Allentown Morning Call - April 24, 1980
Lowly Mets beat Phillies again
By Ken Moyer, Call Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA New York Mets outfielder Joel Youngblood drove in a pair of runs last night and Jeff Reardon redeemed himself with some late-inning relief work as the Mets hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies before 23,023 at Veterans Stadium.
Youngblood knocked in the game-winner the eighth with his first hit of the game. Philadelphia reliever Tug McGraw. the Phillies fourth pitcher in the game, opened the way by issuing a leadoff walk to Frank Taveras.
Catcher John Stearns then chopped a slow grounder to first baseman Pete Rose. But Rose was left standing with the ball as no one covered first base on the play.
After Lee Mazzilli hit into a fielder's choice that saw Taveras cut down at third, Youngblood delivered a single to centerfield. giving the Mets (5-7) a 3-1 lead.
The Phillies rallied for a run in the bottom of the eighth to draw within 3-2, but Reardon shut the door in the ninth for the Mets. Mike Schmidt doubled down the left field line to open the eighth and, after Greg Luzinski flied out to right, catcher Keith Moreland stroked a single, scoring Schmidt. Moreland took second on the throw to the plate.
But that was all the Phils would get as Met relievers Neil Allen and Ed Glynn induced two fly balls by pinch-hitters Bob Boone and Del Unser.
Mark Bomback made his first National League start for the Mets and pitched seven innings. He cruised through the first three innings, which included five ground balls and not allowing the Phillies a baserunner beyond first base.
Mike Schmidt and Luis Aguayo managed lead-off hits in the second and third innings, respectively, but the Mets righthander retired the next three batters in both innings.
The Mets nicked starter Larry Christenson for a run in the first inning when John Stearns scored on Joel Youngblood's ground ball to shortstop. Stearns started things off with a one-out double into the left centerfield gup. After Lee Mazzilli was hit by a pitch. Christenson threw wildly and both runners moved up, setting up Youngblood's RBI grounder.
Christenson left after the first inning with a strained groin muscle. He will probably miss one turn.
The Phillies tied the game, 1-1, in the fifth when Aguayo tripled to the leftfield corner and pinch-hitter George Vukovich singled up the middle. Pete Rose followed with a single, but Bomback forced Mc Bride to pop out to Doug Flynn at second and Garry Maddux to ground into a 6-3, inning-ending double play by Frank Taveras.
In the ninth the Phils (5-6) put together one more attempt to tie or win it. With two out. Garry Maddox, who had grounded out in four previous times at bat, laced a double down the third-base line. Schmidt then walked to set the stage for the Luzinski-Reardon duel, which Luzinski had won Tuesday night by slamming a three-run home run.
"I just didn't want to give him anything down the middle that he could hit," Reardon said later. "We knew there was no one to pinch-hit (after Luzinski).”
Reardon walked Luzinski to load the bases, but with Philadelphia manager Dallas Green having used up all his options, the Phils had to go with Randy Lerch.
Reardon just leaned back and threw fastballs to Lerch. who fell behind 0-2, took two balls and then struck out with a fastball.
"I warmed up four times and I knew I needed this one bad." said Reardon. referring to his bad pitch to Luzinski Tuesday night. "Yes, you could say I was ready."
"He made a bad pitch last night (Tuesday), but I could see he turned the corner. I saw a change in him. When he gave up the homer) he didn't lose his head," said manager Joe Torre.
Met starter Mark Bomback pitched for the Mets through seven innings. "He was super." said Torre. "He was like a surgeon. He worked in and out. up and down. He just got a little tight, a little stiff later on so we made a switch.”
“This one hurt." said a disappointed Dallas Green. "If we're going to contend, we've got to beat these teams.
"We had so many damn chances. We kept battling back, but we didn't get the big hit.
"We're playing catch-up and that puts a burden on everybody. You want to pinch hit to get something going but when you let two and three on base, that's when you put the added burden on making moves. You can't keep going to the bullpen every night, either," said Green.
The Phillies had 12 hits in the game but just two runs to show for it. They left 13 men on base for the night, lacked the consistent pitching and didn't deliver when they had to.
