New York Daily News - August 18, 1980
Phillies sweep Mets as Carlton wins 19th, fans 11 in opener
By Jack Lang
The last thing a team in a slump needs is to run into Steve Carlton, which is just what the sagging Mets did yesterday in the first game of their twin bill with the Phils. The result, of course, was predictable. Carlton, with 11 strikeouts and offensive support that included three home runs, buried the Mets by a 9-4 score to register his 19th victory.
The Phillies also won the second game, 4-1, to complete a sweep of the five-game series. It was the first time since August 1977 that the Mets were swept in a five-game series and the first time in 10 years they were swept in five games at home. Garry Maddox hit his second two-run homer of the day in the fourth and the Mets never caught up.
Carlton, obviously headed for his third Cy Young Award – putting him in a class with Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer – was tagged for 10 hits by the Mets who usually manage somehow to beat him. They had done it twice previously this season and held a 27-24 lifetime edge over the strong, silent southpaw.
But things were a little different this time and when Bake McBride and Garry Maddox hit early two run homers in the Phils' rout of Ray Burris, Carlton was able to breeze home. He allowed 10 hits but at no time was his prospect of winning No. 19 in jeopardy.
CARLTON, WHO extended his streak of not talking to writers to five years, also tied Baltimore's Steve Stone as the major leagues' only 19 game winners.
Carlton went into the game with 200 strikeouts, his sixth season with 200 or more. Already the holder of the major league record for the most strikeouts by a lefthander, Carlton solidified his hold on sixth place on the all time whiff list with 11 that increased his lifetime total to 2,894.
And the Phillies, who averaged nine runs a game in burying the Mets in the first three games of the series, continued their demolition of Rube Walker's pitching staff with three home runs and two other extra base hits.
Besides the McBride and Maddox homers off Burris, Tom Hausman was clipped for a solo shot by rookie of the year candidate Lonnie Smith.
The three homers increased to eight the number of gopher pitches the Mets have served up in the first four games. They also allowed 61 hits in the first four.
Joe Torre was concerned earlier this season because his pitchers were serving up too many homers. Now he has cause for concern again. Already this season the Met pitchers have allowed 112 homers, only eight less than all last season.
IN THEIR devastation in this series, the surging Phils disposed of Pat Zachry, Mark Bomback, Craig Swan and Ray Burris in that order. They are the Mets' very best and the Phils treated them rudely in every game. Roy Lee Jackson was the sacrificial lamb in the fifth and final game.
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Trevino broke 0-for-17 slump with second ginning single that became a run.