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.