Phils beat Dodgers, lead by one 

By Hal Bodley, Gannett News Service

LOS ANGELES – It all came down to Tug McGraw against Joe Ferguson – again.

You recall the last time the Phils' relief pitcher and the Dodgers' catcher got together in Philadelphia. Ferguson stroked a two-run single when McGraw was trying to intentionally walk him. McGraw then plunked Bill Russell with a pitch and Russell tried to plunk McGraw on the chin with his fist and it was basebrawl at its best.

McGraw won out last night.

Ferguson popped out to shortstop to kill a late-inning Dodger rally after Dusty Baker had hammered a two-run homer and the Phils won, 3-2.

The Dodgers saw their seven-game win streak come to an end after Bob Walk went seven-plus strong innings.

The victory, over Dodger ace Jerry Reuss, was the fourth in a row for the Phils and put them atop the National League East by a full game over Pittsburgh and Montreal.

Walk, who was brilliant for seven innings, now has a 10-4 record.

THE PHILS won it on a first-inning two-run homer by Mike Schmidt, his 36th, and a bases-empty blast by Greg Luzinski in the seventh, his 17th.

Walk, who allowed only four hits before Brusstar arrived with Davey Lopes on first base and nobody out, grew up in the Los Angeles area.

His idea of a good time was to come to Dodger Stadium and sit in the left field stands. Once, in 1974, he threw a tennis ball onto the field and was thrown out of the park.

"I thought about that before the game, but not after I went to the mound," said Walk. "I know we are in a close pennant race and tonight's game was very important for the team, but to be truthful I thought more about what it was going to be like pitching in Dodger Stadium than I did about the race.

"I WANTED to go out there, throw the ball hard and have a good game. I was ready to come out in the eighth, there was no argument. My arm was beginning to drag. This is just a great, great experience for me. I am going to enjoy it for a couple of days, then get ready for my next start."

For McGraw, there was a measure of revenge attached to his 17th save and third of this trip.

"Sure, Ferguson is the guy who started all my trouble last week back in Philly, but I didn't think about him as much as I did Lopes on first base," said McGraw.

“I thought about all the things he said in the newspapers after the brawl. When he came to the mound he said he wanted to kill me, but since he didn't say he wanted to beat me, I didn't worry."

"ANOTHER EXAMPLE of grind-it-out baseball," said Manager Dallas Green after the Phils improved their record on this 11-game road trip to 6-2. "We could have folded when the Dodgers came to life, but we didn't. You have to be pleased with Bobby Walk. I don't know where we could be without him."

Reuss, who leads the league with six shutouts, entered the game with the lowest earned run average in the circuit, 2.14.

The Phils took the lead when Lonnie Smith opened the game with an infield single and, after Pete Rose grounded out, Schmidt blasted Reuss' first pitch to the pavilion seats above the 385-foot mark in right-center.

Walk allowed just one single and a walk until, with one out in the fifth, Mike Scioscia singled to center and continued to second when Garry Maddox bobbled the ball for an error. Scioscia moved to third on an infield out before Reuss waited for a walk. Dave Lopes ended the theat, forcing Reuss at second.

LUZINSKI LED off the seventh, cracking a 2-2 pitch to the Dodger bullpen, and it was 3-0.

The Dodgers brought the crowd of 41,864 to life in the sixth when Jay Johnstone opened with a double and Baker was safe on Schmidt's error. Steve Garvey fouled out and Ron Cey bounced into a double play.

The Phils' eighth inning may haunt them for days. They loaded the bases against reliever Bob Castillo with one out and did not score.

Bob Boone singled to left, was sacrificed to second and after Smith was hit by a pitch, Rose singled to left. Schmidt, however, struck out and Greg Gross, who entered the game as a defensive replacement for Luzinski, fanned on a 3-2 pitch out of the strike zone.

THE DODGERS made it 3-2 in the eighth. Walk gave up a leadoff single to Lopes on a 3-2 pitch and when the count went to 2-0 to Johnstone, Manager Dallas Green summoned Brusstar. He got Johnstone to fly to center, but Baker sent a 1-1 pitch screaming over the 395-foot mark in right-center for his 27th homer of the year.

Brusstar served up a single to Garvey and after Cey fanned, Rick Monday singled to right and McGraw arrived. He got pinchhitter Ferguson to pop to shortstop and the rally was over.

PHIL UPS – It was nine days ago at Veterans Stadium when McGraw hit Dodger shortstop Russell with a pitch that started a bench-clearing brawl... Prior to last night's game, McGraw donned an Army helmet and a combat jacket, while Russell put on boxing gloves for a television interview... They hammed it up, pretending to fight during the interview, then carried the starting lineup cards to home plate... McGraw, of course, has apologized to Russell for what Tug has blamed on his temper for allowing Joe Ferguson to single in two runs during an intentional walk... Russell, however, did not start because of a sore wrist... Garvey played in his 805th consecutive game last night… Schmidt has hit safely in 14 of 15 games... Steve Carlton (21-7) goes against Don Sutton (9-4) tonight.

Schmidt, Bull Lead Phillies

Philadelphia 3, L.A. 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski slugged home runs to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-2 victory over Los Angeles Thursday night, snapping the Dodgers' seven-game winning streak.

Schmidt slugged his 36th homer in the first inning, a two-run shot off loser Jerry Reuss, 16-6, who lost for the first time since July 26. Luzinski hit his 17th homer in the seventh with no one aboard.

Bob Walk, 10-4, blanked Los Angeles on three hits until the eighth when Dave Lopes led off the inning with a single. Warren Brusstar took over and after getting the first out, gave up a two-run homer to Dusty Baker, his 27th.

Brusstar gave up two more singles in the inning before Tug McGraw came on to get pinch-hitter Joe Ferguson to pop to short for the third out and went on to earn his 17th save.

The Phillies, who strengthened their lead in the National League East to a full game over Pittsburgh and Montreal, won their fourth game in a row and seventh in the last nine.

Schmidt's homer, the Phillies' first homer in 11 games, was the eighth of his career against Reuss. The Los Angeles left-hander had won six straight games.