Making a rare relief appearance, Tommy John gained his 10th victory of the season when the Dodgers defeated the Astros, 7-5, to complete the sweep of a twi-night doubleheader. Burt Hooton pitched a five-hitter and won the first game, 7-1. The Dodgers backed Hooton with a 14-hit attack that included a homer by Reggie Smith.

In the nightcap, the Astros knocked out Bob Welch in the fifth inning and took a 5-4 lead with a four-run outburst that included a two-run triple by Bob Watson after Lanc eRautzhan took over in relief. The Dodgers came back with a three-run rally in the sixth. Dusty Baker and Rick Monday singled and Bill North walked to load the bases. Johnny Oates sent the Dodgers ahead with a two-run single and Joe Ferguson added an insurance tally with a sacrifice fly. John pitched the last four innings and was awarded the decision. [The Sporting News]

Los Angeles Dodgers 7, Houston Astros 1 (Game 1)

Game Played on Saturday, July 8, 1978 (Night game) at Astrodome

Dodgers 1 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 - 7 14 1 Astros 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 5 2 Dodgers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Lopes 2b 6 2 2 1 0 0 .301 Puhl cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .306 Russell ss 5 0 3 2 0 1 .279 Sambito p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Smith rf 4 1 2 1 1 0 .307 Walling lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .244 Cey 3b 3 0 2 0 1 0 .269 Cabell 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .301 Martinez pr,3b 1 1 0 0 0 1 .238 Cruz rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .279 Garvey 1b 4 0 1 0 1 2 .298 Watson 1b 1 0 0 1 2 0 .292 Baker lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .281 Howe 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .275 Davalillo lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .265 Landestoy ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .333 Ferguson c 4 1 1 0 1 1 .227 Pujols c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .176 North cf 4 1 1 1 1 1 .263 Bannister p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .095 Hooton p 3 0 0 0 0 0 .107 Baldwin ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .241 Williams p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Bergman ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .143 McLaughlin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Forsch p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143 Howard ph,cf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .246 Totals 39 7 14 5 5 7 Totals 30 1 5 1 2 0 Time of Game: 2:29 Left on Base: Dodgers 12, Astros 5 DP: Dodgers 1, Astros 1 Errors: Smith, Pujols, Forsch Doubles: Lopes (14), Baker (17), Ferguson (9), Cruz (15) Triples: Russell (4) Home Runs: Smith (12) Stolen Bases: Baker (7), Lopes (24), Cabell (18) Sacrifice Hits: Hooton 2 (11) Sacrifice Flies: Watson (8) GIDP: Hooton (1), Howe (10) Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Hooton W(8-7) 9 5 1 0 2 0 0 33 3.18 Totals 9 5 1 0 2 0 0 33 Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Bannister L(3-4) 3 7 4 4 1 4 1 16 3.43 Williams 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 8 3.77 McLaughlin 1 3 3 1 2 1 0 9 4.50 Forsch 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 8 3.44 Sambito 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 5 3.08 Totals 9 14 7 5 5 7 1 46 Wild Pitches: Bannister (6), McLaughlin 2 (3) Umpires: HP - Charlie Williams, 1B - Terry Tata, 2B - Jim Quick, 3B - Paul Pryor DODGERS 1ST: Lopes doubled to left; Russell singled to left [Lopes scored, Russell out at second (left to third to second to first to shortstop)]; Smith grounded out (third to first); Cey walked; Garvey struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 1, Astros 0. ASTROS 1ST: Puhl flied out to center; Walling made an out to third; Cabell singled to center; Cabell stole second; Cruz flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 1, Astros 0. DODGERS 2ND: Baker doubled to left; Baker stole third; Bannister threw a wild pitch [Baker scored]; Ferguson grounded out (third to first); North singled to center; Hooton out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [North to second]; Lopes singled to left [North scored]; Russell struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 3, Astros 0. ASTROS 2ND: Watson walked; Howe grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Watson out at second]; Landestoy singled to shortstop; Pujols made an out to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 3, Astros 0. DODGERS 3RD: Smith homered; Cey singled to center; Garvey struck out; Baker forced Cey (shortstop to second); Ferguson struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 4, Astros 0. ASTROS 3RD: BALDWIN BATTED FOR BANNISTER; Baldwin singled to right; Puhl flied out to center; Walling flied out to left; Cabell lined to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 4, Astros 0. DODGERS 4TH: WILLIAMS REPLACED BALDWIN (PITCHING); North grounded out (second to first); Hooton popped to catcher in foul territory; Lopes grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 4, Astros 0. ASTROS 4TH: Cruz grounded out (shortstop to first); Watson flied out to center; Howe grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 4, Astros 0. DODGERS 5TH: Russell grounded out (shortstop to first); Smith walked; Cey flied out to right; Garvey singled to center [Smith to third]; Baker struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 4, Astros 0. ASTROS 5TH: Landestoy flied out to right; Pujols grounded out (second to first); BERGMAN BATTED FOR WILLIAMS; Bergman flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 4, Astros 0. DODGERS 6TH: MCLAUGHLIN REPLACED BERGMAN (PITCHING); Ferguson walked; McLaughlin threw a wild pitch [Ferguson to second]; McLaughlin threw a wild pitch [Ferguson to third]; North struck out; Hooton reached on an error by Pujols [Ferguson scored (unearned) (no RBI), Hooton to first]; Lopes forced Hooton (second to shortstop); Lopes stole second; Russell tripled to center [Lopes scored (unearned)]; Smith lined to second; 2 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 6, Astros 0. ASTROS 6TH: Puhl flied out to center; Walling grounded out (second to first); Cabell grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 6, Astros 0. DODGERS 7TH: Cey singled to pitcher; MARTINEZ RAN FOR CEY; Garvey walked [Martinez to second]; Baker singled to left [Martinez to third, Garvey to second]; FORSCH REPLACED MCLAUGHLIN (PITCHING); Ferguson popped to catcher in foul territory; North reached on an error by Forsch (assist by Watson) [Martinez scored (RBI), Garvey to third, Baker to second, North to first]; Hooton grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [North out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 7, Astros 0. ASTROS 7TH: MARTINEZ STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); Cruz doubled to right [Cruz to third (error by Smith)]; Watson hit a sacrifice fly to right [Cruz scored (unearned)]; Howe flied out to left; Landestoy made an out to third; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 7, Astros 1. DODGERS 8TH: Lopes flied out to center; Russell singled to shortstop; Smith singled to right [Russell to third]; Martinez struck out; Garvey grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 7, Astros 1. ASTROS 8TH: DAVALILLO REPLACED BAKER (PLAYING LF); Pujols flied out to center; HOWARD BATTED FOR FORSCH; Howard made an out to shortstop; Puhl grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 7, Astros 1. DODGERS 9TH: SAMBITO REPLACED PUHL (PITCHING); HOWARD STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); Davalillo flied out to center; Ferguson doubled to left; North walked; Hooton out on a sacrifice bunt (catcher to second) [Ferguson to third, North to second]; Lopes flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 7, Astros 1. ASTROS 9TH: Walling flied out to center; Cabell flied out to center; Cruz singled to right; Watson walked [Cruz to second]; Howe grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 7, Astros 1.

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