A booming triple by Willie McCovey snapped a 1-1 tie and sent the Giants on their way to a 5-1 victory over the Braves. San Francisco trailed, 1-0, going into the bottom of the fifth when starting and winning pitcher Vida Blue led off with a walk. He moved to second on Larry Herndon's single and both runners advanced on a balk.

Darrell Evans was given an intentional pass to load the bases before Bill Madlock scored Blue with a sacrifice fly and McCovey followed with his three-bagger to right center. It was the veteran first baseman's first three-base hit since 1974. Skip James, filling in for McCovey, doubled home two more tallies in the seventh stanza. [The Sporting News]

San Francisco Giants 5, Atlanta Braves 1

Game Played on Monday, April 17, 1978 (Day game) at Candlestick Park

Braves 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 6 0 Giants 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 x - 5 9 0 Braves AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Giants AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Royster 2b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .385 Herndon cf 4 1 2 0 1 1 .278 Bonnell cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .250 Evans 3b 3 2 1 0 1 0 .212 Office ph,cf 1 0 1 0 0 0 .238 Madlock 2b 3 1 1 1 0 1 .429 Gaston rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .077 McCovey 1b 3 0 1 2 0 0 .222 Asselstine ph,rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .500 James pr,1b 1 0 1 2 0 0 .167 Burroughs lf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .259 Clark rf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .270 Murphy 1b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .103 Whitfield lf 4 0 2 0 0 1 .344 Pocoroba c 3 0 2 0 1 0 .368 Hill c 3 0 1 0 1 0 .290 Gilbreath 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .273 LeMaster ss 2 0 0 0 1 1 .138 Rockett ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .087 Blue p 1 1 0 0 1 1 .000 Boggs p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Heintzelman ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .286 Camp p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Moffitt p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .500 Easterly p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Beall ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Campbell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 31 1 6 0 2 7 Totals 29 5 9 5 6 6 Time of Game: 2:17 Attendance: 5,882 Left on Base: Braves 5, Giants 8 DP: Braves 1, Giants 0 Doubles: Herndon (3), James (1) Triples: McCovey (1) Stolen Bases: Royster (3) Caught Stealing: Burroughs (1), Gilbreath (1), Hill (2) Sacrifice Hits: LeMaster (1) Sacrifice Flies: Madlock (1) GIDP: Hill (1) Braves IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Boggs L(0-2) 4.2 5 3 3 4 2 0 22 5.40 Camp 2 3 2 2 0 1 0 8 4.50 Easterly 0.1 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 0.00 Campbell 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 4 7.36 Totals 8 9 5 5 6 6 0 37 Giants IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Blue W(1-1) 7 5 1 1 2 4 0 26 4.50 Moffitt 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 7 4.32 Totals 9 6 1 1 2 7 0 33 Wild Pitches: Easterly (1), Blue (1) Balks: Boggs (1) Umpires: HP - Ed Vargo, 1B - Paul Pryor, 2B - Satch Davidson, 3B - Terry Tata BRAVES 1ST: Royster singled to right; Royster stole second; Bonnell struck out; Gaston grounded out (first unassisted) [Royster to third]; Blue threw a wild pitch [Royster scored]; Burroughs walked; Burroughs was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 0. GIANTS 1ST: Herndon doubled; Evans grounded out (first unassisted) [Herndon to third]; Madlock grounded out (third to first); McCovey grounded out (second to pitcher); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 0. BRAVES 2ND: Murphy struck out; Pocoroba singled to center; Gilbreath singled to left [Pocoroba to second]; Rockett grounded out (first unassisted) [Pocoroba to third, Gilbreath to second]; Boggs grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 0. GIANTS 2ND: Clark made an out to catcher; Whitfield flied out to center; Hill singled to center; LeMaster walked [Hill to second]; Blue struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 0. BRAVES 3RD: Royster made an out to catcher; Bonnell made an out to third; Gaston made an out to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 0. GIANTS 3RD: Herndon walked; Evans forced Herndon (shortstop to second); Madlock struck out; McCovey made an out to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 0. BRAVES 4TH: Burroughs flied out to right; Murphy struck out; Pocoroba walked; Gilbreath flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 0. GIANTS 4TH: Clark flied out to right; Whitfield singled; Hill grounded into a double play (second to first) [Whitfield out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 0. BRAVES 5TH: Rockett made an out to catcher; Boggs struck out; Royster grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 0. GIANTS 5TH: LeMaster grounded out (second to first); Blue walked; Herndon singled [Blue to second]; Boggs balked [Blue to third, Herndon to second]; Evans was walked intentionally; Madlock hit a sacrifice fly to right [Blue scored]; McCovey tripled to center [Herndon scored, Evans scored]; JAMES RAN FOR MCCOVEY; CAMP REPLACED BOGGS (PITCHING); Clark grounded out (third to first); 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 3. BRAVES 6TH: JAMES STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Bonnell made an out to second; Gaston flied out to center; Burroughs singled to center; Murphy made an out to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 3. GIANTS 6TH: Whitfield singled; Hill forced Whitfield (second unassisted); Hill was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); LeMaster struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 3. BRAVES 7TH: Pocoroba singled to left; Gilbreath forced Pocoroba (third to second); Gilbreath was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Rockett made an out to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 3. GIANTS 7TH: HEINTZELMAN BATTED FOR BLUE; Heintzelman flied out to center; Herndon grounded out (shortstop to first); Evans singled to center; Madlock singled to center [Evans to second]; EASTERLY REPLACED CAMP (PITCHING); James doubled to center [Evans scored, Madlock scored]; Clark was walked intentionally; Easterly threw a wild pitch [James to third, Clark to second]; Whitfield struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 5. BRAVES 8TH: MOFFITT REPLACED HEINTZELMAN (PITCHING); BEALL BATTED FOR EASTERLY; Beall was called out on strikes; Royster grounded out (shortstop to first); OFFICE BATTED FOR BONNELL; Office singled; ASSELSTINE BATTED FOR GASTON; Asselstine grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 5. GIANTS 8TH: OFFICE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); ASSELSTINE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); CAMPBELL REPLACED BEALL (PITCHING); Hill walked; LeMaster out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Hill to second]; Moffitt struck out; Herndon struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 5. BRAVES 9TH: Burroughs struck out; Murphy struck out; Pocoroba flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Giants 5.

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