The Braves ended their scoring drought to upend the Astros, 6-4. A homer by Gary Matthews in the first snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak for the Braves. An RBI double by Art Howe got the Astros even in the second stanza, but the Braves scored four times in the fourth.

Singles by Dale Murphy and Darrel Chaney and a walk to Rod Gilbreath the loaded bases and Phil Niekro delivered one run with a sacrifice fly. Jerry Royster then tripled home two more tallies and scored himself on a throwing error by Howe. [The Sporting News]

Atlanta Braves 6, Houston Astros 4

Game Played on Sunday, May 21, 1978 (Day game) at Astrodome

Braves 1 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 - 6 8 0 Astros 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 - 4 14 2 Braves AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Royster 2b 4 1 1 2 1 0 .287 Puhl cf 5 0 2 0 0 0 .321 Asselstine cf,rf 4 0 2 0 1 0 .286 Cabell 3b 5 0 1 0 0 1 .273 Matthews rf 1 1 1 2 1 0 .333 Cruz rf 5 1 2 0 0 2 .293 Office cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .244 Watson 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .297 Burroughs lf 5 0 0 0 0 2 .358 Walling lf 4 2 2 0 0 0 .280 Bonnell lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .229 Howe 2b 4 1 3 2 0 1 .283 Pocoroba c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .227 Ferguson c 4 0 3 2 0 1 .238 Murphy 1b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .220 Metzger ss 3 0 0 0 1 0 .240 Chaney ss 4 1 1 0 0 0 .318 Lemongello p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .167 Gilbreath 3b 3 1 0 0 1 2 .216 Zamora p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Niekro p 3 1 1 1 0 0 .231 Sexton ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .190 Devine p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Niekro p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273 Alou ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333 Forsch p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Herrmann ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .120 Sambito p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 33 6 8 5 4 6 Totals 38 4 14 4 1 5 Time of Game: 2:17 Attendance: 11,715 Left on Base: Braves 7, Astros 8 DP: Braves 2, Astros 1 Errors: Howe, Metzger Doubles: Niekro (1), Puhl (6), Howe 2 (13) Triples: Royster (3), Asselstine (2) Home Runs: Matthews (5) Stolen Bases: Walling (1) Sacrifice Flies: Niekro (1), Matthews (1) GIDP: Burroughs (5), Cruz (3) Hit by Pitch: Matthews (1,by Lemongello) Braves IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Niekro W(4-6) 7.1 12 4 4 1 5 0 33 3.11 Devine SV(2) 1.2 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 6.12 Totals 9 14 4 4 1 5 0 39 Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Lemongello L(3-5) 3.2 6 5 5 2 2 1 20 4.08 Zamora 1.1 0 0 0 1 1 0 6 0.00 Niekro 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 8 7.78 Forsch 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 3.20 Sambito 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 2.16 Totals 9 8 6 6 4 6 1 40 Hit by Pitch: Lemongello (1) Umpires: HP - Jerry Crawford, 1B - Doug Harvey, 2B - Andy Olsen, 3B - Jim Quick BRAVES 1ST: Royster grounded out (shortstop to first); Asselstine flied out to center; Matthews homered; Burroughs flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 1ST: Puhl doubled; Cabell grounded out (shortstop to first) [Puhl to third]; Cruz struck out; Watson grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Astros 0. BRAVES 2ND: Pocoroba flied out to center; Murphy singled; Chaney flied out to left; Gilbreath flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 2ND: Walling singled; Walling stole second; Howe doubled [Walling scored]; Ferguson struck out; Metzger walked; Lemongello lined into a double play (second to shortstop) [Howe out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 1, Astros 1. BRAVES 3RD: Niekro grounded out (third to first); Royster made an out to catcher; Asselstine walked; Matthews was hit by a pitch [Asselstine to second]; Burroughs struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Braves 1, Astros 1. ASTROS 3RD: Puhl flied out to center; Cabell grounded out (third to first); Cruz struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 1, Astros 1. BRAVES 4TH: Pocoroba struck out; Murphy singled; Chaney singled [Murphy to third]; Gilbreath walked [Chaney to second]; Niekro hit a sacrifice fly to left [Murphy scored, Chaney to third, Gilbreath to second]; Royster tripled [Chaney scored, Gilbreath scored, Royster scored (error by Howe) (no RBI)]; Asselstine tripled; ZAMORA REPLACED LEMONGELLO (PITCHING); Matthews walked; Burroughs made an out to second; 4 R, 4 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Braves 5, Astros 1. ASTROS 4TH: Watson flied out to left; Walling grounded out (second to first); Howe singled; Ferguson singled [Howe to second]; Metzger grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Braves 5, Astros 1. BRAVES 5TH: Pocoroba flied out to center; Murphy reached on an error by Metzger [Murphy to first]; Chaney forced Murphy (first to shortstop); Gilbreath struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Braves 5, Astros 1. ASTROS 5TH: SEXTON BATTED FOR ZAMORA; Sexton grounded out (third to first); Puhl singled; Cabell struck out; Cruz singled [Puhl to second]; Watson singled [Puhl out at home (second to catcher), Cruz to second]; 0 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Braves 5, Astros 1. BRAVES 6TH: NIEKRO REPLACED SEXTON (PITCHING); Niekro doubled; Royster walked; Asselstine singled [Niekro to third, Royster to second]; Matthews hit a sacrifice fly to center [Niekro scored, Royster to third]; Burroughs grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Asselstine out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 6, Astros 1. ASTROS 6TH: OFFICE REPLACED MATTHEWS (PLAYING CF); ASSELSTINE CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); Walling made an out to first; Howe struck out; Ferguson singled; Metzger grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 6, Astros 1. BRAVES 7TH: Pocoroba flied out to right; Murphy grounded out (shortstop to first); Chaney grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 6, Astros 1. ASTROS 7TH: ALOU BATTED FOR NIEKRO; Alou made an out to shortstop; Puhl grounded out (second to first); Cabell made an out to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 6, Astros 1. BRAVES 8TH: FORSCH REPLACED ALOU (PITCHING); Gilbreath struck out; Niekro grounded out (second to first); Royster grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 6, Astros 1. ASTROS 8TH: Cruz singled; Watson flied out to right; Walling singled [Cruz to second]; Howe doubled [Cruz scored, Walling to third]; DEVINE REPLACED NIEKRO (PITCHING); Ferguson singled [Walling scored, Howe scored]; Metzger grounded out (second to first) [Ferguson to second]; HERRMANN BATTED FOR FORSCH; Herrmann grounded out (first to pitcher); 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 6, Astros 4. BRAVES 9TH: SAMBITO REPLACED HERRMANN (PITCHING); Asselstine grounded out (pitcher unassisted); Office struck out; Burroughs struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 6, Astros 4. ASTROS 9TH: BONNELL REPLACED BURROUGHS (PLAYING LF); Puhl flied out to left; Cabell singled; Cruz grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Cabell out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Braves 6, Astros 4.

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet.
Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at "www.retrosheet.org".