Ken Forsch, who recently came out of the bullpen to join the Astros' starting rotation, pitched a two-hitter and posted his first shutout since 1971, beating the Dodgers, 5-0. Forsch had only two previous shutouts in his major league career, both also against the Dodgers.

Enos Cabell led the Astros' attack, hitting three singles and scoring three runs. The defeat cut the Dodgers' lead over the Giants to three games in the West division. [The Sporting News]

Houston Astros 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

Game Played on Friday, September 8, 1978 (Night game) at Astrodome

Dodgers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 2 Astros 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 x - 5 11 0 Dodgers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Astros AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Lopes 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .278 Landestoy ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 .277 Russell ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .273 Drumright 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .156 Smith rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .301 Puhl cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .298 Garvey 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .294 Cruz rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .310 Cey 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .271 Cabell 3b 4 3 3 1 0 0 .290 Baker lf 2 0 0 0 1 0 .275 Walling lf 4 0 2 1 0 1 .257 Monday cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .255 Bergman 1b 2 1 0 1 1 0 .234 Ferguson c 3 0 1 0 0 1 .232 Bochy c 4 0 2 0 0 0 .262 Hough p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 Forsch p 4 0 0 1 0 0 .182 Welch p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .211 Oates ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .319 Rautzhan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Grote c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .295 Lacy ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .266 Totals 28 0 2 0 1 5 Totals 34 5 11 4 1 1 Time of Game: 1:45 Attendance: 12,905 Left on Base: Dodgers 2, Astros 7 DP: Dodgers 0, Astros 1 Errors: Ferguson 2 Doubles: Walling (9) Triples: Cruz (8) Stolen Bases: Cabell (31), Cruz (29) Sacrifice Flies: Bergman (2) GIDP: Ferguson (12) Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Welch L(5-3) 5 7 3 3 0 0 0 22 2.26 Rautzhan 2 4 2 2 1 1 0 11 1.73 Hough 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2.97 Totals 8 11 5 5 1 1 0 36 Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Forsch W(9-5) 9 2 0 0 1 5 0 29 2.68 Totals 9 2 0 0 1 5 0 29 Wild Pitches: Rautzhan (1) Umpires: HP - Dick Stello, 1B - Bruce Froemming, 2B - Joe West, 3B - Bill Williams DODGERS 1ST: Lopes grounded out (third to first); Russell lined to left; Smith grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 0. ASTROS 1ST: Landestoy grounded out (shortstop to first); Drumright grounded out (second to first); Puhl made an out to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 0. DODGERS 2ND: Garvey grounded out (shortstop to first); Cey flied out to center; Baker grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 0. ASTROS 2ND: Cruz tripled to left; Cabell singled to center [Cruz scored]; Walling doubled to right [Cabell scored]; Bergman flied out to left; Bochy singled to left [Walling to third]; Forsch reached on a fielder's choice [Walling out at home (pitcher to catcher), Bochy to second]; Landestoy made an out to shortstop; 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 2. DODGERS 3RD: Monday lined to center; Ferguson singled to left; On a bunt Welch struck out; Lopes flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 2. ASTROS 3RD: Drumright flied out to left; Puhl flied out to center; Cruz grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 2. DODGERS 4TH: Russell popped to catcher in foul territory; Smith struck out; Garvey popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 2. ASTROS 4TH: Cabell singled to center; Walling singled to right [Cabell to third]; Bergman hit a sacrifice fly to center [Cabell scored, Walling to second (error by Ferguson)]; Bochy made an out to shortstop; Forsch grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 3. DODGERS 5TH: Cey made an out to third; Baker grounded out (third to first); Monday grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 3. ASTROS 5TH: Landestoy singled to center; Drumright forced Landestoy (pitcher to shortstop); Puhl made an out to shortstop; Cruz popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 3. DODGERS 6TH: Ferguson struck out; OATES BATTED FOR WELCH; Oates grounded out (first unassisted); Lopes singled to third; Russell grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 3. ASTROS 6TH: RAUTZHAN REPLACED OATES (PITCHING); Cabell singled to left; Cabell stole second [Cabell to third (error by Ferguson)]; Walling struck out; Bergman walked; Rautzhan threw a wild pitch [Cabell scored, Bergman to second]; Bochy singled to center [Bergman to third]; Forsch forced Bochy (shortstop to second) [Bergman scored]; Landestoy singled to pitcher [Forsch to second]; Drumright grounded out (catcher to first); 2 R, 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 5. DODGERS 7TH: Smith lined to right; Garvey popped to pitcher; Cey struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 5. ASTROS 7TH: Puhl flied out to left; Cruz singled to second; Cruz stole second; Cabell flied out to right; Walling grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 5. DODGERS 8TH: Baker walked; Monday lined to center; Ferguson grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Baker out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 5. ASTROS 8TH: HOUGH REPLACED FERGUSON (PITCHING); GROTE REPLACED RAUTZHAN (PLAYING C ); Bergman grounded out (first to pitcher); Bochy flied out to center; Forsch made an out to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, Astros 5. DODGERS 9TH: LACY BATTED FOR GROTE; Lacy struck out; Lopes flied out to center; Russell grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 0, 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".