Philadelphia Inquirer - June 14, 1980

Phils erupt for 7 in first, hold on to beat Padres, 9-6

By Lewis Freedman, Inquirer Staff Writer

Talk about your cushions. For a while it seemed it would be a million to nothing for Dick Ruthven after the first inning last night at Veterans Stadium.

The Phils were scoring faster than the 76ers ever did. They started with seven straight hits (one shy of the major-league record) and scored seven runs, their most productive inning of the season.

That all held up for a 9-6 victory over the San Diego Padres in the teams' first meeting of the year.

Ruthven lasted 6-2/3 innings for the win, despite surrendering five runs on nine hits.

But he also left the game with a right (pitching) shoulder sprain that might cause him to miss a start and give manager Dallas Green another pitching headache.

The game marked another milestone for Pete Rose, who collected four hits to surpass Honus Wagner for fourth on the all-time hits list.

Rose now has 3,431 hits, trailing Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Hank Aaron and Tris Speaker.

"I'm just happy to get the base hits," he said. "When you have in your mind you can be No. 1, you don't get excited at being fifth."

The Phillies' first inning was volcanic, registering about 8.3 on the Richter scale. Rightfielder Lonnie Smith led off with a looping single to right-center – his first of four hits and a walk in a perfect night that left him with a .417 average while filling in for the tonsillitis-weakened Bake McBride.

Padres hurler Randy Jones, a onetime Cy Young award winner, did not know he was in for one of the nightmares of his life.

But whatever Smith was doing spread like the mumps through a first-grade class. Rose slapped a seeing-eye single through the right side, scoring Smith, who had stolen second. Third baseman Mike Schmidt then creamed Jones' first offering over the 408-foot mark in center field for his 19th homer and a 3-0 Philadelphia lead.

Greg Luzinski and Bob Boone singled, sending Jones to the showers, clutching his right side where he had aggravated a muscle injury under his rib cage. The next victim was righthander John D'Acquisto (and he was followed by Eric Ras-mussen and Rollie Fingers.)

Garry Maddox scored both of them with a shot to center.

Next, shortstop Larry Bowa mashed the ball into the right-center gap for a triple, scoring Maddox, for a 6-0 lead and the Phillies' seventh straight hit to start the game. (The league record of eight is shared by the Phils, Aug. 5, 1975, vs. the Cubs, and Pirates, Aug. 26, 1975, vs. the Braves.)

Manny Trillo broke the streak when he made the first out on a sacrifice fly to center that sent Bowa home for a 7-0 lead.

When the pocket calculators were put back on the shelf, the Phillies had their biggest inning of the year.

Despite this explosion, the Padres did not retire gracefully.

They chipped at the lead with a run in the second inning and two in the third.

Willie Montanez got the first run after singling and being advanced by Jerry Mumphrey's single, a double play and another single by Fred Kendall.

In the third, another barrage of singles by Gene Richards, Ozzie Smith and Montanez, mixed with a force play and infield out, scored two more.

The Phillies made it 8-3 in the fourth on a succession of singles.

It was not until the sixth that things became a tiny bit precarious. A Dave Winfield double off the wall in left-center, a walk, a force-out and a single made it 8-5 and worried Green enough to visit Ruthven on the mound.

"It looked like Dick was going to make it interesting. He was struggling with his rhythm. I told him, 'Let's quit fooling around and get some people out,' " said Green.

Ruthven got pinch-hitter Jerry Turner to fly to left to end the inning. The Phils added a run in their half of the sixth. Smith doubled and Rose scored him with a single.

Ruthven got hurt in the bottom half of the seventh inning when he fell trying to field Tim Flannery's squibber down the third-base line.

Green watched him take a few warmups and removed him for Ron Reed, who went the rest of the way, giving a run in the eighth.

"He caught his spike and landed on his shoulder," said Green of how Ruthven tumbled.

The Phillies' pitching, further depleted with the demotion for 20 days of Nino Espinosa to Spartanburg in Class A and of Warren Brusstar to the Class A Carolina League with injuries, is traumatized enough.

"I didn't exactly need that," said Green. "But I'm not one to panic."

Smith's terrific performance also made Green admit he did not know who he would start in right when McBride is ready, which might be tonight.

Smith called his game "just a lucky night," although he conceded he feels a lot more relaxed since his wife and young son joined him from Spartanburg for the first time since spring training.

Smith is also happy to be playing.

"Every day I'm out there," he said, "I feel more comfortable. The more you play, the better you're going to play."

NOTES: The Phillies have now played every team in the league at least once this season... Mike Schmidt not only led the league in homers and RBIs, but runs, total bases and slugging percentage going into last night's game.... The Phillies at the Vet hold a 36-18 edge over the Padres going into this series.... Ten players drafted by the Phillies in last week's free-agent draft have signed contracts: Pitcher Jon Reelhorn, Fresno State University, Eastern League; infielder Larry Jeltz, Kansas State University, South Atlantic league; signed for the Pioneer Rookie League were pitcher Yonis Rodriguez, Ozone Park, N.Y.; outfielder Randy Salava, Owasso, Mich.; third baseman Bernardo Howard, Kansas City, Mo.; pitcher Tim Steverson, Umatilla, Fla.; pitcher Dee Decker, San Diego, Calif.; catcher Darren Daulton, Arkansas City, Kansas; outfielder Andre Mallett, Houston, Texas, and pitcher Dale Cooke, Calvin, La.