Houston Comes Up Short in the Clutch

Tony Gwynn was 3 for 3 with a walk, scoring two key runs to lead the St. Louis Wizards over the Houston Hoots at the Astrodome. Wizards starter John Smoltz allowed just 2 runs, both on solo homers, and 8 hits in 7 innings, but Houston had several chances to tie the game. The Hoots left the bases loaded in the 6th after Jeff Bagwell led off the inning with a walk and got caught stealing by Ted Simmons. In the 8th, Smoltz allowed a leadoff homer to Billy Williams and a single to Ryne Sandberg. Fergie Jenkins then struck out Duke Snider, but Hank Aaron followed with a single to put the tying run on 3rd. Mel Ott dribbled one back to Jenkins, and Gary Carter flew out to left to end the inning. Bruce Sutter followed with a 1-2-3 inning in the 9th for his Baseball Maelstrom-leading 8th save. The Wizards improved to 19-5, while the Hoots fell to 9-15.

St. Louis @ Houston – 4/25/22