Wilmington Morning News - September 30, 1980

Phillies rally in 15^th, stay half-game out

By Hal Bodley, Sports Editor

PHILADELPHIA – It was hours earlier the news from Montreal had been posted. John Tamargo's three-run homer had given the Expos a 5-2 victory over St. Louis.

Now, it was up to the Phillies as they tried to end a 3-3 overtime struggle with lowly Chicago last night at Veterans Stadium.

After falling behind 5-3 in the top of the 15th, the Phils staged a dramatic three-run comeback in the bottom of the inning to pull out an important 6-5 victory.

Manny Trillo's bases-loaded single brought home the winning run off Dennis Lamp after Garry Maddox' clutch, two-out single had tied with two out. The fourth run scored on Bake McBride's infield out.

Atrocious relief pitching by Dickie Noles and Kevin Saucier had given he Cubs a 5-3 lead and seemingly finished off the Phils before their spirited comeback against Doug Capilla and Lamp.

The victory enabled the Phils to remain a half-game behind the Expos in National League East.

Noles, who has repeatedly failed of late, dug himself a hole in the I5th when he walked leadoff pinch-batter Lynn McGlothen, a .204-hit-ting pitcher, on four pitches. Lenny Randle was sent in to run. Mick Kelleher followed with a perfect double-play ball back to the mound that Noles fielded, but his errant throw bounced into center field, allowing Randle to take third and Kelleher first.

Saucier came in and gave up a deep sacrifice fly to Scott Thompson, Randle scoring. Carlos Lezcano followed with a booming double and it was 5-3.

The Phils seemed destined for a loss when Mike Schmidt popped out to second base with Pete Rose on third, a run in and only one out. Maddox, benched at the start of the game, followed with a one-strike single through the middle. Keith Moreland, who had replaced Bob Boone in the lineup, followed with his second single of the night and after Larry Bowa walked, Trillo came up.

"I hit the ball well off Rick Reuschel early in the game," said Trillo, who ended his night's work with three singles. "I moved about an inch closer to the plate for Reuschel and that helped me against Lamp. Lamp throws a lot of sinkers and sliders, but I was waiting for a fastball and got it. I think this is one of the biggest games of my career. My most important hit will always be the first one I got in the major leagues, but this one is right up there. We're in a pennant race and it was important."

"This has to be the best comeback I've ever seen this team make," said Manager Dallas Green. "We see that Montreal score up on the board and then those two Chicago runs (in the 15th) are staring us in he face. We were in trouble because we have not been scoring very many runs. When Noles threw that ball to center field, yes, I had a sick feeling in my stomach. These are important games and they can be won or lost with fundamentals."

Rose, who was credited with three of the five Philadelphia runs batted in, says he thinks the Phillies are still in the driver's seat.

"All around town today you might have thought we were finished," said Pete. "The paper I saw showed us even in the loss column. How can that leave us out of it. I think this victory tonight will give us a lot of momentum. I have a feeling we're going into Montreal next weekend and really play well. I'll be surprised and disappointed if we don't."

The Phils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third when Rose drove home two runs with his 42d double of the year.

With one out, Trillo was safe on third baseman Steve Dillard's error. With Larry Christenson batting, Trillo stole second. After Christenson walked, both runners advanced on Lonnie Smith's infield out and Rose followed with a shot to left-center.

Jerry Martin's two-out homer in the fifth, his 23d of the year, pulled the Cubs to within one.

EXTRA POINTS – The Phillies were burning about what they considered unfair news accounts of Sunday's 8-3 loss to Montreal... Maddox blamed the fact he was benched on Jayson Stark's article in the Inquirer and confronted the reporter... Maddox lost Chris Speier's line drive in the sun, allowing the Expos to take a 4-1 lead... Bowa played in his 1,631st game last night, putting him third on the Phils' all-time list ahead of Del Ennis... Tony Taylor is second with 1,669 games... After meeting with his coaches yesterday, Green has decided on his pitching for the next four nights... Marty Bystrom will face Lynn McGlothen tonight, Steve Carlton will go against Dennis Lamp tomorrow, with Bob Walk getting another chance on Thursday, facing Mike Krukow or Randy Martz... Dick Ruthven will open the three-game series in Montreal on Friday night.