San Francisco Examiner - August 23, 1980
Giants’ B team works sting on Phillies
Clark, Evans out – Carlton bows anyway
By Glenn Schwarz, Examiner Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA – Leave it to the Giants to enhance baseball's reputation as a funny game.
They lose to Pete Falcone one day, beat Steve Carlton the next. And iIn denying Silent Steve his 20th victory, they – ha, ha, ha – do it with their two most productive hitters riding the bench and one batter cranking out his first homer in three years.
"A game like that is why I'm not a betting man," Mike Ivie said later in the Giants' clubhouse.
It was Ivie's AstroTurf-chop single last night in the 10th inning that turned the Giants into 3 winners over Carlton and his Philadelphia Phillies. But it took much more for the Giants to regain .500 stature and pick up a game on two of the three National League West clubs ahead of them.
"I wish it counted for three wins instead of one," said their manager, Dave Bristol. "We beat one helluva pitcher."
So Jack Clark sat again because of his bruised hand and Darrell Evans found an adjacent seat because Bristol gave him an unrequested rest. So Jim Wohlford, whose .257 batting average was tops in the Giants' starting lineup, had three hits out of the cleanup spot; and Joe Pettini laid down a couple of big bunts; and Tom Griffin – ho, ho, ho – homered off Carlton.
It figured that one pitcher could best analyze another. Griffin did that with relish after crushing a Carlton pitch for his ninth career homer and first since Tom was a San Diego Padre in 1977.
Around his fifth-inning bases-empty pump that shot the Giants into the lead, a neat bonus, the increasingly effective long reliever held the heavy-hitting Phils to two runs Iin five innings.
"I don’t think Carlton had his exceptional fastball," said Griffin, who replaced sore-footed starter Ed Whitson. "When the count got to 2-0, I figured he might throw me a fastball. And I got a low one. I'm not a good high-ball hitter."
Carlton allowed 11 hits but still, high-flame heater or no, struck out 13. All the Giants could say afterward was: be thankful he didn’t throw all foot-breaking sliders.
As with Griffin, Carlton twice fell behind 20 to Pettini and the rookie anticipated, and received, a fastball he was able to bunt.
"I'd rather be bunting off him than swinging," Pettini said.
"Hey, he was still throwing the ball good," Wohlford chimed in. "Carlton's the best pitcher in baseball. (Ron) Guidry and him throw a lot alike. Guidry throws harder, but Carlton's got a better slider."
In sequence, here's how the Giants did it:
Billy North's introductory single, Pettini's sacrifice, Wohlford's triple and Mike Schmidt's boot of an Ivie grounder got them a quick 2-0 edge. Pete Rose's single off Whitson's right foot and a Schmidt double in the Phils' first cut that lead in half, Whitson departing for X-rays (it was only a bruise) after that inning.
A Manny Trillo single, a Griffin wild pitch, a dropped fly ball by left fielder Wohlford and a fielder's choice on Larry Bowa's grounder to the mound before firing an off-balance throw that don't have nobody to second-guess the got the Phils even in the fourth. Griffin's homer was matched in the sixth when he served up the sizzling Trillo's game-tying homer.
And that's the way it stayed as Greg Minton, then Al Holland – pitching for the first time since Aug. 11 – shut off the Phils. Finally, there was occasion for the Giants to laugh last, winner Holland preserving the chuckles.
North walked leading off the 10th, Pettini bunted him along once more, Larry Herndon struck out, but then Wohlford stung a grounder that shortstop Bowa had difficulty extracting from his glove. Single, first and third. Ivie followed with a high one-hopper that Schmidt charged and scooped before firing an off- balance throw that skipped by first baseman Rose. Single and error, North home.
"I make that play 99 times out of 100," said Schmidt, the Gold Glove third baseman. "There's no way we should have been in a position where I had to make it."
Ah, but he wasn't giving those Giants any credit. They continue to do things when they shouldn't, and fail to do them when they should.
"We didn’t have our 'A' lineup in there with Jack and Darrell out," Wohlford said. "But this shows again that we have depth. We have a lot of guys who can play."
Who, Dave Bristol complain?
That's a big key for us, playing everybody," the manager said. "We don’t have nobody to second-guess the manager because sooner or later, all 25 of them know they'll get to play."
NOTES: When Carlton fanned tvie for his sixth strikeout, the lefty became the sixth pitcher ever to strike out 2,900 in his career. The others: Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson. Gaylord Perry. Walter Johnson... Whitson said he expects to take his next turn. "When the ball hit me." he said, "I felt the pain all the way to my knee. I thought I might be out again." lit was only his second start since laying off for three weeks because of a finger blister... Holland showed no effects of the inflamed elbow joint that laid him off for 11 days... Clark may play tonight or tomorrow night... The Phillies' home attendance will top two million tonight, but they lag 300,000 behind a comparable number of dates last year.