Opening day of KOD12 at Ebbets Field starting off as good as possible for Houston when Jose Cruz led off the season with a round tripper that stunned Dodger ace Don Drysdale. In the second inning Astro Starter James Rodney (J.R.) Richard showed signs of bad things to come when he loaded the bases and walked Drysdale to force in the tying run. The Dodger third began with a strikeout, but then 8 straight Bums reached base on 3 singles and 5 walks to end Richard's day; all 8 runners scored. Roy Campanella's 2-run homer in the 5th inning ended the Dodgers scoring at 12 runs. Houston only scratched out 2 runs in the 6th on a Glenn Davis single. Final 12-3 LA. Drysdale goes the distance for the win.
Game 2 saw Sandy Koufax and Mike Scott take the hill in a
classic matchup that was tied 2-2 after 8 innings. Home Runs by Doug Rader and Bob Watson for Houston and Steve Garvey for LA accounted for 3 of the 4 runs. A game tying Sac Fly by Campanella was the tying hit. A host of Astro relief pitchers tried to keep the tie but Danny Darwin put men on in the 10th and lined up Carl Furillo for the walk off win single off of Ken Forsch. Final 3-2 LA. Ron Perranoski win in relief for LA.
The game 3 fight card faced Larry Dierker for Houston against Don Sutton. Jackie Robinson doubled to lead off the game and Gil Hodges took Dierker deep to give LA a 2-0 lead after two batters. Art Howe and Dierker each singled home a run in the Astro second to tie the game. Jim Wynn knocked in Cesar Cedeno for the go-ahead run in the fifth inning, as Dierker shut down LA until Maury Wills drove in Duke Snider in the 7th. But by then Houston enjoyed a nice lead thanks to a 2-run Cedeno HR. The Astros padded the score late with a Joe Morgan 3-run triple and another Cedeno RBI. Dierker goes the distance for the win, Sutton takes the loss. Final 9-3 Astros.
--submitted by Mike Johnson (HOU)--
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