A grand-slam homer by Steve Garvey climaxed a five-run rally in the eighth inning and brought the Dodgers a 6-5 victory over the Astros, who were eliminated from the West division race, giving the championship to the Reds. The Dodgers had a homer by Steve Yeager in the third inning, but the Astros tied the score in the seventh and forged ahead with four runs in the eighth. Dave Bergman, pinch-hitting for Ken Forsch, drove in one run with a single and Cesar Cedeno followed with a three-run homer.

The Dodgers began their rally in the home half with a double by Ted Martinez, who scored on singles by pinch-hitter Vic Davalillo and Von Joshua. Derrel Thomas then bunted safely to load the bases, setting the stage for Garvey's slam off Vern Ruhle. [The Sporting News]



Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Houston Astros 5
Game Played on Friday, September 28, 1979 (Night game) at Dodger Stadium
Astros       0  0  0    0  0  0    1  4  0  -   5  8  0
Dodgers      0  0  1    0  0  0    0  5  x  -   6  8  0


Astros               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Dodgers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Puhl cf               4   1   1   0     0   1   .287      Lopes 2b              2   0   0   0     0   0   .265
Reynolds ss           4   0   2   0     0   1   .264        Joshua ph,rf        2   1   1   1     0   0   .296
Cedeno 1b             4   1   1   3     0   1   .262      Thomas cf,ss          4   1   2   0     0   1   .257
Cruz lf               4   1   1   0     0   0   .289      Garvey 1b             4   1   1   4     0   0   .316
Cabell 3b             3   0   1   1     1   0   .272      Cey 3b                4   0   0   0     0   1   .281
Leonard rf            4   0   1   0     0   1   .289      Baker lf              3   0   0   0     1   1   .275
Bochy c               2   0   0   0     1   0   .217      Thomasson rf,cf       4   0   1   0     0   0   .250
  Sexton pr           0   1   0   0     0   0   .162      Martinez ss,2b        3   1   1   0     0   0   .286
  Pujols c            0   0   0   0     0   0   .235      Yeager c              3   1   1   1     0   0   .218
  Walling ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .326      Hough p               2   0   0   0     0   0   .158
Landestoy 2b          2   0   0   0     0   0   .273        Davalillo ph        1   1   1   0     0   0   .240
Forsch p              2   0   0   0     0   0   .138        Castillo p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Bergman ph          1   1   1   1     0   0   .500
  Ruhle p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .053
  LaCorte p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               31   5   8   5     2   4             Totals               32   6   8   6     1   3

Time of Game: 2:09   Attendance: 27,719
Left on Base: Astros 2, Dodgers 3
DP: Astros 0, Dodgers 1
Doubles: Martinez (5)
Triples: Cabell (5)
Home Runs: Cedeno (6), Yeager (13), Garvey (28)
Stolen Bases: Puhl (30), Baker (11)
Caught Stealing: Reynolds (6), Cabell (18)
Sacrifice Hits: Landestoy (3)
GIDP: Cedeno (15)


Astros                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Forsch                  7     3   1   1   0   2   1  24   3.04
Ruhle L(2-6)            0.1   5   5   5   0   0   1   6   4.07
LaCorte                 0.2   0   0   0   1   1   0   3   5.60
Totals                  8     8   6   6   1   3   2  33

Dodgers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hough W(7-5)            8     8   5   5   1   3   1  31   4.76
Castillo SV(7)          1     0   0   0   1   1   0   3   1.11
Totals                  9     8   5   5   2   4   1  34

Umpires: HP - Paul Runge, 1B - John McSherry, 2B - Steve Fields, 3B - Bob Engel


ASTROS 1ST: Puhl grounded out (second to first); Reynolds
singled to left; Cedeno grounded into a double play (shortstop
to second to first) [Reynolds out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 0, Dodgers 0.

DODGERS 1ST: Lopes grounded out (pitcher to first); Thomas flied
out to center; Garvey flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 0, Dodgers 0.

ASTROS 2ND: Cruz flied out to right; Cabell grounded out
(shortstop to first); Leonard singled to center; Bochy grounded
out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Dodgers 0.

DODGERS 2ND: Cey flied out to right; Baker grounded out
(shortstop to first); Thomasson singled to center; Martinez
flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 0, Dodgers 0.

ASTROS 3RD: Landestoy popped to third in foul territory; Forsch
flied out to left; Puhl struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 0, Dodgers 0.

DODGERS 3RD: Yeager homered; Hough popped to first; Lopes popped
to first; Thomas struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0,
Dodgers 1.

ASTROS 4TH: Reynolds popped to catcher in foul territory; Cedeno
popped to third; Cruz popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 0, Dodgers 1.

DODGERS 4TH: Garvey flied out to right; Cey grounded out (third
to first); Baker grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 0, Dodgers 1.

ASTROS 5TH: Cabell flied out to center; Leonard flied out to
center; Bochy flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
0, Dodgers 1.

DODGERS 5TH: Thomasson flied out to left; Martinez grounded out
(shortstop to first); Yeager flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Astros 0, Dodgers 1.

ASTROS 6TH: Landestoy popped to catcher in foul territory;
Forsch grounded out (third to first); Puhl flied out to center;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 0, Dodgers 1.

DODGERS 6TH: Hough grounded out (shortstop to first); JOSHUA
BATTED FOR LOPES; Joshua flied out to left; Thomas singled to
right; Garvey popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Astros 0, Dodgers 1.

ASTROS 7TH: JOSHUA STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); THOMAS CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING SS); THOMASSON CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING
CF); MARTINEZ CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 2B); Reynolds singled
to left; Reynolds was caught stealing second (catcher to
second); Cedeno struck out; Cruz singled to right; Cabell
tripled to right [Cruz scored]; Leonard lined to pitcher; 1 R, 3
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Astros 1, Dodgers 1.

DODGERS 7TH: Cey flied out to left; Baker struck out; Thomasson
flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros 1, Dodgers 1.

ASTROS 8TH: Bochy walked; SEXTON RAN FOR BOCHY; Landestoy out on
a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Sexton to second]; BERGMAN
BATTED FOR FORSCH; Bergman singled to center [Sexton scored];
Puhl singled to right [Bergman to third]; Puhl stole second;
Reynolds struck out; Cedeno homered [Bergman scored, Puhl
scored]; Cruz flied out to left; 4 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Astros
5, Dodgers 1.

DODGERS 8TH: PUJOLS REPLACED SEXTON (PLAYING C ); RUHLE REPLACED
BERGMAN (PITCHING); Martinez doubled to left; Yeager flied out
to center; DAVALILLO BATTED FOR HOUGH; Davalillo singled to left
[Martinez to third]; Joshua singled to right [Martinez scored,
Davalillo to second]; On a bunt Thomas singled to third
[Davalillo to third, Joshua to second]; Garvey homered
[Davalillo scored, Joshua scored, Thomas scored]; LACORTE
REPLACED RUHLE (PITCHING); Cey struck out; Baker walked; Baker
stole second; Thomasson flied out to left; 5 R, 5 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
 Astros 5, Dodgers 6.

ASTROS 9TH: CASTILLO REPLACED DAVALILLO (PITCHING); Cabell
walked; Cabell was caught stealing second (catcher to
shortstop); Leonard struck out; WALLING BATTED FOR PUJOLS;
Walling grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Astros 5, Dodgers 6.