An injury to Bob Watson's right hand forced manager Bill Virdon to make two lineup changes and both paid off when Jesus Alou and Jose Cruz smashed homers to account for all of the Astros' runs in a 5-4 victory over the Mets. Virdon put Cruz at first base in Watson's place and inserted Alou in left field, batting cleanup.

Alou hit his first homer in the majors since 1974, connecting in the third inning after Terry Puhl, batting safely in his 17th straight game, beat out a bunt and Julio Gonzalez singled. After Willie Montanez drove in three runs with a homer and single to tie the score, Enos Cabell singled in the sixth and Cruz hit for the circuit. [The Sporting News]

Houston Astros 5, New York Mets 4

Game Played on Friday, May 26, 1978 (Night game) at Astrodome

Mets 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 - 4 12 1 Astros 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 x - 5 9 0 Mets AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Mazzilli cf 5 0 2 1 0 0 .324 Puhl rf,lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .333 Maddox 3b 5 0 1 0 0 0 .227 Gonzalez 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250 Boisclair rf 3 2 1 0 1 0 .203 Cedeno cf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .275 S. Henderson lf 4 0 2 0 0 1 .262 Alou lf 2 1 1 3 1 0 .333 Montanez 1b 3 1 3 3 1 0 .257 Bergman 1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Hodges c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Cabell 3b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .277 Foli ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .171 Ferguson c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .225 Flynn 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .228 Cruz 1b,rf 3 1 1 2 1 0 .293 Koosman p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .087 Metzger ss 3 0 1 0 1 0 .231 Kranepool ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .194 Lemongello p 3 0 0 0 0 2 .133 Metzger p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Forsch p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Youngblood ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 .280 Totals 36 4 12 4 2 3 Totals 31 5 9 5 3 3 Time of Game: 2:20 Attendance: 11,158 Left on Base: Mets 7, Astros 6 DP: Mets 1, Astros 1 Errors: Flynn Triples: Youngblood (2) Home Runs: Montanez (5), Alou (1), Cruz (2) Stolen Bases: Cedeno (18) Caught Stealing: Mazzilli (4), Maddox (3), Cabell (4) Sacrifice Hits: Ferguson (1) GIDP: Maddox (2), Metzger (8) Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Koosman L(2-5) 6 7 5 4 2 3 2 27 3.52 Metzger 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 8 6.26 Totals 8 9 5 4 3 3 2 35 Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Lemongello W(4-5) 6.1 8 3 3 2 3 1 27 4.10 Forsch SV(1) 2.2 4 1 1 0 0 0 11 3.00 Totals 9 12 4 4 2 3 1 38 Passed Balls: Hodges (2) Umpires: HP - John Kibler, 1B - Nick Colosi, 2B - Satch Davidson, 3B - Joe West METS 1ST: Mazzilli singled to left; Mazzilli was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Maddox lined to center; Boisclair grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 0. ASTROS 1ST: Puhl grounded out (shortstop to first); Gonzalez grounded out (third to first); Cedeno singled to shortstop; Alou walked [Cedeno to second]; Cabell forced Alou (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 0. METS 2ND: S. Henderson was called out on strikes; Montanez walked; Hodges flied out to center; Foli grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 0. ASTROS 2ND: Ferguson was called out on strikes; Cruz flied out to center; Metzger singled to center; Lemongello grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 0. METS 3RD: Flynn struck out; Koosman struck out; Mazzilli grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 0. ASTROS 3RD: On a bunt Puhl singled to third; Gonzalez singled to left [Puhl to second]; Cedeno forced Gonzalez (shortstop to second) [Puhl to third]; Cedeno stole second; Alou homered [Puhl scored, Cedeno scored]; Cabell grounded out (shortstop to first); Ferguson grounded out (shortstop to first); 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Astros 3. METS 4TH: Maddox popped to first in foul territory; Boisclair singled to left; S. Henderson flied out to right; Montanez homered [Boisclair scored]; Hodges grounded out (first unassisted); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 2, Astros 3. ASTROS 4TH: Cruz grounded out (first unassisted); Metzger walked; On a bunt Lemongello struck out; Puhl forced Metzger (shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 2, Astros 3. METS 5TH: Foli grounded out (shortstop to first); Flynn grounded out (pitcher to first); Koosman flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 2, Astros 3. ASTROS 5TH: Gonzalez flied out to right; Cedeno flied out to right; Alou grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 2, Astros 3. METS 6TH: Mazzilli flied out to right; Maddox singled to right; Maddox was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Boisclair walked; S. Henderson singled to left [Boisclair to second]; Montanez singled to right [Boisclair scored, S. Henderson to third]; Hodges grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 3. ASTROS 6TH: Cabell singled to center; Cabell was caught stealing second but was safe at second (error by Flynn; assist by Hodges); Ferguson flied out to right [Cabell to third]; Cruz homered [Cabell scored (unearned)]; Metzger flied out to center; Lemongello was called out on strikes; 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 5. METS 7TH: BERGMAN REPLACED ALOU (PLAYING 1B); CRUZ CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); PUHL CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); Foli singled to right; Flynn forced Foli (shortstop to second); KRANEPOOL BATTED FOR KOOSMAN; Kranepool singled to center [Flynn to second]; FORSCH REPLACED LEMONGELLO (PITCHING); Mazzilli forced Kranepool (second to shortstop) [Flynn to third]; Maddox grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 5. ASTROS 7TH: METZGER REPLACED KRANEPOOL (PITCHING); Puhl flied out to left; Gonzalez popped to first in foul territory; Cedeno singled to left; Hodges allowed a passed ball [Cedeno to second]; Bergman flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 5. METS 8TH: Boisclair flied out to center; S. Henderson singled to right; Montanez singled to center [S. Henderson to third]; Hodges flied out to center; Foli forced Montanez (shortstop to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 5. ASTROS 8TH: Cabell singled to left; Ferguson out on a sacrifice bunt (catcher to first) [Cabell to second]; Cruz was walked intentionally; Metzger grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Cruz out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 3, Astros 5. METS 9TH: Flynn lined to right; YOUNGBLOOD BATTED FOR METZGER; Youngblood tripled to right; Mazzilli singled to right [Youngblood scored]; Maddox grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Mazzilli out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 4, Astros 5.

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