Rookie Larry McWilliams won his first major league start as the Braves blanked the Mets, 3-0, in the first game of a twin bill. But the Mets came back to capture the second contest, 7-4. McWilliams went seven innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. The first Brave tally came in the seventh when Dale Murphy blasted his 13th homer of the campaign. A single by Rowland Office, double by Jeff Burroughs, walk to Bob Horner and two-run single by Joe Nolan in the eighth frame gave the Braves insurance.

The Mets went ahead, 1-0, in the second inning of the second game when John Stearns belted a homer. In the fourth frame, Stearns singled and went to third on a double by Willie Montanez. Tom Grieve followed with a two-run single. The fourth run of the inning came on an RBI single by Tom Hausman. Stearns had an RBI single in the seventh and Skip Lockwood hit a circuit clout in the ninth. [The Sporting News]

Atlanta Braves 3, New York Mets 0 (Game 1)

Game Played on Monday, July 17, 1978 (Night game) at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Mets 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 6 0 Braves 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 x - 3 9 1 Mets AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Braves AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Randle 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .229 Royster ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .281 Foli ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .234 Office cf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .262 S. Henderson lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .256 Matthews rf 2 0 0 0 2 0 .300 Stearns c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .262 Burroughs lf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .320 Montanez 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .266 Bonnell pr,lf 0 1 0 0 0 0 .230 Mazzilli cf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .274 Horner 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .265 Maddox rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .284 Nolan c 3 0 1 2 1 0 .211 Flynn 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .248 Murphy 1b 4 1 3 1 0 0 .238 Espinosa p 3 0 0 0 0 0 .167 Hubbard 2b 3 0 2 0 0 0 .308 Murray p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 McWilliams p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Kranepool ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .246 Pocoroba ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .250 Garber p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 34 0 6 0 2 5 Totals 28 3 9 3 5 3 Time of Game: 2:29 Left on Base: Mets 9, Braves 7 DP: Mets 2, Braves 0 Errors: Hubbard Doubles: Maddox (9), S. Henderson (14), Foli (11), Flynn 2 (6), Hubbard (1), Burroughs (18) Home Runs: Murphy (13) Caught Stealing: Matthews (4) Sacrifice Hits: McWilliams (1) GIDP: Hubbard (1), Murphy (7) Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Espinosa L(7-8) 7.1 9 3 3 5 3 1 33 4.14 Murray 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4.60 Totals 8 9 3 3 5 3 1 34 Braves IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA McWilliams W(1-0) 7 5 0 0 2 2 0 29 0.00 Garber SV(13) 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 7 1.27 Totals 9 6 0 0 2 5 0 36 Umpires: HP - Eric Gregg, 1B - Bill Williams, 2B - Dick Stello, 3B - Bruce Froemming METS 1ST: Randle struck out; Debut game for Larry McWilliams; Foli reached on an error by Hubbard [Foli to first]; S. Henderson forced Foli (shortstop to second); Stearns singled to left [S. Henderson to second]; Montanez grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 1ST: Royster was called out on strikes; Office flied out to right; Matthews walked; Matthews was caught stealing second (catcher to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. METS 2ND: Mazzilli grounded out (pitcher to first); Maddox doubled to left; Flynn struck out; Espinosa grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 2ND: Burroughs struck out; Horner made an out to shortstop; Nolan walked; Murphy singled to center [Nolan to second]; Nolan was picked off second (pitcher to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. METS 3RD: Randle grounded out (catcher unassisted); Foli popped to catcher in foul territory; S. Henderson doubled to left; Stearns flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 3RD: Hubbard singled to left; McWilliams out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Hubbard to second]; Royster grounded out (second to first) [Hubbard to third]; Office popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. METS 4TH: Montanez lined to second; Mazzilli walked; Maddox flied out to right; Flynn popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 4TH: Matthews flied out to right; Burroughs flied out to right; Horner flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. METS 5TH: Espinosa grounded out (third to first); Randle grounded out (shortstop to first); Foli doubled to left; S. Henderson flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 5TH: Nolan flied out to left; Murphy singled to left; Hubbard grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Murphy out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. METS 6TH: Stearns flied out to left; Montanez flied out to left; Mazzilli grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 6TH: McWilliams popped to third in foul territory; Royster grounded out (first to second to first); Office singled to first; Matthews walked [Office to second]; Burroughs walked [Office to third, Matthews to second]; Horner popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. METS 7TH: Maddox flied out to center; Flynn doubled to left; Espinosa grounded out (third to first); Randle walked; Foli grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 0. BRAVES 7TH: Nolan made an out to shortstop; Murphy homered; Hubbard doubled to center; POCOROBA BATTED FOR MCWILLIAMS; Pocoroba struck out; Royster flied out to right; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 1. METS 8TH: GARBER REPLACED POCOROBA (PITCHING); S. Henderson struck out; Stearns grounded out (third to first); Montanez grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 1. BRAVES 8TH: Office singled to right; Matthews flied out to center; Burroughs doubled to left [Office to third]; BONNELL RAN FOR BURROUGHS; Horner walked; Nolan singled to right [Office scored, Bonnell scored, Horner to third]; MURRAY REPLACED ESPINOSA (PITCHING); Murphy grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Nolan out at second]; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 3. METS 9TH: BONNELL STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Mazzilli grounded out (second to first); Maddox struck out (catcher to first); Flynn doubled to left; KRANEPOOL BATTED FOR MURRAY; Kranepool struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Braves 3.

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