Giants Overcome Cedeno Inside-the-Park Home Run in 9th

San Francisco, CA - The lead had already changed hands four times before former Astro infielder Roger Metzger finished off Houston with a game winning single in the 9th. The wildest game of the day was also the unlikeliest as San Francisco's Ed Halicki versus CY Young J.R Richard was the most likely to be a pitcher's dual. The 9th inning was nothing short of exhilirating. Cesar Cedeno, making his Astro debut, raced home with a 2-run go-ahead inside the park home run in the top of the 9th. In the bottom half it was a classic veteran versus rookie showdown as Willie McCovey knotted up the game for the Giants on an RBI single off rookie Joe Sambito. Sambito was perfect for the Astros in spring training but the official start to his big league career will be memorable, but not in a good way.


San Francisco 9, Houston 8

4/5/1976, HOU76-SFG76, Candlestick Park
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1976 Houston           0  2  0  1  0  3  0  0  2     8  9  1     5  2
1976 San Francisco     0  0  3  0  0  3  0  1  2     9 14  1     8  0
 
Houston              AB  R  H BI   AVG    San Francisco        AB  R  H BI   AVG
Cedeno            cf  5  1  1  2  .200    Joshua            cf  4  0  1  1  .250
Gross             rf  5  1  3  0  .600     Lavelle          p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Scott            pr  0  0  0  0  .000     Rader            c   1  0  1  0 1.000
Cabell            3b  5  1  1  0  .200    Trillo            2b  5  1  0  0  .000
 Sambito          p   0  0  0  0  .000    Adams             lf  5  1  1  0  .200
Cruz              lf  5  3  3  1  .600    Smith             3b  3  2  0  0  .000
Ivie              1b  3  1  1  2  .333    McCovey           1b  4  2  3  1  .750
Lopes             2b  2  0  0  2  .000    Murcer            rf  2  0  0  0  .000
Reynolds          ss  4  0  0  1  .000     Matthews         ph  2  0  2  2 1.000
 Forsch           p   0  0  0  0  .000     Clark            rf  0  0  0  0  .000
 Howe             3b  0  0  0  0  .000    May               c   3  1  1  1  .333
Ashby             c   2  0  0  0  .000     Moffitt          p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Howard           ph  1  0  0  0  .000     Metzger          ph  1  0  1  1 1.000
 Jutze            c   0  0  0  0  .000    Thomas            ss  3  1  1  1  .333
Richard           p   3  0  0  0  .000    Halicki           p   2  1  2  1 1.000
 Scherman         p   0  0  0  0  .000     Alexander        p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Cosgrove         p   0  0  0  0  .000     Reitz            ph  2  0  1  0  .500
 DaVanon          ss  0  1  0  0  .000                         37  9 14  8
                     35  8  9  8
 
Houston                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Richard                          5.1  7  6  6  2  3  87  54 10.13
Scherman         BS 1            0.1  2  0  0  1  0  18   8  0.00
Cosgrove                         1.2  2  1  1  0  1  19  13  5.40
Forsch           L 0-1           1.1  1  2  2  1  1  28  16 13.50
Sambito          BS 1            0.0  2  0  0  1  0   9   3  0.00
                                 8.2 14  9  9  5  5 161  94 
 
San Francisco                    INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Halicki                          5.0  7  6  6  1  3  76  51 10.80
Alexander                        1.0  0  0  0  2  1  22  11  0.00
Lavelle                          2.1  0  1  1  1  0  27  16  3.86
Moffitt          BS 1, W 1-0     0.2  2  1  1  0  0  12   7 13.50
                                 9.0  9  8  8  4  4 137  85 
 
HOU: DaVanon inserted at ss in the 8th
     Howard batted for Ashby in the 9th
     Scott ran for Gross in the 9th
     Scott moved to rf in the 9th
     Jutze inserted at c in the 9th
     Howe inserted at 3b in the 9th
SFG: Matthews batted for Murcer in the 6th
     Reitz batted for Alexander in the 6th
     Smith moved to cf in the 7th
     Matthews moved to rf in the 7th
     Reitz moved to 3b in the 7th
     Clark inserted at rf in the 9th
     Rader inserted at c in the 9th
     Metzger batted for Moffitt in the 9th
 
E-Reynolds, Joshua. 2B-Gross, Adams, Halicki. HR-Cedeno(1), Ivie(1). 
SB-Cruz(1), Lopes(1). CS-Lopes. K-Cedeno, Gross, Richard 2, Joshua, Trillo, 
Adams, Murcer, Thomas. BB-Ivie, Lopes, Ashby, DaVanon, Smith 2, McCovey, 
Thomas, Clark. SH-May. SF-Lopes. WP-Moffitt. 
GWRBI: Metzger