[Joy in Mudville]

Houston--You don't have to convince the Houston Astros that Bob Moose is a Cy Young Award candidate.

Moose, a 28-game winner during the regular season, pitched 7.1 innings without yielding an earned run. With a little help from reliever Dave Giusti, Moose and the Pittsburgh Pirates captured a 3-1 victory Wednesday night.

Up two games to none, the Pirates will bid for their second Joy in Mudville World Series berth Friday when they host Houston at Three Rivers Stadium.

Pittsburgh scored all its runs off Houston starter Don Wilson in the third inning. Dave Cash led off with a bunt single. He moved to second when Bill Buckner beat out a slow roller to short.

Wilson appeared to be on the verge of getting out of the inning when Willie Stargell rolled into a double play. Yet, a single by NL batting champion Al Oliver and a double by first baseman Matty Alou plated the three Pittsburgh runs.

Houston scored its run in the eighth when Pirate short stop Fred Patek committed a throwing error. Giusti, however, got Cesar Cedeno to end the inning on a double-play grounder to third.

One inning later, Giusti ended the game when Astro catcher Steve Yeager bounced into a double play started by Patek.

Pirate catcher Milt May got three more hits Wednesday, raising his playoff average to an incredible .857.

Game three will match left-hander Luke Walker for Pittsburgh and right-hander Larry Dierker for Houston.

Game ID: 6730 - Wednesday, October 3rd, 1973 - Game Log


Wednesday, October 3rd, 1973
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pittsburgh Pirates 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 11 1
Houston Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 7 1


Pittsburgh AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
D. Cash 2B 5 1 2 0 0 1 1 .400 0 2
B. Buckner RF 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 .600 0 1
W. Stargell LF 5 0 0 0 0 2 4 .000 0 0
R. Hebner 3B 4 1 0 0 1 1 2 .250 1 1
A. Oliver CF 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 .286 0 2
M. Alou 1B 4 0 3 2 0 0 0 .500 0 3
M. May C 3 0 3 0 1 0 0 .857 1 2
F. Patek SS 4 0 0 0 0 2 8 .111 0 1
B. Moose P 3 0 0 0 0 2 11 .000 0 0
B. Veale P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
D. Giusti P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 36 3 11 3 3 9 27

BATTING
Doubles: M. May (1, 8th Inning off K. Forsch, 0 on, 0 outs) M. Alou 2 (2, 2nd Inning off D. Wilson, 0 on, 1 out; 3rd Inning off D. Wilson, 2 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: M. May 4, B. Buckner 2, D. Cash 2, A. Oliver, M. Alou 5
2-out RBI: A. Oliver, M. Alou
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: , B. Moose 3, D. Cash, F. Patek
GIDP: W. Stargell, R. Hebner
Sac Bunt: B. Moose
Team LOB: 11

FIELDING
Errors: F. Patek
Double Plays: 4 (Hebner-Cash-Alou, Patek-Alou, Hebner-Cash-Alou, Patek-Cash-Alou)


Houston AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
J. Morgan 2B 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .167 0 0
J. Wynn RF 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .125 0 0
C. Cedeno CF 4 0 2 0 0 0 3 .375 0 0
J. Mayberry 1B 4 0 2 0 0 0 2 .571 0 2
C. May LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 0 0
D. Rader 3B 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .167 0 0
b-S. Ontiveros PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 0
D. Menke 3B 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 0 0
S. Yeager C 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .250 0 1
R. Metzger SS 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 .200 0 0
D. Wilson P 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
a-C. Geronimo PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
K. Forsch P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
c-B. Dent PH 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 0 0
M. Marshall P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 31 1 7 0 3 4 16

a - C. Geronimo pinch hit for D. Wilson in the 6th
b - S. Ontiveros pinch hit for D. Rader in the 7th
c - B. Dent pinch hit for K. Forsch in the 8th

BATTING
Doubles: C. Cedeno (1, 7th Inning off B. Moose, 0 on, 0 outs) D. Rader (1, 2nd Inning off B. Moose, 0 on, 1 out) J. Mayberry (2, 9th Inning off D. Giusti, 0 on, 0 outs)
Triples: C. Cedeno (1, 1st Inning off B. Moose, 0 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: J. Morgan, C. Cedeno 5, D. Rader 2, J. Mayberry 3, B. Dent
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: R. Metzger, J. Mayberry, S. Ontiveros
GIDP: C. May, J. Wynn, C. Cedeno, S. Yeager
Team LOB: 9

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


Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
B. Moose W (1-0) 7.1 6 1 0 1 3 0 98 65 0.00
B. Veale H (1) 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 3 0.00
D. Giusti SV (1) 1.2 1 0 0 1 1 0 27 16 0.00

PITCHING
Game Score: B. Moose 66
Batters Faced: B. Moose 27, B. Veale 1, D. Giusti 6
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: B. Moose 9-8, B. Veale 0-0, D. Giusti 2-0
Pitches - Strikes: B. Moose 98-65, B. Veale 7-3, D. Giusti 27-16
Inherited Runners - Scored: B. Veale 2-0, D. Giusti 3-1


Houston IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
D. Wilson L (0-1) 6.0 9 3 3 3 9 0 106 66 4.50
K. Forsch 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 10 0.00
M. Marshall 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 0.00

PITCHING
Game Score: D. Wilson 48
Batters Faced: D. Wilson 30, K. Forsch 7, M. Marshall 3
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: D. Wilson 5-3, K. Forsch 4-2, M. Marshall 2-0
Pitches - Strikes: D. Wilson 106-66, K. Forsch 12-10, M. Marshall 6-4


GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: B. Moose
Ballpark: Astrodome
Weather: Partly Cloudy (71 degrees), wind blowing in from left at 8 mph
Start Time: 7:05 pm
Time: 2:36
Attendance: 36053