October 4, 1980

Talk about delayed gratification: not only did the Phils and Expos have to wait out three hours of rain delays, then they played eleven innings of baseball that, while not always aestheticly pleasing, was no doubt exciting. Larry Christenson was effective in his start, going six innings and surrendering only two runs, and left the game holding a 3-2 lead after the Phils scored two runs in the top of the seventh. The Expos scored a pair in their half of that inning, though, and held onto a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning. With two outs, facing an elimination game on Sunday if they lost, Bob Boone singled to score Bake McBride with the tying run. Two innings later, Mike Schmidt hit the homer of his career, scoring Pete Rose in front of him to give the Phils a 6-4 lead. Tug McGraw retired the Expos in order in their half of the innings, breaking hearts in Montreal and sending Philadelphia into a rather subdued celebration in anticipation of the coming playoffs... except maybe in my house.

NL East Standings after games of October 4, 1980

Team	Wins	Losses	Pct.	GB
Phillies*	91	70	.565	-
Expos	89	72	.553	2
Pirates	82	79	.509	9
Cardinals	73	88	.453	18
Mets	67	94	.416	24
Cubs	64	97	.398	27

* Clinched division

Scoreboard

National League

PHI N 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 2 - 6 17 5

MON N 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 - 4 8 2

WP: McGraw (5-4)

LP: Bahnsen (7-6)

HR: Schmidt (48), White (6)

ATL N 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 - 2 6 1

CIN N 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 x - 3 5 0

WP: Pastore (13-7)

LP: Alexander (14-11)

HR: Murphy (33), Foster (25)

HOU N 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 7 1

LA N 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 x - 2 6 0

WP: Reuss (18-6)

LP: Ryan (11-10)

HR: Garvey (26)

CHI N 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 1 - 6 13 0

PIT N 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 2

WP: McGlothen (12-14)

LP: Perez (0-1)

HR: Buckner (10)

SD N 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 - 2 5 1

SF N 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 x - 4 6 1

WP: Griffin (5-1)

LP: Stablein (0-1)

SV: Minton (19)

HR: Darrell Evans (20)

NY N 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 - 5 8 1

STL N 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 2 9 1

WP: Bomback (10-8)

LP: Little (1-1)

SV: Reardon (6)

HR: Brooks (1), Hernandez (16)

American League

CLE A 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 2 12 1 (1)

BAL A 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 3 9 0

WP: Stewart (7-7)

LP: Monge (3-5)

HR: Roenicke (10)

CLE A 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 2 0 - 6 6 0 (2)

BAL A 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 4 9 3

WP: Waits (13-14)

LP: Boddicker (0-1)

HR: Hassey (8), Graham (14)

TOR A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 - 7 17 0 (1)

BOS A 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 - 6 22 4

WP: Leal (3-4)

LP: Stanley (10-8)

SV: Barlow (5)

HR: Moseby (9), Woods (15), Bonnell (13), Hancock (4), Evans (18)

TOR A 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 - 3 6 0 (2)

BOS A 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 3 0

WP: Mirabella (5-12)

LP: Drago (7-7)

HR: Mayberry (30), Valdez (1)

CAL A 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 2 7 2

CHI A 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 x - 4 6 1

WP: Hoyt (9-3)

LP: Tanana (11-12)

SV: Farmer (30)

HR: Morrison (15)

MIN A 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 7 2

KC A 5 1 0 0 5 0 3 3 x - 17 18 2

WP: Leonard (20-11)

LP: Erickson (7-13)

HR: McRae (13)

OAK A 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 - 4 8 1

MIL A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 7 3

WP: Lacey (3-2)

LP: Haas (16-15)

DET A 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 8 0 (1)

NY A 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 x - 5 9 1

WP: May (15-5)

LP: Weaver (3-4)

SV: Gossage (33)

HR: Jackson (41)

DET A 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 4 0 - 7 10 1 (2)

NY A 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 - 6 12 2

WP: Tobik (1-0)

LP: Griffin (2-4)

HR: Gulden (1)

SEA A 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 - 6 9 1

TEX A 1 0 0 0 0 4 2 4 x - 11 15 0

WP: Butcher (3-3)

LP: Beattie (5-15)

SV: Matlack (1)

HR: Grubb (9), Bell (17), Staub (9)

Transactions

Phillies

Signed Francisco Melendez, first baseman-outfielder, as a non-drafted free agent.