Pinch-hitter Denny Walling's two-out single in the bottom of the 10th scored pinch-runner Julio Gonzalez with the winning tally as the Astros downed the Padres, 4-3. Art Howe opened the 10th with a single and was replaced by Gonzalez, who went to second on Ed Herrmann's sacrifice bunt. Roger Metzger walked and both runners moved up on Wilbur Howard's groundout. Walling then drove the ball over left fielder Jerry Turner's head.

Padre starter Dave Freisleben retired 10 of the first 11 batters but Cesar Cedeno's one-out single in the fourth inning was followed by a walk to Jose Cruz and Bob Watson's three-run homer. RBI singles by Oscar Gamble and Bill Almon lifted the Padres to a 3-3 tie in the sixth. [The Sporting News]

Houston Astros 4, San Diego Padres 3

Game Played on Monday, April 24, 1978 (Night game) at Astrodome

Padres 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 11 0 Astros 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 4 6 0 Padres AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Richards cf 3 1 1 0 2 0 .184 Puhl lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .239 Thomas 2b 4 0 0 0 1 1 .269 Sambito p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Turner lf 5 1 1 0 0 1 .222 Walling ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 .333 Gamble rf 3 1 2 2 0 0 .250 Cabell 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .289 Spillner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Cedeno cf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .302 Champion ph,3b 1 0 1 0 1 0 .400 Cruz rf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .313 Tenace 1b 4 0 0 0 1 0 .167 Watson 1b 4 1 1 3 0 2 .306 Sweet c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .182 Howe 2b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .306 Davis pr,c 1 0 1 0 0 0 .176 Gonzalez pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 Almon 3b,ss 5 0 4 1 0 1 .377 Herrmann c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .111 Smith ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .214 Metzger ss 3 0 0 0 1 1 .226 Hendrick ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .239 Andujar p 1 0 0 0 1 1 .167 Fingers p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Howard ph,lf 2 0 1 0 0 0 .333 Freisleben p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Winfield ph,rf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .304 Totals 37 3 11 3 5 4 Totals 33 4 6 4 3 7 Time of Game: 2:48 Attendance: 7,300 Left on Base: Padres 10, Astros 4 DP: Padres 1, Astros 3 Doubles: Turner (3) Home Runs: Watson (2) Stolen Bases: Richards (5), Cedeno (9) Sacrifice Hits: Freisleben (1), Herrmann (1) GIDP: Sweet (1), Tenace (1), Herrmann (1) Padres IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Freisleben 5 2 3 3 2 4 1 19 4.50 Spillner 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 6 3.86 Fingers L(1-3) 2.2 3 1 1 1 2 0 12 3.07 Totals 9.2 6 4 4 3 7 1 37 Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Andujar 8 8 3 3 5 2 0 35 3.51 Sambito W(2-0) 2 3 0 0 0 2 0 8 1.80 Totals 10 11 3 3 5 4 0 43 Wild Pitches: Fingers (1) Balks: Andujar (1) Umpires: HP - Terry Tata, 1B - Ed Vargo, 2B - Paul Pryor, 3B - Satch Davidson PADRES 1ST: Richards walked; Andujar balked [Richards to second]; Thomas flied out to center; Turner grounded out (second to first) [Richards to third]; Gamble singled [Richards scored]; Tenace forced Gamble (second to shortstop); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 1ST: Puhl flied out to center; Cabell flied out to center; Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 0. PADRES 2ND: Sweet struck out; Almon singled; Smith made an out to shortstop; Freisleben forced Almon (second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 2ND: Cruz made an out to shortstop; Watson struck out; Howe made an out to first; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 0. PADRES 3RD: Richards flied out to center; Thomas flied out to right; Turner struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 3RD: Herrmann grounded out (second to first); Metzger made an out to shortstop; Andujar walked; Puhl grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 0. PADRES 4TH: Gamble grounded out (first unassisted); Tenace walked; Sweet grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Tenace out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 4TH: Cabell grounded out (second to first); Cedeno singled; Cedeno stole second; Cruz walked; Watson homered [Cedeno scored, Cruz scored]; Howe made an out to second; Herrmann flied out to right; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 3. PADRES 5TH: Almon singled; Smith flied out to left; Freisleben out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Almon to second]; Richards walked; Thomas grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 3. ASTROS 5TH: Metzger struck out; Andujar struck out; Puhl struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 1, Astros 3. PADRES 6TH: Turner doubled; Gamble singled [Turner scored]; Tenace flied out to center; Sweet singled [Gamble to third]; Almon singled [Gamble scored, Sweet to second]; Smith grounded out (third to first) [Sweet to third, Almon to second]; WINFIELD BATTED FOR FREISLEBEN; Winfield flied out to center; 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 3. ASTROS 6TH: WINFIELD STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); SPILLNER REPLACED GAMBLE (PITCHING); Cabell struck out; Cedeno flied out to right; Cruz grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 3. PADRES 7TH: Richards grounded out (shortstop to first); Thomas walked; Turner lined into a double play (shortstop to first) [Thomas out at first]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 3. ASTROS 7TH: Watson grounded out (first to pitcher); Howe singled; Herrmann grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Howe out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 3. PADRES 8TH: CHAMPION BATTED FOR SPILLNER; Champion walked; Tenace made an out to catcher; Sweet forced Champion (second to shortstop); DAVIS RAN FOR SWEET; Almon singled [Davis to second]; HENDRICK BATTED FOR SMITH; Hendrick forced Davis (shortstop to third); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 3. ASTROS 8TH: CHAMPION STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); DAVIS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); FINGERS REPLACED HENDRICK (PITCHING); ALMON CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING SS); Metzger flied out to left; HOWARD BATTED FOR ANDUJAR; Howard singled; Fingers threw a wild pitch [Howard to second]; Puhl struck out; Cabell flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 3. PADRES 9TH: HOWARD STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); SAMBITO REPLACED PUHL (PITCHING); Winfield flied out to right; Richards singled; Richards stole second; Thomas struck out; Turner grounded out (pitcher unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 3. ASTROS 9TH: Cedeno made an out to second; Cruz grounded out (second to first); Watson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 3. PADRES 10TH: Champion singled; Tenace grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Champion out at second]; Davis singled; Almon struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 3. ASTROS 10TH: Howe singled; GONZALEZ RAN FOR HOWE; Herrmann out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Gonzalez to second]; Metzger walked; Howard grounded out (first to pitcher) [Gonzalez to third, Metzger to second]; WALLING BATTED FOR SAMBITO; Walling singled [Gonzalez scored, Metzger to third]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Padres 3, Astros 4.

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