4/6/73: Aaron hits 674, but Astros shut down the rest of the Braves, 3-1

On his first at-bat of 1973, Henry Aaron started the final pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record by hitting a Dave Roberts pitch just barely over the left field wall for # 674. That, however, was the last anyone seen of the Braves at Atlanta Stadium on opening night. 

Roberts would limit the Braves to just 4 hits, none however after the 4th inning as Cesar Cedeno and Doug Rader countered Aaron's blow with solo shots of their own in a 3-1 win over the otherwise punchless Braves. Before Aaron's homer in the bottom of the 1st, Cesar Cedeno destroyed a Gary Gentry pitch. smashing it over the left field fence. Rader's solo shot came in the top of the 8th, all but finishing off Gentry, who aside from those two solo blasts, pitched a respectable game in his Braves debut. 

But Roberts was just plain solid, allowing just 4 hits, striking out 6 and after back-to-back singles by Dusty Baker and Darrell Evans in the 4th, held the Braves hitless with a walk over the last 5-1/3 innings. The Braves would get a defensive lift from Rod Gilbreath, who caught a Cesar Cedeno liner and turned into a 5-3 DP with 1 out/1 on in the top of the 7th. But as the evening ended, the one number that mattered to the Braves was on that billboard outside Atlanta Stadium: "674." 

HOU 3-9-1 ATL 1-4-1 WP-Roberts (1-0) LP-Gentry (0-1) HR-Cedeno (1), Aaron (1), Rader (1) HOU 1-0 ATL 0-1

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