Roaring to their seventh straight victory, the Astros downed the Phillies, 3-0, as rookie Randy Niemann tossed his first major league shutout. The Astros scored twice in the fourth inning as Terry Puhl doubled and scored on a single by Craig Reynolds. After a groundout, Jose Cruz tripled home Reynolds.

The Astros added a run in the seventh on a double by Jeff Leonard and single by Alan Ashby. It was the eighth loss in nine games for the Phils, who were blanked four times during that stretch. [The Sporting News]



Houston Astros 3, Philadelphia Phillies 0
Game Played on Monday, June      4, 1979 (Night game) at Astrodome
Phillies     0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   0  6  0
Astros       0  0  0    2  0  0    1  0  x  -   3  7  0


Phillies             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Maddox cf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .287      Puhl cf               3   1   1   0     1   0   .270
Harrelson ss          4   0   1   0     0   1   .348      Reynolds ss           4   1   1   1     0   0   .296
Rose 1b               4   0   1   0     0   0   .350      Cedeno 1b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .261
  McGraw p            0   0   0   0     0   0  1.000      Cruz lf               4   0   2   1     0   0   .303
Luzinski lf           4   0   1   0     0   2   .261      Leonard rf            3   1   1   0     0   1   .320
Schmidt 3b            4   0   2   0     0   0   .270      Howe 3b               3   0   0   0     0   1   .205
Cardenal rf,1b        3   0   0   0     1   1   .130      Ashby c               3   0   1   1     0   0   .225
Boone c               4   0   0   0     0   0   .255      Landestoy 2b          3   0   0   0     0   1   .171
Aviles 2b             3   0   0   0     0   0   .283      Niemann p             3   0   1   0     0   1   .125
Christenson p         2   0   1   0     0   0   .429
  Anderson ph,rf      1   0   0   0     0   0   .250

Totals               33   0   6   0     1   4             Totals               30   3   7   3     1   4

Time of Game: 1:53   Attendance: 19,062
Left on Base: Phillies 7, Astros 4
DP: Phillies 0, Astros 0
Doubles: Harrelson (2), Puhl (8), Leonard (5)
Triples: Schmidt (1), Cruz (5)
Caught Stealing: Cruz (3)


Phillies               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Christenson L(0-3)      7     6   3   3   0   4   0  26   3.45
McGraw                  1     1   0   0   1   0   0   5   2.70
Totals                  8     7   3   3   1   4   0  31

Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niemann W(2-0)          9     6   0   0   1   4   0  34   0.72
Totals                  9     6   0   0   1   4   0  34

Umpires: HP - Harry Wendelstedt, 1B - Dutch Rennert, 2B - Dave Pallone, 3B - Lee Weyer


PHILLIES 1ST: Maddox flied out to center; Harrelson struck out;
Rose singled to right; Luzinski singled to center [Rose to
second]; Schmidt flied out to center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Phillies 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: Puhl popped to shortstop; Reynolds lined to
shortstop; Cedeno made an out to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Phillies 0, Astros 0.

PHILLIES 2ND: Cardenal grounded out (shortstop to first); Boone
grounded out (shortstop to first); Aviles grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros
0.

ASTROS 2ND: Cruz singled to center; Cruz was caught stealing
second (catcher to shortstop); Leonard was called out on
strikes; Howe struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 0,
Astros 0.

PHILLIES 3RD: Christenson flied out to left; Maddox flied out to
right; Harrelson lined to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies
0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Ashby made an out to second; Landestoy struck out;
Niemann struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 0.

PHILLIES 4TH: Rose flied out to right; Luzinski struck out;
Schmidt singled to left; Cardenal grounded out (third to first);
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 4TH: Puhl doubled to right; Reynolds singled to left
[Puhl scored]; Cedeno grounded out (first unassisted) [Reynolds
to second]; Cruz tripled to center [Reynolds scored]; Leonard
reached on a fielder's choice [Cruz out at home (third to
catcher)]; Howe grounded out (shortstop to first); 2 R, 3 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 2.

PHILLIES 5TH: Boone grounded out (third to first); Aviles
grounded out (second to first); Christenson singled to left;
Maddox forced Christenson (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 2.

ASTROS 5TH: Ashby grounded out (second to first); Landestoy
lined to shortstop; Niemann grounded out (third to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 2.

PHILLIES 6TH: Harrelson grounded out (shortstop to first); Rose
flied out to center; Luzinski grounded out (third to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 2.

ASTROS 6TH: Puhl flied out to center; Reynolds flied out to
left; Cedeno grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 2.

PHILLIES 7TH: Schmidt flied out to right; Cardenal walked; Boone
flied out to center; On a bunt Aviles popped to pitcher in foul
territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 2.

ASTROS 7TH: Cruz grounded out (shortstop to first); Leonard
doubled to right; Howe flied out to right [Leonard to third];
Ashby singled to center [Leonard scored]; Landestoy flied out to
center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 3.

PHILLIES 8TH: ANDERSON BATTED FOR CHRISTENSON; Anderson grounded
out (third to first); Maddox grounded out (second to first);
Harrelson doubled to center; Rose grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 3.

ASTROS 8TH: MCGRAW REPLACED ROSE (PITCHING); ANDERSON STAYED IN
GAME (PLAYING RF); CARDENAL CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B);
Niemann singled to right; Puhl walked [Niemann to second];
Reynolds forced Niemann (pitcher to third) [Puhl to second];
Cedeno grounded out (shortstop to first) [Puhl to third,
Reynolds to second]; Cruz grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros 3.

PHILLIES 9TH: Luzinski struck out; Schmidt tripled to right;
Cardenal was called out on strikes; Boone grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Astros
3.