Allentown Morning Call - March 31, 1980
Pirates defeat Phillies, 4-1
By Jack McCallum, Call Sports Writer
BRADENTON. Fla. – Any thoughts that Dave Parker, Willie Stargell and Bill Madlock left their bats on the rubber chicken circuit should be quickly filed away in the drawer marked.
All three gave Phillies' starter Dick Ruthven a bad time in the Pirates' 4-1 rain-shortened victory yesterday at McKechnie Field.
In the first inning. Tim Foli singled up the middle with one out, Parker followed with a double off the leftfield wall and Stargell brought both home with a single to left-center. In the third inning, Parker and Stargell both singled and Madlock brought Parker home with a single.
The Bucs scored their other run off Ruthven in the second inning on singles by Madlock and starter John Candelaria.
Madlock is now hitting just under .500. the 39-year-old Stargell is at .444 and Parker is at .315. Gives you something to think about for the season.
Ruthven is giving manager Dallas Green something to think about for the season, too. but it's not quite as pleasant. He did pitch two scoreless innings after his early trouble yesterday, but he's now been shelled in his last three outings and the strength of his recovery from elbow surgery remains a question mark.
"I felt much better about his outing today than last time," said Green, looking on the bright side as buckets of rain fell outside the Phils' clubhouse. "He was getting his breaking ball over a lot better today. They just happened to be hitting it but that will happen with the Pirates, you know. And today, with all the wetness, wasn't really a good day to judge a pitcher.
"I think we're all in the flat stage now. We're all a little loggy. I think the three days we have on the road is going to pick everybody up because we won 't be doing the extra things we've been doing on game days lately."
NOTES: The Phils got their only run yesterday off Candelaria on a home run by none other than shortstop Ramon Aviles, who was one of Green's first cuts. He made the trip only because Green gave Larry Bowa (as well as Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski. Bake McBride and Garry Maddox the day off, and Bud Harrelson pulled a muscle in a 'B' game on Thursday…
Harrelson, Larry Christenson, Warren Brusstar, Nino Espinosa and Bob Boone will be staying in Clearwater when the Phillies leave this afternoon for games in Fort Lauderdale tonight (against the Yankees I. Pompano Beach tomorrow (against Texas) and Cocoa Beach on Wednesday (against Houston).
The first four are injured, while Boone will be attending the when-shall-we-strike Players Association meeting on Tuesday in Dallas. Bowa, the assistant player rep, will play against the Yanks tonight, then fly to Dallas…
Christenson will test his injured knee in three innings against a Triple-A" team this afternoon at the Carpenter Complex in Clearwater. He was hit by Jason Thompson scorching line drive in a game against Detroit on March 20 and hasn't pitched since…
There appears to be virtually no way that Brusstar sticks with the club. His shoulder problems remain mysterious and he has thrown very little this spring. Espinosa will probably go north but will almost assuredly be on the disabled list when the season begins. He also has shoulder problems.