Pittsburgh Press - May 29, 1980

Pirates Pump Life Into Lerch

By Dan Donovan, Press Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA – Did the Philadelphia Phillies polish an old apple of their eye, or did Randy Lerch just happen to stick in his thumb and pull out a plum?

Lerch may have been more lucky than good in the Phillies' 6-3 win over the Pirates last night, but the Phillies hope he took a step toward returning to his prominent role on their pitching staff.

Lerch was the Phillies' Bert Blyleven at the start of the season – good, but unlucky.

The Phillies scored early-season runs in clumps – except when Lerch's curly head was on the mound. Lerch was unable to take it in stride and it affected his pitching.

"You could see his frustration build," Philadelphia Manager Dallas Green said. "He had a loss of concentration and with that came a loss of control. That's why he wasn't as strong the last couple of times out."

As Lerch sulked, his record fell to 0-6 and his earned run average grew to 5.14. Lerch didn't leave the Phillies, but Green didn't like the lackadaisical way Lerch pitched.

"He had a lack of enthusiasm," Green said. "His demeanor on the mound wasn't right. I like aggressiveness on the mound, as opposed to reticence. The other team picks up on a lack of aggressiveness."

Green took Lerch out of the starting rotation, even when Larry Christenson underwent elbow surgery, choosing to start raw rookie Bob Walk against the Pirates Monday.

"We decided to drop Lerch out of the pitching rotation and let him think about it," Green said. "He was upset when I started Walk and we talked about it. I told him I didn't have to, but I explained my decision."

Lerch admitted he "was a little hacked off at myself."

"Anybody who has any pride would think 0-6 is pretty degrading," Lerch said. "This time I did pitch with more aggressiveness."

Lerch admitted his anger at Walk's start.

"I thought I should have been in the rotation before," Lerch said. "But I guess this shows that Dallas was right."

Not that Lerch gritted his teeth, reared back and overpowered the Pirates, singlehandedly putting the Phillies back in first place in the National League East. The Pirates had just as many hits as the Phillies, 10, but could score only when Lee Lacy hit the ball over the wall, which he did twice.

Most of the time, a Philadelphia glove was standing in the way of a line drive.

"I didn't pitch that much better today," Lerch said. "It just seemed every time I would make a mistake, they would hit the ball hard right at somebody."

That somebody was occasionally second baseman Manny Trillo, occasionally first baseman Pete Rose and once center fielder Garry Maddox.

"I remember two plays Manny made," Lerch said. "Both times there were men on base. Once Manny was playing in just the right spot, the other time he dove for the ball and came up with it. They bit the ball hard, but boom – no runs."

Lerch did endure one good test of his mettle in the eighth, when pinch hitter Manny Sanguillen singled and Omar Moreno doubled.

No one was out, the score was 5-1 and Tim Foli, Dave Parker and Bill Robinson were coming up. It was time for Lerch to put up or shut up.

"I left him in for two reasons," Green said. "It was a chance to see if he could get out of a key situation. If he did, it might help him. And we didn't have our act together yet in the bullpen."

Lerch kept his act together, getting two ground ball outs and a strikeout. But did he earn a return to the Phillies' starting rotation?

"He'll probably get another shot next week in Pittsburgh," Green said cautiously.

Then maybe we'll know better if Lerch has gone sour, or if he'll help a Philadelphia pitching staff that needs strong arms by the bushel.

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PIRATE NOTES - Pirate Manager Chuck Tanner let pitcher Don Robinson bat for himself in the fifth, even though he planned to replace him with lefthander Rod Scurry in the bottom of the inning.

"I did it because Robinson is a good hitter, and I wanted to keep my bench intact in case I needed it later on," Tanner said.

Tanner's strategy worked; Robinson go! his second hit of the game. The manager was able to save Sanguillen for the eighth, when he came through with a single.

Sanguillen has four hits in his eight pinch-hit appearances.

Mike Schmidt, who homered in the first inning, has 10 home runs and 24 RBIs in May.

Pete Rose's two doubles put him sixth on the all-time list with 625.

The pitching matchups for the three-game weekend series with the New York Mets at Three Rivers: John Candelaria against Pat Zachry tomorrow, Bert Blyleven against Craig Swan Saturday and Jim Bibby against Pete Falcone Sunday.