[Breeze]

We have a great pitching match up tonight. Mike Scott vs. John Tudor...

And here are the lineups...St. Louis will play

Coleman - LF
Herr - 2b
McGee - Cf
Clark - 1b
Van Slyke - Rf
Pendleton - 3b
Porter - C
Smith - SS
Tudor - P

Houston will counter with:

Doran - 2b
Cruz - Lf
Bass - Cf
Davis - 1b
Thon - ss
Garner - 3b
Mumphrey - Rf
Spilman - C
Scott - P

And here we go with the first pitch...


There's a high pop fly to the outfield
Kevin Bass moves to his left
He makes the catch
Wait, he bobbles it!
Bass grabs it with his bare
hand for the out
One down for St. Louis
Tommy Herr is still in the on-deck circle
and Willie McGee is looking
for a bat in the dugout

Herr swings and hits one down the line
It'll be in there for extra bases
Mumphrey plays it off the wall on a hop
Herr is heading for second
Mumphrey turns and fires
Herr slides head first...
and beats the throw
A whistling two-bagger for Tommy Herr

It's a shallow fly by McGee
Bass runs in, calls for it
He makes the catch with
a snap of his glove
McGee is out
That's the second out of the inning

Clark takes the pitch...
That one is low for a ball... WAIT
The umpire says that one caught the knees
Clark's outta there
That's three outs here in
the top of the first
At the end of one half inning,
for St. Louis
No runs, one hit, no errors
and one man left on base
Houston is coming to bat

Swung on and chopped down
the third base line
Pendleton stabs at it
He's got it!
Over to first...
GOT HIM!
What a nice play by Terry Pendleton
Houston with one away
Tudor steps off the mound as
he waits for Jose Cruz to
come to the plate

Cruz swings and misses
STRIKE THREE!
Tudor strikes out Jose Cruz
And there's two away

Swung on and topped toward short
Smith comes in
Backhands it
Over to first
Not in time!
Infield single by Kevin

Bass watches Tudor move...
He's moving away from the bag
Another throw...
Tudor's five throws over
have been effective
Bass has a small lead now
He must be getting tired
from diving back in!

Routine grounder to short
Smith comes up with it
Over to Clark
Got him!
Score It: 6-3
That's three outs, side retired

Van Slyke pulls this one down the line
Mumphrey is at the warning track
The ball is hooking...
Just foul!
. . . Van Slyke back in the box
And here comes the next pitch
Hard line drive to second
Doran grabs it for the out
Score It: 4
One away in the top of the
2nd for St. Louis

Pendleton hits one on the
ground to the left side
Terry, who moves well,
is motoring to first
Thon wings it quickly to Davis...
OUT by a step
Two down
Mike Scott retires
the first two batters in order

Fastball, just inside...
Looked very close...
Scott's obviously peeved at that call
But Darrell tends to get those calls
He has a great eye and doesn't mind
taking the free ride to first

Porter a few feet off the bag at first
Scott steps away from the mound
Now Porter moves back to first

Hard ground ball to first
Davis trots to the bag
Score It: 3
That's all for St. Louis
After 1 and a half innings
in Houston this evening,
We're scoreless

The batter checks his swing
Here's the appeal
Thon swung, that's strike three
Thon isn't happy at all with that call
That's one away

Ground ball to the left side...
Pendleton scoops it up
Over to first for the putout
Two gone for Houston

Curve in the dirt... and Mumphrey holds up
Looked like he went around from here
But the plate umpire says no
Porter asks the first base ump's opinion
He says Mumphrey went around
Strike three, swinging
1-2-3, nothing across...

Curveball in the dirt
Swung on and missed...Strike three
Spilman fumbles it,
but quickly recovers to tag Tudor
One up, one down here in
the top of the 3rd

Coleman cuts on a curve that
misses in the dirt
That ball is trapped nicely by Spilman
Coleman was badly fooled by Scott's
big breaking curve
STRIKE THREE!
Vince was a little overanxious
Two down
Spilman asks for a new ball
He calls time and trots out to the mound
A conference going on between
Spilman and Scott

Slider pounded into the
ground towards first
It's by the diving Davis...
Doran chasing it down...
There will be no play
It's a base hit

Base hit to center for McGee
Herr is racing towards third...
The throw is going to third...
Herr is safe at third!
And McGee advances to second on the throw

Wait, Spilman calls time
He is looking to the dugout
Now he's signaling for an intentional pass
This will load them up
But Houston now has a force at any base

Smashed to short
Thon comes up with it
Over to Davis
Got him!
Score It: 6-3
That ends the inning for St. Louis
Houston has no runs, one hit and no errors
While St. Louis has no runs,
3 hits and no errors
St. Louis has now stranded 5 baserunners

It's popped up into foul territory
Tommy Herr is under it
He puts it away
Score It: 4
One up, one down for Houston

Swung on and popped up
Pendleton is waiting...
And that's an easy out
Two down
Tudor gets the first two batters
here in the bottom of the 3rd

Swung on and hit sharply to third
Pendleton plays it on one bounce
Over to Clark...
Out of there!
That wraps up the inning for Houston
By the way, Houston is 3 and
7 in their last ten games

Pendleton hits a screamer at Phil Garner
Garner picks it up and fires to first
The throw pulls Davis off the bag
Davis swipes with the glove

Pendleton is out!
Nice play by Davis
And there's one away

There's a fly ball to Kevin Bass
Bass circles under it...
He makes the play
No score with two away
Let's check some other scores as well

Montreal with the lead over
San Diego 4 to 1
New York clipping San Francisco 4 to 0
Philadelphia leads Los Angeles 2 to 1
Rawley and Valenzuela currently dueling
Cincinnati is edging Pittsburgh 3 to 2
Browning and Tunnell currently dueling
Atlanta is giving it to Chicago 6 to 1

Ozzie Smith offers at the curveball,
but checks his swing
Oh, Smith couldn't get the
bat out of the way
It's a soft line drive to
Bill Doran for the out
Smith never even left the batter's box
Once again it's three up and three down
as Scott continues to mow
the Cardinals down
No hits for St. Louis
Larry, as ol' Country Slaughter said,
"If you don't get on first,
you can't score a run!"

It's a smash over short
Smith leaps
Just over his outstretched glove
Cruz makes a wide turn at first
He will hold at first
The ball comes in quickly

Bass maneuvers to hit behind the runner
Bass misses the pitch!
The steal attempt...
The throw by Porter...
It's high...
The catch...
The tag...
STOLEN BASE!

Bass swings on a ball in on his fists
It results in a pop up to third
Pendleton is under it...
A few steps to his right...
One hands it for the out
Bass looked bad on that pitch

Fastball, belt high, away...
Davis goes after it...
There's a fly ball to Van Slyke
Van Slyke is gliding under it...
He flags it down on the run
With two gone, Scoreless game
in the bottom of the 4th

Apparently Tudor has been instructed
to put Mister Dickie Thon on...
He has done just that...Thon
trots down to first

Garner pokes out a soft fly into center
McGee will have to come a long way
He's really moving...
Willie dives...
He slides.... and has...Wait!!
The umpire waits to see if he holds on...
He's out!
What a great play by Willie McGee!
My, oh my
Tudor would have to agree
That's it for Houston
Houston has no runs, 2 hits and no errors
While St. Louis has no runs,
3 hits and no errors
Houston has now left 3 runners stranded

Sharp breaking curveball...
Tudor reaches for it...
Hits a two bouncer right to Thon...
Grabs it easily...
Fires a bullet to Davis at first!
Tudor is out easily
So one up and one gone

Fastball...
Coleman jumps all over it...
It's juiced to deep right
There goes Mumphrey after it
Racing hard...
He dives...
And he's got it!!!
Beautiful play by Jerry Mumphrey!
Two down
Scott retires the first
two St. Louis batters

Scott misses low on that one
Herr draws the walk
Number 3 today by Scott

Herr moves away from first
Scott wheels and fires to Davis...
Herr scrambles back quickly...
He just avoids the tag!
He should have dove back
Almost got caught

A slider by Scott
McGee gets good wood on it...
Bass back-pedals quickly...
Up with his glove...
Out!
Three down for St. Louis
After 4 and a half innings, Scoreless game
Say, Larry, get me what Al Hrabosky has
That pizza he's chomping on in
the next booth looks mighty good!

Breaking ball...
It darts down and out
as Mumphrey swings way over it
He was fooled completely
Porter loses it momentarily,
but now finds the handle and tags
Jerry as he was heading for the dugout

It's a high pop-up in back of short
Smith is under it
Waiting..Waiting...
My, this one's a "major league" pop-up
Smith snags it for the out
Two up, two down here in
the bottom of the 5th

Scott swings and misses
STRIKE THREE!
Tudor strikes out Mike Scott
That does it for the Astros
So at the end of five complete
it is all knotted up at 0

Clark tries to hold up
Spilman points down at the
first base umpire
The ump says he went around
STRIKE THREE!
Houston gets the first out of the inning

The batter checks his swing
Here's the appeal
Van Slyke held up, and draws a walk
Scott isn't happy at all with that call

Van Slyke is taking his lead from first
Scott freezes the runner...
Now he zips a quick throw to first...
Did he get him?...
No says the umpire
That was close

There he goes!
Here's the peg down...
A very bad throw by Spilman!
It's bouncing away into the outfield
He is not known for his accuracy
Van Slyke moves over to third on the error

It's rapped on the ground...
Through the drawn in infield, past first!
Mumphrey is over
Fields it cleanly
Fires it to second to hold
Pendleton to a single

There's a high pop fly to the outfield
Kevin Bass moves to his left
He makes the catch
Wait, he bobbles it!
Bass grabs it with his bare
hand for the out
That's two away

Pendleton takes his lead
Scott's throws over have been effective
Pendleton has a shorter lead now
He must be getting tired
diving back into the bag

Fastball... just outside
And Smith will take first on the walk
Walk number 5 issued by Scott this evening

Hit to Bass in center
Bass drifts over
It's an easy out
Score It: 8
And that's the final out of the inning
St. Louis has one run,
4 hits and no errors
While Houston has no runs,
2 hits and one error
St. Louis has left 8 men on base today

Doran hits a screamer at Ozzie Smith
Smith takes it with the backhand...
The throw is short...
Clark scoops it on one hop

Doran is out!
Nice play by Clark
One away here in the bottom of the 6th
St. Louis leads 1 to 0
While we have time, let's
check the scoreboard

Montreal is beating San Diego 5 to 1
New York is beating San Francisco 4 to 0
Fernandez comfortably ahead for New York
Philadelphia leads Los Angeles 2 to 1
Rawley battling Valenzuela
Pittsburgh is edging Cincinnati 4 to 3
Atlanta with the lead over Chicago 6 to 3
Murphy has hit his 10th
homerun for Atlanta

Letterhigh, hard slider...
Swung on...
It's a line drive belted toward Smith
It's by him...
Coleman comes in...
Plays it off his chest
Recovers quickly, throwing into second
Good defensive recovery
Keeping Cruz to a single

Cruz takes a three step lead
The runner can't seem to get a good lead

Did he hold up his swing?
NO! He went too far,
Strikeout!

WATCH OUT!
Tudor has hit Davis!

Thon pops it straight up
over the infield...
And it will be Herr making the play
We head to the 7th...
The score is still St. Louis 1, Astros 0
Houston's defensive changes are...
Reynolds will bat 3rd and play CF
Defensively for Houston
Reynolds will play RF and
Mumphrey will be in CF
Bill Dawley will be coming
on to pitch for Houston
Bill has appeared in 10 games this season
He has a record of 1-0
in 14 innings
His ERA stands at 1.32

Curveball, breaking to the outside...
Lazy ground ball to the right side
It'll be a very tough play for Davis
He picks it up, throws to
Dawley covering first
Not in time as Coleman beats the throw

Coleman stretches his lead
Hard slider...
Herr checks his swing
There goes Coleman on a delayed steal!
Spilman pumps...
but no throw, he holds onto the ball
He is SAFE!

Coleman slowly moves away from the base
Coleman does not get a good lead

Herr looks to lay one down
He bunts the ball . . .
Fielded by P.Garner
the throw to first...
Out
Herr gets the job done.
One away
While we wait for the next batter
Let's take a ten second station break
This is your Strat-O-Matic
Broadcast System
Your four sports network!

It's the squeeze play!
A fairly hard bunt by McGee
It gets by Dawley!
Davis picks it up...
Fires it home
The tag...
OUT!
One more chance for St. Louis
in the top of the 7th

Bill Dawley watches McGee
As he moves away from the bag
McGee has to hold tight to the bag

There he goes!
Spilman up from his crouch, firing down...
It bounces in the dirt
Doran handles it...
But can't make the tag
Bad throw by Spilman
His arm comes up wanting

And Clark will be trotting down to first
They've put him on intentionally
Andy Van Slyke is the batter due up next

McGee edges away from the bag
McGee is not working very
hard to get a lead

Bouncer up the middle
and past Dickie Thon...
Base hit into center field!
St. Louis adds to their lead
St. Louis on top 2 to 0

Van Slyke takes a walking lead
Van Slyke gets a great jump...
The pitch...
There goes the runner!
Spilman pumps...
but no throw, he holds onto the ball
He is SAFE!

Base hit to right for Pendleton
Clark scores
Mike Roarke is waving the runner home...
The throw is cut off...
And that allows the run to score

Pendleton watches Dawley as he
inches away from the base
The runner unable to take a big lead
Dawley keeps looking him back

Fastball, high and tight
Ball Four
Chin music...
Porter didn't like it

Hot shot grounded to second
Taken by Doran
Over to Davis
Got him!
Score It: 4-3
That ends the inning for St. Louis
St. Louis has 4 runs, 7 hits and no errors
While Houston has no runs,
3 hits and one error
They have now stranded 10 baserunners

It's time for the 7th inning stretch!

Slider, outside...
Garner reaches for it...
Gets some wood on it
It's rolling towards Smith...
He scoops it up smoothly
Firing to Clark in one motion...
Close play...
SAFE!... by a whisker
Clark is arguing the call
But to no avail
That's a single for Garner

Mumphrey hits a screamer at Ozzie Smith
Smith picks it up and fires to second
Out there...
And the throw to first
A tailor made double play
Tudor gets another one
We're in the bottom of the 7th and
Tudor has allowed only 4 hits

Now batting for the Astros...
Terry Puhl...
He'll pinch hit for Harry Spilman
Bill Dawley is on-deck

Over the outside corner
Puhl hits the curve right to second...
Herr takes it on the second hop
Fires to 1st...
Puhl is out by a couple of steps
The Astros are gone
No runs, one hit and no errors...
We've played through seven
here at The Astrodome...
The score... St. Louis on top 4 to 0
Houston's defensive changes are...
Bailey will bat 8th and play C

It's a quail shot headed
towards the outfield
Doran takes off after it...
Leaps...
And Tudor is OUT!
Very impressive range shown on that play!
Bill is very fine fielder!
One down for St. Louis
Vince Coleman is still in
the on-deck circle
and Tommy Herr is looking
for a bat in the dugout

Hot shot grounded to the mound
Dawley comes up with it
His throw to first
GOT HIM!
Score It: 1-3
That's two away
Thon comes over from his shortstop
position to say a few words to Dawley
Tommy Herr will be next up...

Hit right back to Dawley
On to first and Herr is gone
That's it for St. Louis
Here at The Astrodome, After
7 and a half innings,
St. Louis has 4 runs, 7 hits and no errors
While Houston has no runs,
4 hits and one error
St. Louis has left 10 on base
Houston has stranded 5

Jim Pankovits will hit for Bill Dawley
Pankovits is batting .286
with 2 home runs
He also has 11 RBI's on the year
He's batting .059 against southpaws

Good slider, inside part of the plate
Pankovits gets the bat on it...
Slams a sharp grounder to the right side
Herr grabs it...
Throws to first...
OUT!
One gone for Houston in
the bottom of the 8th

There's a line drive in the gap by Doran
That looks like an easy two-bagger
Vince Coleman dives to get the ball
And fires it in to second
Doran has himself a double

Curveball, in and low
Cruz hits it to Clark at first
Takes it cleanly...
Races to the bag...
It's going to be close...
And...
Out is the call
That could have gone either way
Doran is now perched over at third
Two down

High chopper to second
Herr picks it up on the short hop
Over to first...
In time
Herr charged it nicely and
made it look easy
Score It: 4-3
That ends the inning
After 8 innings, St. Louis leads by 4
Bob Lillis will be bringing
in a relief pitcher
Charlie Kerfeld has been called
from the bullpen
A few warm up tosses and
we'll be set to go
Houston's defensive changes are...
Pankovits will bat 9th and play RF

In the dirt
And McGee holds up
He draws the walk
Nice way to start out the inning

McGee glares menancingly out at Kerfeld
McGee is one of the best base
stealers in the league
Quite an intimidator
Kerfeld looks McGee back
He is unable to get his normal lead

Big slow curve...
And it's in there, strike three
One down for St. Louis
Andy Van Slyke is in the on-deck circle
ready to make his way to the
plate for St. Louis

Van Slyke chases the breaking ball...
It's a grounder at third base...
Garner takes it on the second bounce...
Pumps once to first, then
throws to second...
They get the sliding McGee...
That's one out...
And Doran holds onto the ball
There's no play at first
Two away

Van Slyke takes his lead from first...
He's challenging Kerfeld's pickoff move
Kerfeld holds the runner

Terry Pendleton hits a high
pop fly to the infield
Bill Doran calls everyone off
The ball drifts a bit
But Doran is there to make the play
That's it in the top of the 9th
After 8 and a half innings in Houston,
St. Louis leads 4 to 0

Tudor gets one out over the plate
Davis crushes this one...
To deep left...
Coleman just turns and watches...
It's outta here!
Say goodbye to Tudor's shutout!
Bet Tudor wishes he could have
that pitch back again
Suddenly, it's 4-1, St. Louis

Ground ball to short
Smith ranges into the hole
He backhands it
Plants his right foot
And fires it to first
SAFE!

Swung on and missed...
Garner is down on strikes
With one gone
Let's see how everyone
else is doing, Larry
A look at our Strat-O-Matic scoreboard...
These scores are final...
Montreal gets an easy win
over San Diego 7 to 1
New York humbled San Francisco 8 to 0
Los Angeles cuffed Philadelphia 5 to 2
Pittsburgh edged out Cincinnati 4 to 3
Tunnell the winner, he's now 3-1
Browning takes the loss, his
record drops to 3-4
Atlanta squeezed by Chicago 7 to 5

Lined to short
Smith grabs it for the out
Score It: 6
Two gone for Houston
Time is running out for them

Slider, high and tight...
Swung at...
Bailey hits a ground ball into the hole
Pendleton and Smith converge on it
Gloved by Smith...Fires to first...
Called safe by the ump...
Close play...
But it looked like he beat the throw!!

Whitey Herzog is visiting the mound...
He decides to stick with John Tudor
Alan Ashby is swinging a bat
He'll come up to hit for Jim Pankovits

It's popped up into foul territory
Ozzie Smith is under it
He grabs it for the out
Score It: 6
And that will do it for Houston
St. Louis wins 4 to 1
Tudor gets credit for the win
Scott takes the loss
The hitting star for St. Louis
was Terry Pendleton
He was 2 for 5
He also knocked in 3 runs
And that wraps things up
So long from Houston.