Phils let one get away to Cubs

By Rusty Pray of the Courier-Post

CHICAGO – Like the time-honored fisherman who let the big one get away, the Phillies yesterday allowed the Chicago Cubs to slip off the hook.

Officially, it was Jerry Martin's pinchhit single to right off reliever Tug McGraw with one out in the bottom of the ninth that left the Phillies standing in Wrigley Field with an empty pole.

Martin, a former Phillie, put the finishing touches on a two-run rally that gave the Cubs a 4-3 win by slicing a 1-2 fastball to send Cliff Johnson home ahead of rightfielder Bake McBride's throw.

But there was more, much more, to a loss that left the Phillies 1½ games behind Montreal in the National League East Division pennant race. This was one of those "what-if, might-have-been" games that could return to haunt the Phils.

"Every loss will feel like this from now on," said Man ager Dallas Green. "It's something we'll have to handle. You know you're not going to win 17 straight. You want to, but you know you're not going to."

The "what-ifs" of this game are legion. What if, for instance, reliever Warren Brusstar had not walked Johnson with one out in the ninth? What if Lonnie Smith had not taken a called third strike on a 3-2 fastball with the bases loaded? What if Greg Gross, not George Vukovich, had been the left fielder when Ivan DeJesus' ground single to left scored Steve Dillard with the tying run?

Said Green, "Brew had super stuff the one inning (a one-two-three eighth) and, after handling the bunt, I thought we'd be all right. But then he walked the guy... You can't put that damn tying run on second base, that's all there is to it."

What happened was this: Larry Biittner opened the ninth with a pinch double that McBride narrowly missed catching. Mick Kelleher, running for Biittner, slipped on his way to third as Dillard, who had homered in the second off starter Bob Walk, bunted. Brusstar fielded the ball and threw to shortstop Ramon Aviles, who had also homered, covering third for the first out.

"Schmitty (Mike Schmidt) yelled for me to throw to third," said Brusstar. "That (out) took a lot of pressure off. Then I was trying to make Johnson hit something."

But Johnson refused and DeJesus hit Brusstar's first pitch between third and short for a single. Vukovich, who entered the game because Green had Keith Moreland pinchhit for Gross in the top of the inning, got off a decent throw. But it was so late that Schmidt cut it off.

"I think Bake might have had a shot (at Johnson) if he hadn't juggled and George might had a shot if he hadn't juggled," said Green. "This is a hard place to charge the ball because it grabs in some places, skids in others. If we'd been playing on Astro-Turf, we might have had a shot at both guys."

DeJesus single brought McGraw into the game to face Scott Thompson. Green wanted to avoid using his top reliever, but was left with little choice when the left-handed Thompson's name was announced as a pinchhitter. Cub Manager Joe Amalfitano, meanwhile, pulled Thompson and had Martin, a righthander, hit.

Actually, the juggling by Vukovich and McBride, which was minimal, and the walk to Johnson might not have had a bearing on the game's outcome had the Phils been able to take advantage of one one-out, bases-loaded situation in their half of the ninth.

Garry Maddox began that inning with a walk off Dick Tidrow, who had relieved starter Rick Reuschel. Bob Boone followed with a single to center – his third hit – and, when center fielder Carlos Lezcano bobbled, Maddox went to third.

Boone stole second before Aviles took a called third strike, leaving first base open with Gross the scheduled hitter. Amalfitano brought in lefthander Willie Hernandez and Green, after sending first Ozzie Virgil, then Lonnie Smith to the on-deck circle, countered with Moreland.

"I didn't want to put Ozzie through that kind of pressure," said Green. "The other guys have been there before."

Pressure? All Moreland did was watch four pitches go by during the inevitable intentional walk. His job done, Hernandez acknowledged a standing ovation by 4,352 Cub fans with a tip of his cap.

Moreland perhaps would have been the better man with the bases loaded instead of wasting him to an intentional walk. But Green's reasons for using Lonnie Smith against righthander Lee Smith, whose contract was purchased by the Cubs from Wichita on Sept. 1, seemed understandable enough.

"I just felt Lonnie had a better chance at staying out of the double play than Keith," said Green. "We knew they'd walk Keith. Hell, Lonnie's only hitting .340 (.337) against righthanders and lefthanders. He has a good eye... You're not going to double him... There's a lot of reasons for letting Lonnie hit."

Except the results, Smith taking the 3-2 pitch for a called third strike from a pitcher who threw nothing but fastballs to the two batters he faced. McBride, who followed Smith, was at least able to put the ball in play somewhere, grounding out to second.

Had Smith done the same the, the Phils might have gotten a couple of runs.

There they are again, those "what ifs," those "might-have-beens," those words that always seem to surface in the tales about the ones that got away.

PHIL UPS – Larry Bowa, who aggravated a pulled hamstring muscle on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, did not play... His availability will be on a day-to-day bases... Aviles' homer was his second of the year... Phils had taken a 3-1 lead on an RBI triple by Schmidt in the first, Aviles' home run in the fifth and an RBI bloop single by-Pete Rose in the seventh... Rookie Marty Bystrom puts his 17 scoreless innings in the line this afternoon against Lynn McGlothen... Dick Ruthven is scheduled to start tomorrow against Dennis Lamp.

Phillies’ September Song Gets Bad Reviews in Chicago

Chicago 4, Philadelphia 3

By Harry Hoffman, Press Sports Writer

CHICAGO — The September Song his some discordant notes for the Philadelphia Phillies in both halves of the ninth inning Friday in Wrigley Field. It was between an anvil chorus pounding into the heads of the Phils and Manager Dallas Green when ex-teammate Jerry Martin stroked a pinch-hit single into right field which brought home Cliff Johnson with the run that gave the Chicago Cubs a comeback 4-3 victory.

The Phils, who don’t have to be reminded they are in a stretch drive battle with the Montreal Expos for the National League East crown, started the top of the ninth in front 3-2 and made a strong bid to improve on that margin.

Garry Maddox began the inning by working a lot harder than usual to scrape a walk off right-handed reliever Dick Tidrow. Bob Boone failed in a sacrifice bunt attempt that went foul. But he lined a single up the middle for his third hit in the game. When center fielder Tito Lezcano fumbled the ball, Maddox hustled to third. Ramon Aviles, playing in place of the injured shortstop Larry Bowa, looked at a called third strike for the first out. Earlier in the game, Aviles had lined a Rick Reuschel pitch into the left field stands to give the Phils a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning.

With Greg Gross at the plate, Chicago Manager Joey Amalfitano switched to left-handed reliever Willie Hernandez. Green countered with right-handed pinch hitter Keith Moreland.

“I thought over a lot of different moves at that time” said Green “First, I was going to go to Ozzie Virgil. But I just didn’t want to put a rookie into that kind of pressure. With first base open, they might walk him, they might not. I knew they would walk Keith. But I wanted Lonnie Smith up there with the bases loaded.”

Moreland was walked to load the bases. Smith then pinch-hit for Del Unser, and the Cubs countered by bringing in right-handed reliever Lee Smith.

“I had no thoughts about pulling Lonnie,” Green said. “Hell, he’s only hitting about .340 against all kinds of pitching. I figured he would stay out of the double play and get enough wood on the ball to get at least one run home.”

You can’t get wood on the ball if you don’t swing. This time Smith chose to look at a 3-2 pitch and was called out by umpire John Kibler. That pushed Bake McBride into the cauldron. McBride had scored the Phils’ first run when he singled and raced home on a triple by Mike Schmidt in the first inning.

The best he could do this time was hit a sharp ground ball to second, and become the third out of an unfulfilled rally.

“Those kind of innings can haunt you for a while, there’s no double about that,” Green said. “But I didn’t feel that bad at the time since we had some strong bullpen arms ready to try to protect the one-run lead.”

Larry Biittner tore down some of that protection when he began the bottom of the ninth as a pinch hitter and lined a double to right field off Warren Brusstar. Right fielder McBride tried to backhand the ball at his shoetops but could not quite make the play.

Steve Dillard, who had hit a bases-empty homer off starter Bob Walk in the second inning to produce a 1-1 tie, now failed to sacrifice the runner to third base. Actually, he did his best with a high, chopping bunt toward the mound. But Mick Kelleher, running for Biittner, did not get an alert break from second base. Even though Brusstar’s throw to Aviles at the bag was high, the shortstop was able to bring the ball down and make the tag.

Chicago leadoff man Ivan DeJesus, who has been murdering Phils’ pitching at a .400 clip all season, did it again. His hard ground ball into left field scored Dillard with the tying run.

When left-handed swinging Scott Thompson was announced as a pinch hitter for relief pitcher Smith, 2-0, Green switched to Tug McGraw. In turn, the Cubs quickly switched to right-handed hitting Martin.

When Martin slapped the ball into right field, Brusstar wound up with his first loss in three decisions. The Phils now must bounce back today against the Cubs with 22-year-old rookie left hander Marty Bystrom trying to get the job done against Lynn McGlothen.

There are many stories in the September drive of a major league pennant race. What happened in the ninth inning at Wrigley Field Friday, Sept. 19 might be a chapter the Phils will recall over and over in October.