Reading Eagle - July 28, 1980

Phillies Explode

Carlton Wins 16^th in 17-4 Rout

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Last weekend in Atlanta, the Braves won three of four from the Philadelphia Phillies. This weekend, the Phillies returned the favor, concluding Sunday with 21 hits to pace Steve Carlton’s 16^th win in a 17-4 victory.

The heavy hitting was especially heartening for the Phillies, who had slumped through a 3-7 road trip and now face the remainder of a crucial 13-game home stand without slugger Greg Luzinski, scheduled for surgical examination of his right knee today.

“There’s no question we miss him (Luzinski) offensively. We need him in the lineup,” said Garry Maddox, whose five RBI Sunday on a bases-loaded triple, single and sacrifice fly led the Phillies’ scoring, the highest output in the National League this year.

“But a team can get by with good pitching and good defense, and I think we can,” Maddox added.

“Offensively, we’ve struggled,” said Phillies manager Dallas Green. “You see something like this, and you wonder why you can’t do it all the time.

“They’re fun games to play offensively but not much fun for the other side,” Green added.

“It was a bad game, period,” said Braves third baseman Bob Horner, who committed two errors and saw his 12-game hitting streak end.

“Carlton wasn’t great, but he threw some good pitches on me,” said Horner, who still has three games against the Mets to match the major league mark of 15 home runs for the month of July. Horner has 14 this month, as well as hitting in 25 of the last 28 games for 33 RBI.

Carlton’s win tied him with Baltimore’s Steve Stone for the most in the major leagues. “It wasn’t one of Lefty’s better games, but he won,” said Green, adding that he took the 35-year-old lefthander out after seven innings to rest him.

Carlton, 16-5, struck out eight to raise his league-leading total to 181 and allowed only four hits. The loss went to Rick Matula, 6-9, who has lasted just 3 -2/3 innings in his last three starts for a 42.70 earned-run average over that span.

“If he (Matula) had bad stuff today, I would worry,” said Braves manager Bobby Cox. “They just hit some good pitches and found some holes.”

Rookie Lonnie Smith led off the game for the Phillies with a home run, his second.

“It was unusual, one home run… and not that many extra base hits either,” said Pete Rose, who is 5-for-9 in his last two games after a 4-for-36 drought.

Bake McBride’s second-inning double for two runs and Ramon Aviles’ RBI double in the eighth were the Phillies’ only other extra base hits.

The Braves scored three in the second on Bill Nahorodny’s double, a fielding error by Smith and a sacrifice fly. Glenn Hubbard’s solo homer in the fifth accounted for Atlanta’s fourth run.

The Phillies’ totals were the most runs and most hits ever in Veterans Stadium, and the most for the Phillies at home since a 19-17 loss to Cincinnati in Connie Mack Stadium in 1969.

“This is my best stretch hitting since the beginning of the season,” said Maddox, who raised his average to .269 after a slow start.

“I’m getting more consistent, but I’m still not satisfied. I’m trying a new stance, new things every time I go up to the plate, trying to get something I feel comfortable with,” Maddox added.

The weekend series was the last meeting between the Phillies and Braves this year, Philadelphia winning seven of 12 overall and six of seven at home.