Sports Illustrated - August 11, 1980

Baseball- N.L. East

By Herm Weiskopf

Unexpectedly shart in his first two starts of the season, Pitcher Fred Norman helped the Expos (5-2) regain first place. The Norman conquests were 5-4 over Cincinnati and 5-1 over Atlanta, as he gave up just three earned runs in 16 innings. In 36 previous relief appearances he has a dismal 4.91 ERA. Bill Gullickson, who stopped the Reds 4-1, and Scott Sanderson, a 4-1 winner over the Braves, both had 10 strikeouts. Andre Dawson hit .462 and Tony Bernazard singled in the ninth to defeat Cincinnati 2-1.

With Dave Parker's ailing knee and Bill Robinson's stretched Achilles tendon relegating them to the bench, Pittsburgh (2-3) went 20 innings without a run and fell to second. The Pirates' only two homers were swatted by Ed Ott during a 6-4 win in L.A.

Greg Luzinski's absence because of knee surgery - he'll be out for nearly a month - didn't hurt the Phillies (4-2). Taking over for The Bull in leftfield, Lonnie Smith homered, stole three bases, scored eight runs and hit .320. Garry Maddox had nine RBIs, five as Steve Carlton coasted past Atlanta for his 16th triumph. Tug McGraw earned three saves, one on behalf of rookie Bob Walk. In a 3-1 win over Cincinnati, Walk threw 89 pitches and had 15 three-ball counts in the first four innings.

St. Louis and Chicago (both 1-5) stumbled. The Cardinals' John Fulgham, who hadn't pitched in 52 days because of arm trouble, changed to a more overhand motion and blanked the Giants 4-0. It took Jerry Martin's 17th homer and Bruce Sutter's 22nd save for the Cuba to beat San Francisco 5-3.

Pat Zachry's second shutout in a row, a 2-0 four hitter against the Braves, kept the Mets (4-2) in the chase. So did 5-4 and 5-3 victories over the Astros, who blew 4-0 and 3-1 leads. Steve Henderson's three-run pinch homer, New York's first four-bagger in 10 games, knotted the first game at 4-4, and Frank Taveras, who hit .444, drove in the tie-breaker in the eighth.

MONT 56-44; PITT 56-45; PHIL 53-47; NY 50-51; ST. L 45-57; CHI 40-58

PLAYER OF THE WEEEK- Bake McBride: "I've never had a hot streak like this," said the Phillie outfielder, "not even in stickball." His 14-for-23, .609 spree produced 11 runs and raised his average to .317. In a 9-6 win over Houston he was 5 for 5.