Astros Make Cincinnati See Red by Taking Series

Houston continues to have a good month of June by taking the series from the tough Reds squad, winning two of the three games. The Astros have won seven of their last 10.

Game One: Hou 2, Cin 0

J.R. Richard moves to 10-3 by outpitching Cincinnati's Tom Seaver and striking out 13 Reds batsmen in the process, matching the season high for the MLB strikeout king. RBI singles from Cesar Cedeno and Jeffrey Leonard represent the only scoring.

Game Two: Hou 4, Cin 2

Mustachioed hombre Randy Niemann has a strong outing, going eight innings and only giving up two runs. Enos Cabell continues his hot month by going two for four, and backup catcher Bruce Bochy drives in two runs. New addition Bert Roberge gets his second save in the second game of the doubleheader.

Game Three:  Cin 6, Hou 3

Houston's Joe Niekro was mowing down the Reds batters and took a 3-1 lead into the seventh. But the knuckler suddenly took some strange bends, and Cincinnati scored five runs in the top of the seventh to win one for starter Paul Moskau, with fine relief help from Pedro Borbon and Doug Bair. Davey Concepcion hit his fourth homer and drove in two, and the Cincy cause was aided by doubles from Bench, Foster and Geronimo.

Houston Sweeps San Diego to Draw Closer to .500

The upstart Astros now are only three games under .500 after sweeping San Diego in three close, tense games.

Game One: HOU 4, SD 0
W: J. Niekro (6-4)
L: Shirley (4-4)

Joe Niekro has the knuckler working today, shutting out San Diego on five hits in his third complete game of the year. A three run sixth keyed by a two RBI single from Julio Gonzalez does in San Diego's Bob Shirley.

Game Two: HOU 3, SD 2 (10 innings)

W: Roberge (2-2)
L: Kinney (0-2)

Houston spot starter Rick Williams again pitches well, scattering seven hits and two runs in 8.1 innings (including a solo blast from Padres second bagger Fernando Gonzalez). However, Houston can only scratch out two runs off San Diego starter Randy Jones. But in the bottom of the 10th, Jose Cruz gets his third hit of the day and it's a big blow, a solo homer (his fourth) to win it for Houston.

Game Three: HOU 8, San Diego 7
W: Dixon (2-3)
L: Kinney (0-3)

The bats finally come out for both teams. Houston starter Joaquin Andujar surprises the Astrodome crowd by belting an early two run homer but gives it right back as San Diego takes a 6-3 lead in the seventh. Houston finds a way to come back with three runs in its half of the seventh but finds itself down 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth. However, San Diego's Dennis Kinney again blows the game,  walking Cesar Cedeno and Jose Cruz. Denny Walling then bangs a double off the right-center wall in Houston's spacious park. Cruz comes around from first on a close play at the plate to score the game winner.

Mets Offense Stays Meek Versus Astros

Houston comes home after a rough road trip and takes two of three from the Mets. The Mets can barely muster an offense, an ailment keeping them in the second division.

Game One: HOU 7, NYM 1

Newly acquired Met Dock Ellis (over from Texas) gets shelled for six runs and 13 hits in five innings, while Houston continues to find a starting pitching jewel in sinkerballer Rick Williams, who wins his fourth. Art Howe blasts his fourth homer and both Enos Cabell and Craig Reynolds drive in two in the easy victory.

Game Two: NYM 1, HOU 0

Well-traveled Andy Hassler (another new Met just over from Boston)

looks unbeatable, taking a no hitter into the seventh before Cabell grounds a single. He is matched by Houston's Joaquin Andujar, who pitches the entire game and only allows five Mets hits. But John Stearns strokes an RBI double in the top of the ninth off Andujar for the only run of the game, giving reliever Dale Murray his third win.

Game Three: HOU 3, NYM 1

J.R. Richard wins his ninth, striking out eight in a complete game. Houston musters just enough offense off the Mets' best starter, Craig Swan, to support Richard's pitching effort and take the series.

ChiSox Steer Past M's

GAME ONE – Ross Baumgarten (3-7) earned a complete-game 5-1 win over Mariners. A Larry Cox (1) solo shot in the 5^th was the lone blemish. Meanwhile Jorge Orta (6) launched a monster rocket to CF to highlight a 4-run 7^th for the ChiSox.

GAME TWO – Seattle evened up the series with a complete-game 2-1 effort from Rick Honeycutt (4-4). The lefty threw 8 shutout innings until Chet Lemon (7) took him deep in the 9^th. The Mariners pushed across a pair of runs in the 3^rd on a RBI single from Ruppert Jones and a wild pitch by Sox starter Rich Wortham (5-6).

GAME THREE – Lamar Johnson singled, slole second and scored on Alan Bannister’s base hit in the 10^th to lift Chicago to 2-1 win. Fred Howard (1-1) got the W in relief. John Montague (0-5) recorded his 5^th blown save for the M’s.

GAME FOUR – An early see-saw contest saw Johnson score on a Milt May infield out in the 5^th. It would be the last run scored as the White Sox won 7-6. Francisco Barrios (6-3) tossed 8 innings for the W. Steve Trout (2) retired the final hitters. Seattle’s Jones led all hitters with 3 knocks.

Brewers Win Streak Improves to 9

The Milwaukee Brewers continue their winning ways by sweeping the Minnesota Twins and improving their current win streak to 9 games.

Game 1: Milwaukee 2 Minnesota 1
WP: Moose Haas (5-5, 4.75 ERA 6 Ks)
LP: Dave Goltz (6-8, 3.63 ERA, 5 Ks)
SV: Bob Galasso (1)

Moose Haas pitches his best game of the season, striking out 6 in 7.2 innings pitched.  Key play of the game was a Dick Davis two shot homer, to left center, which gave the Brewers enough runs to slip past the Twinkies.

Game 2: Milwaukee 4 Minnesota 3
WP: Bill Castro (2-2, 4.91 ERA, BS 2)
LP: Mike Bacsik (0-2, 5.03 ERA)

This game was a battle all the way into the last of the ninth.  Tied 3-3, Charlie Moore would come up with a 2 out single to drive in Paul Molitor from third for the winning run.  Both teams blasted 2 homers apiece.  Minnesota's Dave Edwards (1) and Roy Smalley (10) and Milwaukee's Cecil Cooper (13) and Sixto Lezcano (12) all had long balls leave the park.  Bill Travers threw a gem of a game striking out 7 Twins batters in 8 innings of work before being replaced by Bill Castro to finish things off.  Castro blew the save but would eventually pick up the win.

Game 3: Milwaukee 15  Minnesota 2
WP: Mike Caldwell (12-3, 3.62 ERA)
LP : Gary Serum (0-3, 15.22 ERA)

Caldwell goes the distance, Brewers wrack up 17 hits, including 4 homers.  Not much else to say about this one.

Pale Hose Sweep Away Red Hose

GAME ONE – The White Sox jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and cruised to a 9-1 victory over the Red hosiery. Claudell Washington’s (5) 2-run blast highlighted a 4-run 2^nd for the Pale Hose. Alan Bannister tripled in a pair in the 6^th. Rick Burleson collected 4 of Boston’s 5 total hits.

GAME TWO – Ralph Garr and Don Kessinger banged out 3 hits apiece to lead Chicago to a 7-5 win. The White Sox led 4-0 through 4 innings when Dwight Evans (8) smacked a 3-run home run to highlight a 5-run 5^th for the Carmines. Jorge Orta (5) hit a solo homer in the B5 for the eventual game winner. Randy Scarbery (5-0) started his first game of 1979 and kept his perfect record. Steve Trout (1) yielded just 1 hit in 3 full innings of relief.

GAME THREE – Ken Kravec (7-5) surrendered 1 run on 7 hits in a complete game 8-1 win as the ChiSox complete the sweep at Comiskey. Kessinger drove in 3 runs with 3 hits.  

KC TAKES ROYAL BEAT DOWN - GORMAN THOMAS BLAST 5!

Game 1: Milwaukee 10 Kansas City 8 - WP Caldwell (11-3)  LP Splittorff (5-8) SV Castro (4)
Game 2: Milwaukee 4 Kansas City 2 - WP Slaton (7-4) LP Busby (4-4)  SV Castro (5)
Game 3: Milwaukee 9  Kansas City 6: - WP Sorenson (8-4) LP Pattin (0-5)

Gorman Thomas went 6 for 13 with 8 runs batted in including 5 home runs, in a 3 game series, to help the
Brew Crew knock off a pesky Royals team at County Stadium.  Thomas hit 2 homers in game 1 and 3 in game 3 and took home the series MPV honors.  Ex-Brewer Darrell Porter added a nice performance for the Royals going 4-10 with 5 RBI's and a homer.  Milwaukee improves to 44-22 on the season and still trails the Baltimore Orioles by 3.5 games in the AL East division race.  Kansas City drops to 29-36.