[Joy in Mudville]

Houston--The battle of the bullpens went to the Houston Astros and along with it came the National League pennant.

The home-standing Astros scored six runs off Pittsburgh Pirate relievers over the course of their final two at-bats to post an 8-3 victory. Thus, Houston advances to the Joy in Mudville World Series for the first time.

Bidding for their second World Series appearance in three seasons, the Pirates scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 3-2 lead. The first run came on Willie Stargell's second home run of the playoffs.

Houston, however, rallied for three runs off Pirate reliever Charlie Hough in the last of the seventh. The rally featured a hit batter, a walk, two singles and a costly error. Short stop Fred Patek committed the miscue, his third error of the playoffs after making only seven all season long.

The Astros then put the game away with a three-run eighth. Astro left fielder Carlos May knocked in two of the runs with a single off Pirate left-hander Bob Veale.

Jack Billingham pitched one scoreless inning and earned the win for Houston. Hough, who relieved Pirate starter Bob Moose, took the loss.

May earned the NL Most Valuable Player Award. He hit .368 with three home runs and eight RBIs in the five-game series.

Houston will open JIM World Series play at Baltimore against the American League champion Orioles.

Game ID: 6733 - Thursday, October 12th, 1972 - Game Log


Thursday, October 12th, 1972
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh Pirates 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 6 1
Houston Astros 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 3 X 8 10 1

Pittsburgh AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
D. Cash 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .250 0 0
B. Buckner RF 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .250 0 0
W. Stargell LF 4 1 1 1 0 1 0 .250 2 4
R. Hebner 3B 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 .294 0 1
A. Oliver CF 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 .368 2 4
M. Alou 1B 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 .500 0 2
M. May C 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 .278 0 1
F. Patek SS 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 .000 0 1
b-N. Miller PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 0
B. Moose P 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
a-W. Crawford PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 0 0
C. Hough P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
D. Giusti P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
B. Veale P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
B. Dalcanton P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 32 3 6 2 3 4 12

a - W. Crawford pinch hit for B. Moose in the 7th
b - N. Miller pinch hit for F. Patek in the 9th

BATTING
Triples: A. Oliver (1, 4th Inning off D. Wilson, 1 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: W. Stargell (2, 6th Inning off D. Wilson, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: M. May, W. Stargell 4, D. Cash, R. Hebner, A. Oliver 4
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: , M. May 2, B. Buckner, F. Patek
GIDP: B. Buckner, N. Miller
Team LOB: 6

FIELDING
Errors: F. Patek


Houston AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
J. Morgan 2B 4 1 2 1 0 0 1 .261 1 6
J. Wynn RF 4 2 2 1 0 0 2 .318 0 2
C. Cedeno CF 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 .400 1 4
J. Mayberry 1B 3 1 0 0 2 1 4 .278 0 1
C. May LF 5 1 2 3 0 0 2 .368 3 8
D. Rader 3B 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 .167 0 4
J. Edwards C 5 1 1 0 0 1 4 .412 0 0
R. Metzger SS 3 0 2 2 0 0 0 .333 0 3
D. Wilson P 2 0 0 0 0 2 4 .000 0 0
a-J. Beauchamp PH 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 0 0
J. Billingham P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
D. Lemaster P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
b-G. Geiger PH 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .000 0 0
M. Marshall P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 31 8 10 7 4 4 23

a - J. Beauchamp pinch hit for D. Wilson in the 6th
b - G. Geiger pinch hit for D. Lemaster in the 8th

BATTING
Doubles: C. Cedeno (2, 1st Inning off B. Moose, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: J. Edwards, C. May 2, J. Morgan 2, J. Wynn 2, C. Cedeno 2, R. Metzger 2
2-out RBI: R. Metzger
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: D. Wilson, J. Edwards 2, C. May, C. Cedeno, J. Mayberry
Sac Bunt: C. Cedeno, D. Rader
Team LOB: 11

BASERUNNING
CS: J. Morgan (1)

FIELDING
Errors: J. Morgan
Double Plays: 2 (Morgan-Mayberry, Morgan-Metzger-Mayberry)


Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
B. Moose 6.0 5 2 2 1 4 0 83 58 3.38
C. Hough L (0-1)BS (1) 1.0 2 3 1 1 0 0 22 14 6.75
D. Giusti 0.1 2 3 3 2 0 0 16 7 20.26
B. Veale 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0.00
B. Dalcanton 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 10.13

PITCHING
Game Score: B. Moose 57
Batters Faced: B. Moose 28, C. Hough 7, D. Giusti 5, B. Veale 1, B. Dalcanton 2
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: B. Moose 7-6, C. Hough 1-1, D. Giusti 1-0, B. Veale 0-0, B. Dalcanton 1-1
Pitches - Strikes: B. Moose 83-58, C. Hough 22-14, D. Giusti 16-7, B. Veale 2-1, B. Dalcanton 6-4
Inherited Runners - Scored: B. Veale 3-2, B. Dalcanton 2-0
HB: B. Moose 5, C. Hough

Houston IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
D. Wilson 6.0 5 3 2 3 3 1 111 67 4.15
J. Billingham W (1-0) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 12 6 0.00
D. Lemaster H (1) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 6 0.00
M. Marshall 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 4 0.00

PITCHING
Game Score: D. Wilson 52
Batters Faced: D. Wilson 26, J. Billingham 3, D. Lemaster 3, M. Marshall 3
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: D. Wilson 11-3, J. Billingham 1-1, D. Lemaster 1-2, M. Marshall 1-1
Pitches - Strikes: D. Wilson 111-67, J. Billingham 12-6, D. Lemaster 8-6, M. Marshall 8-4


GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: C. May
Ballpark: Astrodome
Start Time: 7:05 pm
Time: 2:55
Attendance: 34520