Willie McCovey became the 12th player in major league history to reach a career total of 500 homers, but the Giants came out on the short end of slugfests and lost both games of a twi-night doubleheader to the Braves, 10-9 and 10-5. There were 10 homers in the twin bill, including five by the Giants in the opener. In addition to McCovey's milestone smash, Mike Ivie hit his second pinch-grand slam of the season, Jack Clark homered twice and Bill Madlock once.

The Braves, who were trailing, 6-1, started their comeback with a homer by Jeff Burroughs in the sixth and rallied for four runs in the seventh, three scoring on a circuit clout by Darrel Chaney. Then, in the eighth, Rod Gilbreath and Gary Matthews drove in two runs apiece with bases-loaded singles, enabling the Braves to survive homers by Madlock and Clark in the ninth.

In the nightcap, after Biff Pocoroba homered with two men on base in the first inning, the Braves clinched the decision in the fourth, sending 11 men to bat and scoring six runs, including three on a triple by Burroughs. Dale Murphy homered for the Braves in the eighth, while Clark hit his third of the night for the Giants. [The Sporting News]

Atlanta Braves 10, San Francisco Giants 9 (Game 1)

Game Played on Friday, June 30, 1978 (Night game) at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Giants 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 3 - 9 11 1 Braves 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 4 x - 10 14 0 Giants AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Braves AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Madlock 2b 5 1 2 1 0 0 .325 Gilbreath 2b 4 2 2 2 0 0 .240 Evans 3b 4 1 1 0 1 1 .253 Beall 1b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .205 Clark rf 5 2 2 3 0 0 .305 Office cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .259 McCovey 1b 2 1 2 1 0 0 .232 Matthews ph,rf 2 0 1 2 0 1 .279 Dwyer pr,1b 2 1 0 0 1 0 .236 Burroughs lf 5 1 2 1 0 1 .323 Cruz lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .248 Nolan c 3 0 1 1 0 0 .217 Herndon cf 2 0 1 0 1 0 .295 Murphy ph,c 1 1 1 0 0 0 .204 LeMaster ss 2 1 0 0 2 1 .213 Horner 3b 3 1 1 0 0 0 .184 Moffitt p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 Bonnell rf,cf 3 2 2 0 1 0 .225 Sadek c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .247 Chaney ss 4 1 1 3 0 1 .207 Ivie ph 1 1 1 4 0 0 .352 Easterly p 1 0 1 0 0 0 .273 Hill c 1 0 0 0 0 0 .212 Campbell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Montefusco p 3 0 0 0 0 2 .073 Pocoroba ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .263 Lavelle p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143 Royster pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .282 Metzger ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 .236 Garber p 0 1 0 0 1 0 .000 Totals 34 9 11 9 5 5 Totals 33 10 14 10 3 3 Time of Game: 2:27 Left on Base: Giants 4, Braves 6 DP: Giants 1, Braves 1 Errors: Lavelle Doubles: Madlock (11), McCovey (14) Home Runs: McCovey (7), Clark 2 (11), Ivie (5), Madlock (8), Burroughs (9), Chaney (2) Stolen Bases: LeMaster (4), Office (4) Caught Stealing: Herndon (7) Sacrifice Hits: Herndon (9), Easterly (1), Gilbreath (2), Horner (1) Sacrifice Flies: Beall (1) GIDP: Clark (4), Horner (1) Giants IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Montefusco 6 10 6 5 1 1 2 27 3.57 Lavelle L(5-7) 1.2 1 3 3 2 2 0 9 4.11 Moffitt 0.1 3 1 1 0 0 0 4 3.53 Totals 8 14 10 9 3 3 2 40 Braves IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Easterly 5 6 4 4 4 2 2 23 6.28 Campbell 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 8 4.70 Garber W(3-1) 2 4 3 3 0 2 2 9 1.70 Totals 9 11 9 9 5 5 5 40 Umpires: HP - Joe West, 1B - John Kibler, 2B - Nick Colosi, 3B - Satch Davidson GIANTS 1ST: Madlock flied out to left; Evans walked; Clark grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Evans out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 1ST: Gilbreath singled to center; Beall grounded out (second to first) [Gilbreath to second]; Office singled [Gilbreath to third]; Office stole second; Burroughs was called out on strikes; Nolan singled to center [Gilbreath scored, Office out at home (center to catcher)]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Giants 0, Braves 1. GIANTS 2ND: McCovey homered; Willie McCovey's 500th HR; Cruz grounded out (second to first); Herndon flied out to right; LeMaster walked; LeMaster stole second; Sadek grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Giants 1, Braves 1. BRAVES 2ND: Horner grounded out (third to first); Bonnell made an out to first; Chaney grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 1, Braves 1. GIANTS 3RD: Montefusco struck out; Madlock doubled to center; Evans grounded out (first unassisted) [Madlock to third]; Clark grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Giants 1, Braves 1. BRAVES 3RD: Easterly singled to right; Gilbreath forced Easterly (third to shortstop); Beall lined to second; Office flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Giants 1, Braves 1. GIANTS 4TH: McCovey doubled to center; DWYER RAN FOR MCCOVEY; Cruz singled to right [Dwyer out at third (right to third)]; Herndon walked [Cruz to second]; LeMaster flied out to center; Sadek forced Herndon (third to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Giants 1, Braves 1. BRAVES 4TH: DWYER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Burroughs singled to left; Nolan forced Burroughs (second to shortstop); Horner grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Nolan out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 1, Braves 1. GIANTS 5TH: Montefusco grounded out (pitcher to first); Madlock grounded out (third to first); Evans was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 1, Braves 1. BRAVES 5TH: Bonnell singled; Chaney popped to pitcher; Easterly out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first) [Bonnell to second]; Gilbreath made an out to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Giants 1, Braves 1. GIANTS 6TH: Clark homered; Dwyer walked; Cruz singled to left [Dwyer to second]; CAMPBELL REPLACED EASTERLY (PITCHING); Herndon out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Dwyer to third, Cruz to second]; LeMaster was walked intentionally; IVIE BATTED FOR SADEK; Ivie homered [Dwyer scored, Cruz scored, LeMaster scored]; Montefusco was called out on strikes; Madlock made an out to third; 5 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 6, Braves 1. BRAVES 6TH: HILL REPLACED IVIE (PLAYING C ); Beall flied out to left; Office grounded out (shortstop to first); Burroughs homered; Nolan grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 6, Braves 2. GIANTS 7TH: Evans flied out to right; Clark flied out to center; Dwyer flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 6, Braves 2. BRAVES 7TH: Horner singled; Bonnell singled to center [Horner to second]; Chaney homered [Horner scored, Bonnell scored]; POCOROBA BATTED FOR CAMPBELL; Pocoroba walked; LAVELLE REPLACED MONTEFUSCO (PITCHING); ROYSTER RAN FOR POCOROBA; Gilbreath reached on an error by Lavelle on a sacrifice bunt [Royster to third, Gilbreath to first]; Beall hit a sacrifice fly to right [Royster scored (unearned)]; MATTHEWS BATTED FOR OFFICE; Matthews struck out; Burroughs flied out to center; 4 R (3 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Giants 6, Braves 6. GIANTS 8TH: MATTHEWS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); GARBER REPLACED ROYSTER (PITCHING); BONNELL CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING CF); Cruz struck out; Herndon singled to right; Herndon was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); LeMaster struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 6, Braves 6. BRAVES 8TH: MURPHY BATTED FOR NOLAN; Murphy singled to center; Horner out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Murphy to second]; Bonnell was walked intentionally; Chaney struck out; Garber walked [Murphy to third, Bonnell to second]; MOFFITT REPLACED LEMASTER (PITCHING); METZGER REPLACED LAVELLE (PLAYING SS); Gilbreath singled to right [Murphy scored, Bonnell scored, Garber to second]; Beall singled to right [Garber to third, Gilbreath to second]; Matthews singled [Garber scored, Gilbreath scored, Beall to second]; Burroughs flied out to left; 4 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Giants 6, Braves 10. GIANTS 9TH: MURPHY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); Hill grounded out (shortstop to first); Metzger grounded out (first unassisted); Madlock homered; Evans singled; Clark homered [Evans scored]; Dwyer flied out to left; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 9, Braves 10.

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