Phil Niekro posted the 180th victory of his career and helped get it by driving in two runs with a single in the third inning when the Braves did all their scoring to defeat the Cubs, 5-0. Jerry Royster singled to touch off the Braves' outburst and Barry Bonnell was safe on an error by Manny Trillo.

When the runners worked a double steal, Royster scored on a wild throw by catcher Dave Rader. Singles by Jeff Burroughs, Cito Gaston, Dale Murphy and Niekro followed to kayo Woodie Fryman. [The Sporting News]

Atlanta Braves 5, Chicago Cubs 0

Game Played on Saturday, April 29, 1978 (Night game) at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Cubs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 6 3 Braves 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 x - 5 13 0 Cubs AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Braves AB R H RBI BB SO AVG De Jesus ss 4 0 2 0 0 1 .313 Royster 2b 5 1 3 0 0 0 .338 Gross lf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .333 Bonnell cf,lf 4 1 0 0 0 1 .203 Buckner 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .367 Burroughs lf 3 1 3 1 1 0 .413 Murcer rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .257 Office pr,cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .256 Ontiveros 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .118 Gaston rf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .114 Trillo 2b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .259 Asselstine ph,rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .321 Rader c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .246 Murphy c 4 1 2 1 0 2 .191 Wallis cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .400 Paciorek 1b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .286 Fryman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Beall 1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .063 Krukow p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Rockett ss 3 0 1 0 1 1 .107 Meoli ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Chaney 3b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .333 Roberts p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Niekro p 4 0 1 2 0 1 .154 Totals 30 0 6 0 2 5 Totals 35 5 13 4 2 9 Time of Game: 2:20 Attendance: 7,638 Left on Base: Cubs 6, Braves 8 DP: Cubs 3, Braves 1 Errors: Gross, Trillo, Rader Doubles: Burroughs (6) Triples: Gross (1) Stolen Bases: Royster (11), Bonnell (2) Caught Stealing: De Jesus (3), Royster (3), Beall (1) Sacrifice Hits: Fryman (3) GIDP: Trillo (3), Bonnell (3) Cubs IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Fryman L(0-2) 2.2 7 5 2 2 5 0 18 5.40 Krukow 3.1 5 0 0 0 2 0 13 6.43 Roberts 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 6 3.00 Totals 8 13 5 2 2 9 0 37 Braves IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Niekro W(2-4) 9 6 0 0 2 5 0 33 2.66 Totals 9 6 0 0 2 5 0 33 Passed Balls: Rader (1), Murphy 2 (4) Umpires: HP - John McSherry, 1B - Paul Runge, 2B - Bob Engel, 3B - Jerry Dale CUBS 1ST: De Jesus lined to center; Gross tripled to center; Buckner struck out; Murcer popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 1ST: Royster singled to shortstop; Bonnell grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Royster out at second]; Burroughs walked; Gaston struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 0. CUBS 2ND: Ontiveros popped to catcher in foul territory; Trillo grounded out (pitcher to first); Rader lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 2ND: Murphy struck out; Paciorek struck out; Rockett walked; Chaney singled to center [Rockett to third]; Niekro struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 0. CUBS 3RD: Wallis singled to right; Fryman out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Wallis to second]; Murphy allowed a passed ball [Wallis to third]; De Jesus struck out; Gross grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 3RD: Royster singled to center; Bonnell reached on an error by Trillo [Royster to second, Bonnell to first]; Royster stole third and Bonnell stole second [Royster scored (error by Rader)]; Burroughs singled to right [Bonnell scored (unearned)]; Gaston singled to right [Burroughs to third]; Murphy singled to right [Burroughs scored, Gaston to third]; Paciorek reached on a fielder's choice [Gaston out at home (third to catcher), Murphy to second]; Rockett flied out to center; Chaney struck out but Murphy advanced to third and Paciorek advanced to second and Chaney advanced to first on a passed ball; Niekro singled to left [Murphy scored (unearned), Paciorek scored (unearned), Chaney to third (error by Gross)]; KRUKOW REPLACED FRYMAN (PITCHING); Royster popped to first in foul territory; 5 R (2 ER), 5 H, 3 E, 2 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. CUBS 4TH: Buckner grounded out (pitcher to first); Murcer lined to first; Ontiveros singled to center; Trillo walked [Ontiveros to second]; Rader struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. BRAVES 4TH: Bonnell grounded out (shortstop to first); Burroughs doubled to left; Gaston grounded out (second to first) [Burroughs to third]; Murphy struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. CUBS 5TH: Wallis grounded out (second to first); Krukow struck out (catcher to first); De Jesus singled to left; Gross singled to right [De Jesus to third]; Murphy allowed a passed ball [Gross to second]; Buckner grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. BRAVES 5TH: Paciorek singled to center; Rockett singled to second [Paciorek to second]; Chaney grounded out (second to pitcher) [Paciorek to third, Rockett to second]; Niekro hit into a double play (left to catcher) [Paciorek out at home]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. CUBS 6TH: Murcer struck out (catcher to first); Ontiveros walked; Trillo grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Ontiveros out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. BRAVES 6TH: Royster singled to shortstop; Bonnell struck out while Royster was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Burroughs singled to center; ASSELSTINE BATTED FOR GASTON; OFFICE RAN FOR BURROUGHS; Asselstine grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. CUBS 7TH: OFFICE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); BONNELL CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); ASSELSTINE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); BEALL REPLACED PACIOREK (PLAYING 1B); Rader grounded out (second to first); Wallis grounded out (second to first); MEOLI BATTED FOR KRUKOW; Meoli lined to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. BRAVES 7TH: ROBERTS REPLACED MEOLI (PITCHING); Murphy singled to third; Beall forced Murphy (pitcher to shortstop); Beall was picked off and caught stealing second (pitcher to first to shortstop); Rockett struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. CUBS 8TH: De Jesus singled to left; De Jesus was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Gross flied out to right; Buckner popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. BRAVES 8TH: Chaney struck out; Niekro grounded out (third to first); Royster flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5. CUBS 9TH: Murcer lined to center; Ontiveros flied out to right; Trillo lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Cubs 0, Braves 5.

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