New Jersey Newspapers - July 30, 1980
Camden Courier-Post
Rallies cap Phils 9-6 win
By Doug Frambes of the Courier-Post
PHILADELPHIA – If Willie Stargell had missed connections last night and was found awarding stars in the Phillies lockerroom, he would have needed a rush re-order to fill his needs.
The starriest bonnet would belong to Lonnie Smith for his role in the Phils 9-6 victory over the Houston Astros, but clusters would be required for Bake McBride, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt and Kevin Saucier.
Maligned as a team which has trouble coming back in the late innings, Dallas Green's crew unleashed three-run rallies in both the seventh and eighth innings to record a come-from-behind victory over the West Division leaders.
AFTER MIKE Schmidt had homered with a man on board to tie the game in the seventh, the Phillies ripped into ace Astro reliever Frank LaCorte in the eighth. Larry Bowa delivered a one-out single and stole second. Houston Manager Bill Virdon then intentionally walked pinchhitter Del Unser, and Smith singled home Bowa for his first game-winning RBI in the majors.
Pete Rose loaded the bases with an infield single, his third hit of the night, and Bake McBride climaxed a five-for-five night with a two-run single to ice the game. Tug McGraw fired a hitless ninth to earn his eighth save.
Saucier's role in the nail-biter was in the top of the eighth when he relieved Warren Brusstar with Alan Ashby on third and one out. Saucier retired Dennis Walling and Jose Cruz on infield grounders to preserve the tie. The emotional southpaw left the mound gyrating like a disco dancer to the roar of the crowd of 30,252.
GETTING BACK to Smith. The exciting rookie had two hits, reached base four times, scored three runs, stole three bases and snared a couple of hard drives in the outfield to go along with his late-game heroics.
"I decided that if I got on tonight I was going to run," remarked the soft-spoken product of the farm system. "I got a good jump on Andujar and just took off. I'm beginning to learn more about getting a lead."
Saucier, who unlike many of the Phillies does not hold his emotions in check, was absolutely bubbly talking about Lonnie.
"I played with him at Oklahoma City," he said. "I know how he can run. It's fun to watch our guys doing what Ron LeFlore and Omar Moreno have been doing to us on the bases."
THE BRIGHT finish was not foretold by the dull beginning. It took an hour and 30 minutes to play the first three innings as starters Randy Lerch and Joaquin Andujar consistently were in trouble.
Lerch, who has been discussed more than even Steve Carlton this year, managed to get through his troublesome first inning, even if in an unorthodox manner. Rafael Landestoy led off the game with a walk but was cut down attempting to steal by Keith Moreland. Enos Cabell followed with a safety but Lerch picked him off first.
Art Howe, a standout all night for the Astros, homered in the second and things fell apart for Lerch in the third. Four singles and a pair of walks, one to pitcher Andujar, who was trying to sacrifice, brought in three runs and brought Dickie Noles in to hold the dam.
Trailing, 4-0, the Phillies got three back in the third, with Astro leftfielder Jose Cruz treating the crowd to a real, live instant replay. Smith singled, stole second and was held momentarily at third when Rose singled to left. Cruz then showed the power in his arm by uncorking a throw which went to the screen allowing Smith to score.
MCBRIDE SINGLED to the same spot Third base Coach Lee Elia again flashed the stop sign, this time to Rose, but Cruz once more made like a howitzer, reaching the screen for the second time with an errant throw, Moreland's single brought the Phillies to within one.
Andujar, who nearly was acquired by Paul Owens at the trading deadline, survived the shaky third but was replaced by Bert Roberge in the fifth after a single by McBride and walk to Schmidt. The reliever retired Moreland on a force play, picked Schmidt off second and popped Garry Maddox up.
Houston, playing the type of game they play so well, added single runs in the fifth and sixth on sacrifice flies by Howe and Luis Pujols to take a 6-3 lead.
Smith kicked off the three-run seventh by getting hit with a pitch, stole second and scored on McBride's fourth hit of the night. Roberge then got a pitch up to Schmidt, who rocketed his league-leading 27th homer. Then came the Saucier-Smith show and one of the Phillies brightest victories of the season.
GREEN, WHO had been kicked out of the game by umpire Andy Olsen over a ground rule argument in the sixth, had his good nature restored by game's end.
"That's what I mean by having fun," said the skipper. "You have to be proud when you can battle back like that. I was happy to see Mike get hold of one but we have to keep pushing. We can't depend on him knocking it out of the park every time. We could have folded, but we didn't. Saucier did a real big job in the eighth and I've always said that Lonnie makes things happen."
It was a drawn-out contest, but maybe down the road it may prove to be one of the most important three hours and five minutes the Phillies have spent on a ball field.
The Press of Atlantic City
Phillies Battle Back Twice, Make Space Junk of Astros
Philadelphia 9, Houston 6
By Harry Hoffman, Press Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA – If the Phillies do wind up making a strong run at Pittsburgh before this baseball season is history, the night of July 29 could be a turning point.
The Phils were down 4-0 by the third inning. They trailed again 6-3 in the seventh. Yet they battled back against the super strong Houston bullpen to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh and three more in the eighth to pull out a 9-6 decision.
The home team had a parade of heroes. Bake McBride stroked five straight singles and drove home three runs including a decisive pair in the ninth.
Leadoff man Lonnie Smith, a young rookie trying to fill the immense uniform of the injured Greg Luzinski, had two hits, stole three bases and scored three runs including a big tally in the ninth.
“I figure if I want to stay in the lineup I have to keep proving I belong there,” Smith said. “I know 1 can’t hit homers like Greg but I can help the team in other ways. Tonight I got some chances to run and I ran. As long as I can get a fairly good lead I feel I can steal second base. When I’m down there I’m in position to score and help the team.”
Pete Rose, who loves to bat behind Smith since it gives him a chance to do a variety of things with his bat, had three singles. Cleanup hitter Mike Schmidt powered his 27th homer to cap a three-run seventh inning and propel the Phils into a 6-6 tie.
“That’s the way you love to see it with everyone helping us grind it out,” Manager Dallas Green said. Green did not watch the big part of the grinding from the bench. He had been tossed out by first base umpire Andy Olsen for arguing on a leadoff triple hit by Jeff Leonard.
Green claimed the ball bounced up and hit the foul ball making it a ground rule double.
But that play didn’t have any real meaning at the end after the Phils broke the 6-6 tie with three runs off the Astros’ right handed bullpen ace Frank LaCorte, who suffered his third loss in 10 decisions.
Larry Bowa got the big inning started when he outlegged a single to deep shortstop with one man out. He stole second. Then Del Unser, batting for wining pitcher Kevin Saucier, 5-3, was walked intentionally. Smith negated that strategy when he bounced a single into left field, scoring Bowa with the go-ahead run. Rose singled Unser to third and Smith to second. Then McBride dropped his fifth hit into short left field, scoring both Unser and Smith.
Tug McGraw, the fifth Philadelphia pitcher, retired the Astros in order in the ninth to pick up his seventh save.
The early part of the game belonged to Houston. Randy Lerch, given another starting assignment, did not make it past the third inning. Art Howe reached him for a bases empty homer in the second.
In the third the southpaw walked his opposing pitcher Juaquin Andujar to put runners on first and second. Subsequent singles by Enos Cabell, Cesar Cedeno and Howe led to three runs.
In the bottom of the fourth the Phils scored three times on singles by Smith, Rose, McBride and Keith Moreland, along with a pair of throwing errors by left fielder Jose Cruz.
However the Astros reached Dickie Noles for a run in the fifth and sixth innings to make it a 6-3 game.
But on this night the Phils had the last grind as they beat the Astros for the eighth time in 11 meetings. They conclude their season's series here tonight at 7:35.
Virdon First To Agree on Importance of Pitching
Tales of Hoffman by Harry Hoffman
PHILADELPHIA – Bill Virdon agrees with Connie Mack or Walt Alston or any other baseball sage who philosophized about the importance of pitching to the success of a big league baseball club.
Virdon manages a big league club, Houston, that currently is very successful. Going into Tuesday night's matchup at Veterans Stadium with the Phillies the visiting Astros had a 3½ game lead over Los Angeles while setting the pace in the Western Division of the National League.
The Astros definitely are not depending on overpowering bats to hold their number one posttion. They have a rather drab .255 team batting average and have hit only 46 home runs. Virdon can send out only one starter, left fielder Jose Cruz, who is hitting more than .300.
However the Astros don't ordinarily have to score a lot of runs because their strong-armed pitching staff doesn't usually allow the opposition too many runs. The combined pitching of the Astros has held enemy hitters to a 241 average and allowed only 336 runs in 98 games.
Although the early-season starting rotation of the Astros – J.R. Richard. Nolan Ryan, Joe Nieko, Ken Forsch and Vern Ruhle – was devastating, Virdon has been depending more on the hook since June 8 to keep his club on top.
In the 49 games since June 8, Virdon's starters have produced only four complete games. However, the Astros have not faltered because they have a three-pronged bullpen consisting of superb southpaw Joe Sambito and right handers Frank LaCorte and Dave Smith to keep them going.
This trio has made 108 appearances and have a combined won and lost record of 14-6 with 24 saves and an earned run average of 1.90.
Sambito brought his record to 6-1 Monday night by allowing one hit in the final two innings to earn the 3-2 victory over the Phils. His ERA is 2.20, to go with 10 saves. LaCorte is 7-2 with a startling 1.59 ERA and nine saves. Smith, a 25-year-old rookie, has only a 1-3 record. However, he has picked up five saves and has a strong 1.93 earned run average.
"Pitching arms get tired as the long season progresses. So it is all-important to have a strong bullpen," Virdon said before Tuesday night's game with the Phils.
"Everyone knows about Sambito since he was an All-Star last year. But the hitters in the league are now finding out just how tough LaCorte is. Smith is still learning, but he is getting tougher as the season goes along."
The bullpen became even more important a week ago when the team's number one starter, J.R. Richard, was placed on the disabled list suffering from a "tired" arm. J.R. had a 10-4 record and 1.89 ERA.
*We weren't sure what was bothering J.R. But it seemed better to give him some time off and hope to have him back strong for the stretch drive,” Virdon said.
Virdon has a team that is streamlined to fit the playing conditions of the Astrodome.
"Even the real muscle the league have a tough time putting the ball over the fences at the Dome,” Virdon said. "We do a lot of running, bunting and use the hit and run more than most teams. We also pick the ball (play defense) pretty well. Add that to our pitching and that is why we are on top. I just hope we can stay there, but it's going to be a tough three-team race all the way with the Dodgers and Reds."
The Astros have won 34 and lost only 17 homes games so far this season. They were 22-25 on the road before last night.
"To succeed we have to win most of the tight games, that's for sure," Virdon said.
Sambito, LaCorte and Smith, Virdon's three aces in the hole, give him a big edge when the games get down to finger-biting time.