs. Jerry Koosman, on short rest after a disasterous start two days earlier, went seven innings and left with a 4-2 lead.

New York 8, Philadelphia 2: Ken Boswell clubbed a pair of homers and added two singles, driving in five runs, to support Harry Parker in his spot start. Parker went seven innings for the win, allowing on run on six hits. He walked two and struck out seven. Jeff James came up from the taxi squad to start for the Phillies and gave up five runs in seven innings for the loss.

Atlanta 7, Montreal 3: Mike Lum homered, doubled and singled to drive in three runs and score a pair, and Pat Dobson took a shutout into the sixth inning. Ralph Garr also had three hits for the Braves, and Henry Aaron hit a pair of doubles. Balor Moore took the loss for the Expos. The game ended on a triple play on a liner hit by Pepe Mangual to Darrell Evans at third, who caught Felipe Alou off third and Tim Foli off second.

Chicago 4, Houston 2: The Cubs peppered three Houston hurlers for 15 hits and drew four walks, but bounced into four double plays and stranded six in in scoring position, which kept the game close. Cesar Cedeno had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth, but the Astrodome contained his deep fly to left with two on. Ron Santo homered for the Cubs. Milt Pappas allowed one run in seven innings for the win, Ken Forsch took the loss and Jack Aker got the two men he faced in the ninth, including Cedeno's fly ball, for the save.

Games of Thursday, Sept. 4

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               77     56       .579     ---
Atlanta                 71     62       .533      6
Montreal              69     64       .519      8
Chicago               65     64       .504    10
New York            65     64       .504    10
Pittsburgh            61     67       .477    13,5
St. Louis              60     71       .458   16
Philadelphia         55    75       .423    20.5

Friday's games
New York (Parker and Koosman) at Philadelphia (Champion* and Christenson or James*)
Montreal (Moore) at Atlanta (Dobson)
Chicago (Pappas) at Houston (Forsch)

Montreal 8, Atlanta 6: Hal Breeden hit a three-run pinch-hit homer for the Expos and Bernie Allen, filling in after Bob Bailey left with an injury, had a pair of RBI hits. Bailey homered in the first inning and Larry Lintz stole four bases and scored three runs. Pat Jarvis got the win in relief of Eddie Bane, who came off the taxi squad to make the start for Montreal, and Roric Harrison was the loser. Mike Marshall worked two innings for the save. Atlanta got homers from Herny Aaron, Dave Johnson and Marty Perez.

Atlanta 8, Montreal 7:  Joe Pepitone started a four-run fifth-inning rally with a solo homer, and Dusty Baker capped it with a three-run shot as the Braves overcame an early three-run deficit. Baker also tripled in a run, and Dave Johnson had a two-run homer. Mike Jorgensen homered for Montreal, and Ron Woods tripled, doubled, walked twice and scored a pair of runs. Gary Gentry got the win, Ernie McAnally took the loss, and Tom House pitched around a leadoff double in the ninth for the save.

New York 5, Philadelphia 3 (11 innings): Mac Scarce walked three men in the top of the 11th, the last two with the bases loaded, to hand the Mets the lead and the game. Greg Luzinski drove in all three runs for the Phillies with a two-run homer in the first and and a single in the eighth. John Milner had a two-run triple for the Met in the fourth. Buzz Capra got the win with a scoreless inning in the 10th, and Tug McGraw got through the bottom of the 11th for the save.

Chicago 9, Houston 1: Paul Popovich drove in five runs and scored a pair, with a triple, double, single and walk in five trips to the plate. Rick Reuschel went the distance for the Cubs, holding the Astros on one run on seven hits while striking out six with one walk. Dave Roberts took the loss.

Games of Wednesday, Sept. 3

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               77     55       .583     ---
Atlanta                 70     61       .534      6.5
Montreal              69     63       .523      8
Chicago               64     64       .500    11
New York            64     64       .500    11
Pittsburgh            61     67       .477    14
St. Louis              60     71       .458   16.5
Philadelphia         55    74       .426    20.5

Thursday's games
Montreal (McAnally and Bane*) at Atlanta (Gentry and Harrison), 2
New York (Matlack) at Philadelphia (Lersch)
St. Louis (Foster) at Pittsburgh (Ellis)
Chicago (Reuschel) at Houston (Roberts)

Montreal 6, Philadelphia 2: Mike Torrez took a shutout into the seventh inning and relievers Joe Gilbert and Pat Jarvis combined for eight outs without allowing a hit. The Expos got five hits off Jim Lonborg, but four were for extra bases as they tagged him for three runs in 6.2 innings. Bob Bailey homered in the sixth. Montreal added three runs off the Phillies bullpen.

Montreal 8, Philadelphia 4: Larry Jaster came off the taxi squad to work seven innings and garner the win. He allowed four runs on 11 hits. Tom Walker worked the last two innings. The Expos knocked Larry Christenson out of the box in the second inning, scoring five runs. Bob Stinson and Ron Fairly each drove in two runs. Bob Bailey homered in the eighth. Mike Jorgensen went 2-for-2 with three walks and scored a pair of runs.

Atlanta 5, New York 2: Carl Morton allowed one earned run in his complete game win, and the Braves knocked Jerry Koosman out of the box in the first inning. Koosman committed a pair of errors while surrendering a solo homer to Dusty Baker and a three-run double to Mike Lum. John Milner homered for the Mets, one of nine hits allowed by Morton.

Pittsburgh 6, St. Louis 4: Willie Stargell and Manny Sanguillen each clubbed two-run homers as the Buccos turned around what had been a prime outing by Reggie Cleveland. Cleveland held Pittsburgh hitless through four innings, but the Pirates turned a single in the fifth into a run and then blasted Cleveland for three runs in the sixth -- consecutive doubles by Gene Clines and Al Oliver followed by Stargell's moonshot. Sanguillen's homer came in the eighth off Rich Folkers. Nelson Briles allowed three runs in seven innings, two earned, for the win; Dave Giusti allowed one run in two innings for the save.

Houston 3, Chicago 1: Don Wilson threw a three-hit complete game; he walked four and hit two while striking out six. The Astros twice strung together three consecutive hits off losing pitcher Burt Hooton, who allowed three earned runs in six innings. Houston chopped its magic number to 17 with the win.

Games of Tuesday, Sept. 2

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               76     55       .580     ---
Atlanta                 69     61       .531      6.5
Montreal              66     63       .512     9
Chicago               64     63       .504    10
New York            64     63       .504    10
Pittsburgh            60     67       .473    14
St. Louis              60     70       .461   15.5
Philadelphia         55    72       .433    19

Wednesday's games
Montreal (Torrez and Jaster*) at Philadelphia (Lonborg and Christenson), 2
New York (Koosman) at Atlanta (Morton)
St. Louis (Cleveland) at Pittsburgh (Briles)
Chicago (Hooton) at Houston (D Wilson)

New York 4, Atlanta 0: Tom Seaver fanned 10 Braves in his two-hitter, and Cleon Jones doubled in a pair of runs in the first inning off Phil Niekro. Seaver walked two and faced three men over the minimum. The only Braves hits were an infield dribbler by Frank Tepedino and a double by Sonny Jackson. Niekro allowed eight hits and five walks in eight innings but also got six double play grounders. One of the four runs he allowed were unearned. 

New York 7, Atlanta 2: The Mets broke open a tied game with five runs in the eighth inning, working loser Jimmy Freeman and Danny Frisella for four singles and three walks, plus an error by Atlanta first baseman Mike Lum. John Milner drove in two runs with a single. Tug McGraw got the win. The doubleheader sweep moved the Braves to 6.5 games out of first place and reduced the Astros' magic number to 18.

Philadelphia 8, Montreal 5: Greg Luzinski drove in four runs and Steve Carlton went eight innings for the win. Luzinski's three-run homer capped a four-run third inning off losing pitcher Bill Stoneman, and he drove in another run with a seventh-inning single. Del Unser scored four times for the Phillies. Bob Bailey and Terry Humphrey homered for the Expos.  Bill Wilson loaded the bases in the ninth before getting Ken Singleton to pop out for the final out and the save.

Montreal 4, Philadelphia 3: The Expos trailed 3-0 after six innings, but scored a run in the seventh and three more in the ninth. Phillies starter Dick Ruthven allowed a leadoff single to Boots Day to open the ninth, then booted John Boccabella's grounder. Bucky Brandon entered to retire Bernie Allen, but then Pepe Mangual doubled to plate Day. Larry Lintz followed with the a two-run single to put the Expos ahead. Mike Marshall pitched three scoreless innings for the win, working out of his own ninth inning jam. Tom Hutton scored two runs for Philadelphia.

Games of Monday, Sept. 1

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               76     55       .580     ---
Atlanta                 69     59       .539      5.5
Montreal              65     62       .512     9
Chicago               64     63       .504    10
New York            62     63       .496    11
Pittsburgh            60     67       .473    14
St. Louis              60     70       .461   15.5
Philadelphia         54    71       .432    19

Tuesday's games
New York (Seaver and Sadecki) at Atlanta (Niekro and Schueler), 2
Montreal (Stoneman and Renko) at Philadelphia (Carlton and Ruthven), 2

Montreal 7, Philadelphia 3:  Bob Bailey homered twice and drove in five runs and the Montreal bullpen picked up six innings after starter Ernie McAnally left with a minor injury after three no-hit innings. Joe Gilbert was credited with the win for his two scoreless frames. Wayne Twitchell took the loss. Mike Schmidt hit a two-run homer off Pat Jarvis in the Phillies' three-run fourth.

Montreal 1, Philadelphia 0: Steve Rogers threw a four-hit shutout and bunted home pinch-runner Jorge Roque with the only run of the game.  Clyde Mashore led off the seventh inning with a walk against Ken Brett and was forced out on John Boccabella's grounder. Tim Foli hit another grounder, but Craig Robinson committed a two-base error. Roque then pinch-ran for Boccabella, and Rogers executed the squeeze bunt. Rogers walked three, hit one and struck out three. Both Brett and Rogers went the distance.

Chicago 5, Pittsburgh 0: Fergie Jenkins spun a four-hit shutout, and Ron Santo drove in four runs with three hits, including a two-run double in the first inning and a solo homer in the third. Billy Williams singled and tripled and scored twice. Jim Rooker gave up three earned runs in six innings for the loss.

Chicago 2, Pittsburgh 0: Larry Gura held the Pirates to five hits in as the Cubs whitewashed Pittsburgh for the second time on the day. The visitors scored a pair of runs in the first inning off Bruce Kison on three singles, an error and a walk, leaving the bases loaded. Kison and reliever John Lamb held the Cubs at bay the rest of the day, but Gura had enough runs to work with. He walked none, fanned five and induced a pair of double-play grounders

Atlanta 7, New York 4: Darrell Evans drove in three runs with a homer and a triple and Sonny Jackson stole a pair of bases en route to two runs scored. Pat Dobson went seven innings for the win, allowing four runs, three earned. The Braves pieced together the final two inning with Jimmy Freeman, Adrian Devine and Tom House, with House getting the final out with two men on for the save. Jim McAndrew was the losing pitcher.

Atlanta 4, New York 2: Darrell Evans hammered a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off Tug McGraw to give the Braves the doubleheader sweep. Evans also singled and scored in the seventh. Jimmy Freeman got credit for the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Felix Millan hit an unlikely homer in the first inning off Ron Reed, who allowed just the one run in six innings. Henry Aaron homered for Atlanta.

Houston 7, St. Louis 3: Bob Watson and Tommy Helms each homered and J.R. Richard fanned seven men in six innings. Losing pitcher Rick Wise allowed six runs, five earned, in six innings. Lou Brock stole a pair of bases off Richard's slow delivery and scored twice. 

St. Louis 4, Houston 0: Scipio Spinks had a game: A three-hit shutout on the mound, a solo homer at the plate. Spinks walked six and struck out four. His homer came in the eighth inning off  reliever Cecil Upshaw. Jerry Reuss took the loss for the first-place Astros. 

Games of Sunday, Aug. 31

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               75     54       .581     ---
Atlanta                 67     59       .531      6.5
New York            62     61       .504    10
Montreal              63     62       .504   10
Chicago               62     63       .496    11
Pittsburgh            60     65       .480    13
St. Louis              59     69       .453   15.5
Philadelphia         54     69      .439    18

Monday's games
New York (Stone and McAndrew) at Atlanta (Dobson and Reed), 2
Chicago (Gura and Jenkins) at Pittsburgh (Kison and Rooker), 2
Montreal (McAnally and Rogers) at Philadelphia (Twitchell and Brett), 2
St. Louis (Wise and Spinks) at Houston (Ruess and Richard),2

New York 3, Montreal 2: Jon Matlack held Montreal to five hits, all singles, and Rusty Staub drove in a pair of runs with a double in the fifth inning off losing pitcher Balor Moore. Felix Millan worked three walks and singled; he scored two runs for the Mets. Ron Hunt singled and was twice hit by pitches; he stole two bases and  scored a run for the Mets. 

Pittsburgh 8, Chicago 5: The Pirates scored seven runs in the top of the ninth inning, getting five singles, three walks, a two-run double from Willie Stargell and a costly error by Don Kessinger on a potential game-ending double play. Jose Cardenal had four hits for the Cubs, including a pair of doubles, and scored two runs. Bob Johnson was credited with the win, Dave LaRoche got the loss and Dave Giusti the save.

Houston 1, St. Louis 0 (14 innings): Roger Metzger reached on an error by Mike Tyson leading off the 14th inning and scored from first base on Cesar Cedeno's double to center. Bob Gibson and Ken Forsch each threw nine scoreless innings for no decisions. Gibson struck out 13 men, twice fanning four hitters consecutively. He allowed just two hits and one walk. Forsch held the Cardinals to five hits and five walks with five strikeouts. Jim Crawford got the win and Wayne Granger took the loss.

ROSTERS NOW EXPAND, WITH ALL NON-INJURED PLAYERS ELIGIBLE TO PLAY

Games of Saturday, Aug. 30

                              W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               74     54       .578     ---
Atlanta                 67     59       .531      6
Montreal              63     61       .508      9
Chicago               62     62       .500    10
New York            61     61       .500    10
Pittsburgh            59     65       .476    13
St. Louis              59     68       .464   14.5
Philadelphia         54     69      .439    17.5

Sunday's games
New York (Matlack) at Montreal (Moore)
Pittsburgh (Moose) at Chicago (Bonham)
St.Louis (Gibson) at Houston (Forsch)

Houston 5, Pittsburgh 2: Dave Roberts allowed two runs on six hits in his complete game, and Jim Wynn hit a two-run homer as the first-place Astros snapped a five-game losing streak. Luke Walker took the loss; he allowed all five runs, four earned, in five innings.

Atlanta 9, Philadelphia 4: The Braves got home runs from Ralph Garr, Darrell Evans and Dave Johnson to power past the Phillies. Ron Reed worked into the seventh inning for the win, and Jimmy Freeman pitched the final two innings for the save. Lowell Palmer came off the taxi squad to start for the Phillies and took the loss. 

Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 3: Paul Casanova broke a 3-3 tie with a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the ninth of Bill Wilson. Henry Aaron and Dusty Baker also homered for the Braves. Winner Carl Morton gave up a three-run homer in the first to Bill Robinson, but then shut out the Phillies the rest of the way, finishing with a seven-hitter. 

New York 5, Montreal 2: The Mets hit for the cycle in a three-run seventh. Ed Kranepool tripled in the go-ahead run and Don Hahn followed with a two-run homer. Jerry Koosman went the distance for the win, giving up two runs on seven hits, one a solo home run by Ken Singleton. Mike Torrez was the losing pitcher.

St. Louis 4, Chicago 3: Tim McCarver tripled and homered to power the Cardinals. The triple was the central blow in a two-run second, and the homer, with two out in the top of the ninth, provided the winning margin. Rick Monday hit a two-run homer in the second for the Cubs. Wayne Granger worked two scoreless innings for the win, and Diego Segui had a perfect ninth for the save. Rick Reuschel went the distance for the Cubs.