Wilmington Morning News - April 17, 1980

Carlton cools off Cards as Phils gain 8-3 victory

By Hal Bodley, Sports Editor

ST. LOUIS - If there's one batting order most National League pitchers would just as soon avoid, it's the awesome attack of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ask Steve Carlton which team he'd just as soon pitch against and he will tell you St. Louis.

Carlton, it would seem, is the perfect pitcher to handle the Cardinal mashers. Yesterday, at sunny Busch Memorial Stadium, he turned back his old teammates 8-3 as the Phillies skipped out of town with a split in the two-game set.

Carlton, his nasty slider working to perfection, won the 150th game of his Phillies' career and had the roof not caved in in the ninth inning, might have nailed down his 43rd lifetime shutout. The victory gave the left-hander a 2-0 record this year and left him with a 24-8 record against St. Louis.

Carlton walked a 2-0 tightrope for most of the afternoon after the Phils scored twice in the fourth on consecutive doubles by Garry Maddox, Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski off starter Bob Forsch.

In the ninth, the Phils exploded for six runs off relievers Roy Thomas and Don Hood. That cushion proved to be the difference when the Cards bombed Carlton for three runs on four hits in the bottom of the inning. Dickie Noles got Tom Herr to hit into a double play to end the game and send those remaining in the crowd of 10,911 home.

"The key to winning a game like this is to have command of more than one pitch," said Bob Boone, the Phils' catcher. "Carlton had an outstanding slider, plus a good fastball and change. The Cardinal hitters are primarily looking for the fastball, so when you have a good off-speed pitch, you have something going for you. That's what Lefty had today."

Boone said the Phils had planned to bring Tug McGraw in in the ninth inning, but that the left-handed reliever was not ready.

"Steve lost it in the ninth; he had nothing," said Boone. "Before that, he was in complete control of the situation. He had a little trouble early with his release because the mound is so high here, but he adjusted in a hurry."

The Phils did not have a hit when, with one down in the fourth, Maddox doubled to left-center. Schmidt and Luzinski followed with their doubles and it was 2-0.

"I thought we should have gotten more than the two runs," said Manager Dallas Green. "Bob Forsch did not have his real good stuff today, but we did not take advantage of that."

After Luzinski's double, Forsch walked Boone. Larry Bowa hit into a force and the right-hander got out of further trouble when Manny Trillo forced Bowa at second.

The Cardinals had the makings of a rally in the seventh when, with two out, Bobby Bonds walked. The count went 3-2 to George Hendrick, who sent a sizzling liner out of the park but 10 feet foul in left. He then hit another hard foul before he flied out to center.

A double by Boone and two-run singles by Manny Trillo and Maddox were the keys to the Phils' ninth.

With one down in the ninth, Keith Hernandez doubled and scored on Ted Simmons' single to left. Simmons came home on Bonds' triple and the third came across when Hendrick singled to center.

Somebody mentioned to Green that to beat the Cardinals you have to get to their bullpen.

"We were unable to do that on Tuesday night, but today we did it," said the manager. "That's what we're going to try to do every-time."

"We had our chances against Carlton early," said Manager Ken Boyer of St. Louis. "We did not take advantage of them and you saw what happened."

EXTRA POINTS – Tim McCarver, who spends his time nowadays in the Phillies' broadcast booth, was startled when somebody asked him on the elevator yesterday if he were catching Carlton. "He was serious, too," said McCarver, who served as Carlton's full-time caddie behind the plate when he wore a Phillies uniform... The Phils left immediately after the game for Montreal... They will work out at Olympic Stadium today and then play the Expos in three afternoon games... Dick Ruthven will go against Scott Sanderson tomorrow, Larry Christenson will face Steve Rogers on Saturday and Randy Lerch will oppose Bill Lee on Sunday... Forsch entered the game with an 11-7 lifetime record vs. Philadelphia... Carlton was 3-1 vs. his old teammates last year... Pete Rose needs just three more runs to tie Jimmy Foxx (1,751) for 13th place on the all-time list... Ailing pitcher Nino Espinosa threw on the sidelines yesterday for the second day in a row and reported little soreness in his right shoulder... He said he thinks he is on the right track to returning to competition.

Parting shots precede recess in baseball talks

NEW YORK (AP) - The two sides negotiating a new labor contract for major league baseball took parting shots yesterday before beginning a two-week recess. When the parties return May 6, there will be less than three weeks before the players' May 22 strike deadline.

"To say there was no progress in this negotiation isn't right because someone would come back and siy that a couple of miniscule points were straightened out," said Marvin Miller, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. "But as far as the main item on compensation is concerned, it is safe to say there was no progress."

"We thought that the players were ready to make a significant movement but anything they did was insignificant," said Ray Grebey, negotiator for the 26 owners. "They surprised us in this sense."

Federal mediator Kenneth Moffett reported that yesterday's negotiations had taken a turn for the worse.

"The end of the meeting was less than cordial between the negotiators," Moffett said. "The general tenor was not cordial. The whole feeling was somewhat heated... don't say that; say less than cordial. The tone of the discussion has changed. No one is shouting, but the tone has changed."

The contract talks, under the cloud of the players' threat to resume their strike of the final week of the exhibition season on May 23 if an agreement has not been reached by the previous night, have been stalled over the matter of free-agency compensation.

"The owners' proposal on compensation was on the table, not the Flayers' proposal," Miller said, under the present system, if a team signs a free agent, it must give the players' former club an amateur draft choice. The owners want to raise that payment to a name player in some circumstances. The players say compensation of that type would restrict player movement.

Miller said that the owners, having been given an additional seven weeks by the players, are "kicking five or six weeks away."