After being shut out for seven innings, the Astros exploded for 12 runs in the eighth and trounced the Phillies, 15-3. Wayne Twitchell, Tug McGraw and Gene Garber were victims of the outburst that saw the Astros put together 10 hits and two walks in their scoring spree.

Cliff Johnson, pinch-hitting for Greg Gross, batted twice during the stanza and drove in three runs with a double and homer. The Astros added three more runs in the ninth, two scoring when Enos Cabell hit his first N. L. homer. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 15, Philadelphia Phillies 3
Game Played on Saturday, May       31, 1975 (Night game) at Veterans Stadium
Astros       0  0  0    0  0  0    0 12  3  -  15 15  0
Phillies     0  0  0    1  1  0    0  1  0  -   3  6  1


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Phillies             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Gross lf              2   0   0   0     1   0   .273      Cash 2b               4   0   0   0     1   1   .330
  Johnson ph          2   2   2   3     0   0   .275      Schmidt 3b            3   1   0   0     1   1   .184
  Granger p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Johnstone rf          4   1   1   0     0   2   .278
Metzger ss            5   0   0   0     0   0   .282      Luzinski lf           4   0   1   0     0   0   .275
Cedeno cf             3   2   1   0     2   0   .265      Allen 1b              4   0   2   2     0   2   .204
May c                 5   2   3   2     0   0   .255      Boone c               4   0   0   0     0   0   .306
Cabell 1b             5   2   2   3     0   1   .307        Hilgendorf p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Cruz rf               4   2   2   0     1   0   .266      Martin cf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .250
Rader 3b              5   2   2   1     0   1   .271      Harmon ss             1   1   0   0     3   1   .200
Andrews 2b            3   0   0   0     0   2   .197      Twitchell p           2   0   1   0     0   1   .095
  Boswell ph,2b       2   1   1   2     0   0   .286        McGraw p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .400
Richard p             2   0   0   0     0   1   .259        Garber p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Watson ph           1   0   1   1     0   0   .340        Oates c             1   0   0   0     0   0   .265
  Howard pr,lf        1   2   1   2     0   0   .308

Totals               40  15  15  14     4   5             Totals               31   3   6   2     5   9

Time of Game: 2:36   Attendance: 18,094
Left on Base: Astros 2, Phillies 7
DP: Astros 2, Phillies 1
Errors: Allen
Doubles: Johnson (4), Cedeno (13)
Home Runs: Johnson (2), Cabell (1)
Stolen Bases: Schmidt (4), Allen (1)
Caught Stealing: Cedeno (7)
Sacrifice Hits: Twitchell (2)
GIDP: Boone (3), Oates (1)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Richard W(4-3)          7     2   2   2   4   8   0  28   5.00
Granger                 2     4   1   1   1   1   0   9   1.40
Totals                  9     6   3   3   5   9   0  37

Phillies               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Twitchell L(3-6)        7.1   5   3   3   2   5   0  27   4.26
McGraw                  0.1   3   5   5   2   0   0   6   2.84
Garber                  0.1   4   4   4   0   0   1   5   3.62
Hilgendorf              1     3   3   3   0   0   1   6   3.79
Totals                  9    15  15  15   4   5   2  44

Passed Balls: May (9)
Wild Pitches: Richard 2 (5), Garber (1)

Umpires: HP - Lee Weyer, 1B - Satch Davidson, 2B - Frank Pulli, 3B - Tom Gorman


ASTROS 1ST: Gross flied out to right; Metzger grounded out
(first unassisted); Cedeno flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 1ST: Cash walked; Schmidt popped to second; May allowed
a passed ball [Cash to second]; Johnstone struck out; Luzinski
flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 0.

ASTROS 2ND: May singled to center; Cabell hit into a double play
(right to first) [May out at second]; Cruz singled to right;
Rader struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 2ND: Allen struck out (catcher to first); Boone flied
out to center; Martin popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 0, Phillies 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Andrews struck out; Richard flied out to center;
Gross walked; Metzger popped to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Astros 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 3RD: Harmon struck out; Twitchell struck out; Cash
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
0, Phillies 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Cedeno walked; May popped to second; Cedeno was
caught stealing second (catcher to second); Cabell flied out to
center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 4TH: Schmidt walked; Schmidt stole second; Johnstone
lined to third; Luzinski popped to first in foul territory;
Allen singled to center [Schmidt scored]; Allen stole second;
Boone flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0,
Phillies 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Cruz grounded out (second to first); Rader grounded
out (second to first); Andrews flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 1.

PHILLIES 5TH: Martin lined to shortstop; Harmon walked;
Twitchell singled to third [Harmon to second]; Cash forced
Twitchell (shortstop to second) [Harmon to third]; Schmidt
struck out but Harmon advanced to home and Cash advanced to
second and Schmidt advanced to first on a wild pitch; Richard
threw a wild pitch [Cash to third, Schmidt to second]; Johnstone
struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 2.

ASTROS 6TH: Richard struck out; Gross grounded out (shortstop to
first); Metzger grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 0, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 6TH: Luzinski flied out to center; Allen struck out;
Boone popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0,
Phillies 2.

ASTROS 7TH: Cedeno flied out to right; May grounded out (second
to first); Cabell struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0,
Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 7TH: Martin struck out; Harmon walked; Twitchell out on
a sacrifice bunt (catcher to second) [Harmon to second]; Cash
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros
0, Phillies 2.

ASTROS 8TH: Cruz singled to left; On a bunt Rader singled to
third [Cruz to second]; Andrews was called out on strikes;
WATSON BATTED FOR RICHARD; Watson singled to center [Cruz
scored, Rader to second]; HOWARD RAN FOR WATSON; MCGRAW REPLACED
TWITCHELL (PITCHING); JOHNSON BATTED FOR GROSS; Johnson doubled
to left [Rader scored, Howard scored (error by Allen) (no RBI)];
Metzger grounded out (third to first); Cedeno was walked
intentionally; May singled to right [Johnson scored, Cedeno to
second]; Cabell singled to center [Cedeno scored, May to
second]; Cruz walked [May to third, Cabell to second]; GARBER
REPLACED MCGRAW (PITCHING); Rader singled to second [May scored,
Cabell to third, Cruz to second]; BOSWELL BATTED FOR ANDREWS;
Boswell singled to center [Cabell scored, Cruz scored, Rader to
second]; Garber threw a wild pitch [Boswell to second, Rader to
third]; Howard singled to right [Rader scored, Boswell scored];
Johnson homered [Howard scored]; Cliff Johnson had pinch hit
previously in this inning; officially his position is null for
this home run; Metzger grounded out (first to pitcher); 12
R, 10 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 12, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 8TH: GRANGER REPLACED JOHNSON (PITCHING); BOSWELL
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); HOWARD STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF);
Schmidt popped to third; Johnstone singled to right; Luzinski
singled to left [Johnstone to second]; Allen singled to center
[Johnstone scored, Luzinski to second]; Boone grounded into a
double play (shortstop to second to first) [Allen out at
second]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 12, Phillies 3.

ASTROS 9TH: OATES REPLACED GARBER (PLAYING C ); HILGENDORF
REPLACED BOONE (PITCHING); Cedeno doubled to center; May singled
to right [Cedeno scored]; Cabell homered [May scored]; Cruz
grounded out (third to first); Rader flied out to center;
Boswell grounded out (first to pitcher); 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 15, Phillies 3.

PHILLIES 9TH: Martin singled to shortstop; Harmon walked [Martin
to second]; Oates grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Martin to third, Harmon out at second]; Cash
struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 15, Phillies 3.