Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 19

COURIER-POST NATIONAL SCORES 2 LOCAL SCORES .....2 TELEVISION 5 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1980 TfDl po9 take over leac JtMiS BHD By BOB KENNEY Courier-Post Sports Editor MONTREAL Tug McGraw turned in a brilliant relief performance here last night and the Phillies moved to within one victory of the National League East pennant McGraw struck out five of the six batters he faced to preserve a 2-1 victory for the Phillies in the first of their three showdown battles with the Montreal Expos. The Phillies can clinch the title and earn the right to open the championship playoffs in Veterans Stadium Tuesday night by winning here in Olympic Stadium this afternoon or "There's still a' lot of baseball to be played," cautioned Mike Schmidt, who supplied the deciding run by tying the world record for third basemen with his 47th home run of the season. "But I'd rather be in our position than their's." The largest crowd of the season, 57,121, turned out to support the Expos' bid, and the Phillies soured things quickly. Pete Rose opened the game with a bullet single to center, scampered to third when Bake McBride dropped a double into the left field corner and scored on a sacrifice fly by Schmidt. But Scott Sanderson got his second wind and, with the help of some feeble swings by Greg Luzinski, pitched out of the jam and blanked the Phillies until Schmidt connected with one out in the sixth.

Luzinski, who is 3-for-31, struck out three times in three tries and now has tiptoed to the dugout 1 4 embarrassing times in the last eight games. THE EAST RACE Pet GB PHILLIES 90 70 .562 -Montreal 89 71 .556 1 Dick Ruthven answered the challenge and countered Sanderson's fine pitching with some classy work of his own. He got ahead of the hitters and was in command 2-0 when the Expos finally got on the board in the sixth. Jerry White doubled and Rodney Scott walked to open the sixth and Rowland Office sacrificed both runners into, scoring position. Only a great pickup and throw by Schmidt saved the Phillies from real trouble.

"I juststayed low and tried to get it into the vicinity of Manny," said Schmidt, who got the force at first on a great pickup by Trillo. "Let's face it, you have to get a few breaks in a game like this." Andre Dawson brought a run home with a sacrifice fly to deep center, then Dallas Green ordered Gary Carter intentionally walked and brought in lefty Sparky Lyle to pitch to Warren Cromartie. Putting the lead runner on base in violation of accepted, baseball strategy didn't faze the manager one bit, he said later. "That was no tough decision," Green said. "I put on a hitter that is hotter than a firecracker right now.

It shows my confidence in my staff to do that in the other guy's ballpark." Please see PHILLIES, Page 3C Associated Press Phillies' second baseman Manny Trillo reaches dives back for the bag after oversliding second in to tag out Montreal Expos' Rodney Scott as Scott of last night's game. The Phillies won, 2-1 PHILLIES 2, EXPOS 1 RUSTY PRAY Of the Courier-Post MONTREAL ab bi 4 12 0 White If 40 10 Scott 2b Office rf 3 0 0 0 Paterf 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 30 10 4 0 10 Dawson cf Carter Cromartie lb Parrish 3b PHIL Rose lb Mc Bride rf Schmidt 3b Luzinski If GMaddox cf Unser cf Trillo 2b, Bowa si Boone Ruthven Lylep Gross ph Lovigliopr McGraw ab bi 4 110 2 0 0 0 2 0 10 1000 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 2010 0 0 0 0 1000 2 0 0 0 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 21 1 4 1 I 000-2 i ooo- i 3 0 0 0 Speier ss 2 0 10 LeFlore pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Manuel ss Sanderson Tamargo ph Raines pr Bahnsen Fryman 29112 Total 100 Total Philadelphia Montreal 000 E-White. DP-Montreal 1. LOB-Philadelphia 5, Montreal J. 2B-McBride, White.

HR-Schmidl (47). SB -Rose. S- Office. GMaddox. SF-Schmidt, Dawson.

IP ER BB SO Philadelphia RuthvnW, 17-10 523 Lyle 11-3 McGraw 2 Montreal SandrsnL, 16-11 7 Bahnsen 12-3 Fryman 1-3 WP-Bahnsen. A 57,121. BASEBALL Astros fall to WW, W. WW JF SS -fits Schmidt, McGraw opposites as they meet press after victory MONTREAL A little embarrassed by all the fuss, Mike Schmidt acted as if this were his first pennant race. He hesitated for a moment, then stepped onto a green wooden stage and faced a mob of newsmen waiting for his words.

"Is this," Schmidt wondered aloud to the sea of faces before him, "how it is in the World Series?" The question was asked in the spirit of ice-breaking. It was a vehicle by which the mass interview something that is, indeed, very much a part of the World Series and playoffs could begin. But it also was a statement of hope, a nine-word revelation of just how close Schmidt and the Phillies are to spending their next few weeks meeting the media in stadium interview rooms. It might seem strange that someone like Schmidt should feel uncomfortable in such situations. After all, he and a number of his present teammates have been down the division championship road before, winning the National League East three times.

But the fact remains that this is the first time Schmidt and the Phillies have been involved in a pennant race as close and tight as this one. This was the first time the Phillies had gone to an opposing ballpark this late in a season without a championship already in hand. "We've never," said Schmidt, "been in a pennant race like this before. We've never had to play great baseball in September. All we had to do in the years we won (1976, 1977, 1978) was hold on." This time, the Phillies must do more than merely hold on.

They began a three-game showdown here in Olympic Stadium last night in a dead-heat for first place with the Expos. And the Phillies took the first round, 2-1, Schmidt driving in both runs and Tug McGraw striking out five of the six batters he faced to save it. The Phils need only to win either this afternoon or tomorrow to reach the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. But, if the Phillies put themselves in the driver's seat with last night's win, the Expos still have one hand on the wheel. "This (the pressure of a pennant race) is as new to us as it is to them," said Schmidt.

"In fact, they might have more experience than we do.because they were in it with the Pirates until the last day last year. "I'll tell you, before the game I was nervous. The Expos said they were relaxed, but I'm the first to admit I was There she goes! Associated Press Phillies' Mike Schmidt watches his 47th home run of the season leave the ball park in the sixth inning of last night's game with Montreal Expos. The blast gave the Phils the lead in the crucial three-game series. odgers Such admissions are rare for Schmidt, who generally effects a demeanor slightly more composed than Mt.

Rush-more. Of Course, these are rare times for both Schmidt and the Phillies. McGraw had reason to temper his emotions. If you recall, it was just last week that the Phils beat the Expos, 2-1, in the opener of a three-game series in Veterans Stadium. Bake McBride had seemingly crushed Montreal with a dramatic home run in the bottom of the ninth.

McGraw, who won that game in relief was one of its chief celebrants. The Expos, however, came back and won the next two games and left Philadelphia in first plac'e, a position they stradfastly held until last night. "This weekend," warned McGraw, "has started out very much like last weekend. I don't want what happened last weekend to hapen again." On that cautious note. McGraw left.

He had been through all the fuss, felt all the pennant heat, before. Elation, he knew, was something to be held aside for a more appropriate time. Next to take center stage was McGraw, whose left arm made Schmidt's sacrifice fly in the first and 47th home run in the sixth stand. McGraw was, well, quite at home in the interview room as be calmly responded to questions and delivered one-liners as crackling as bis fastball. It seemed supremely ironic that McGraw, on the surface Schmidt's emotional antithesis, would be the cooler head that prevailed.

"I tried to contain myself after the game," said McGraw, who rarely contains anything except opposing hitters. "I want to put it away tomorrow (today). Then I'll get excited." Capitals rout Flyers in rough battle Associated Press Joe Ferguson hit a leadoff homer in the 10th inning to snap a tie and give Los Angeles a dramatic 3-2 victory over Houston last night, keeping alive the Dodgers' hopes of overtaking the Astros in the National League West. 'I The victory moved the Dodgers back to within two games of the front-running Astros with two games left in the big weekend series. After Houston took a 2-1 lead in the eighth on Alan Ashby's sacrifice fly, Los Angeles tied the score in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out RBI single by Ron Cey.

Rick Monday started the Dodgers' ninth-inning rally with a single and then second baseman Rafael Landestoy booted Dusty Baker's slow roller, putting runners at first and second. Steve Garvey flied to center, but then Cey singled through the middle, scoring pinch-runner Rudy Law to tie the score. The New York Yankees, needing one victory in their final three games to clinch the AL East title, got a break when last night's contest against Detroit was rained out with the Tigers leading 4-0 in the top of the fifth inning. It was rescheduled as part of a double-header today beginning at 2 p.m. The second-place Baltimore Orioles, trailing by three games with three were rained out of their home game against Cleveland last night and also will play a doubleheader today.

In the NL, Terry Harper knocked in three runs with a bases-loaded double in the eighth inning, lifting the Atlanta Braves to a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Jesse Jefferson, making his first NL appearance, pitched a three-hitter for 62-3 innings to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. I Tommy Herr's sacrifice fly unlocked a tie the sixth inning, helping St. Louis to a 6-4 over the New York Mets after the Cardinals squandered a 4-0 lead. By JEFF JACOBS Of the Courier-Post HERSHEY, Pa.

This game set hockey back 50 years. No, it really set hockey back 5,000 years. Back when man was beast and belting each other over the heads with stone, clubs was the order of the evening. The Washington Capitals and the Flyers began demonstrating a definite lack of respect for each other midway through last night's preseason game at Hersheypark Arena and it continued until its conclusion. A total of 313 penalty minutes was handed out by a befuddled referee Ron Harris in a 7-2 Caps victory.

The score, however, is incidental in the NHL (Neanderthal Hockey League). What mattered to the players seemingly was to destroy each other. Harris lost control of the game early and it soon became a runaway nuclear warhead. Nearby Three Mile when I played in the old Eastern League. "It's almost impossible to assess anything when something as bad as this happens.

I'd like to see it over again on tape. Well maybe I wouldn't." Flyers goalie Rick St. Croix, still on the trading block, was blitzed for all seven goals. Mulvey and Mike Gartner each scored two goals for the Caps, while Tim tookey, Dennis Maruk and Jean Pronovost all scored one. Left wing Yves Preston and rookie center Ron Flockhart, playing his first game after a leg injury, scored for the Flyers.

Because of an injury to Norm Barnes (an apparent side problem) and Jack Mcllhar-gey 's sore neck, the Flyers dressed only five defensemen for the game. When Dailey and Busniuk left and Frank Bathe got a 10-minute misconduct, the Flyers were forced to play with two defensemen. "When you can only ice two defensemen for about half the game, what does that prove?" Quinn said. When asked directly who was to blame, the Flyers coach became irate and said, "What are you fishing for? You know I'm already in trouble with the league office (for constant complaining last year about officiating)." Quinn abruptly called an end to the post-game conference, leaving unanswered questions about Flyer injuries and his plans for the future. With star center Kenny Linseman out for 6-to-12 weeks with a broken leg and injuries on defense, the Flyers are facing problems.

Flockhart, a young speedster, played between Linseman's regular linemates Brian Propp and Holmgren and looked fairly strong under the circumstances. He may still be in the Flyer picture, along with Please see FLYERS, Page 3C ft Island was a gentle lamb compared to this one. Mike Busniuk was the only Flyer to officially receive a game ejection, but Tim Kerr, Paul Holmgren and Mel Bridgman compiled so many minutes in penalties that they, too, were forced out of the game. Most importantly, however, defenseman Bob Dailey left the game with an undefined shoulder injury after a body check. It is the right one not the same ravaged shoulder operated on in June and Dailey said he will have it examined today by Dr.

Joseph Torg. The Caps, meanwhile, lost Ryan Walter, Bob Kelly, Wayne Stephenson and Rick Green to game misconducts, with Paul Mulvey and Darren Veitch also leaving early with more penalty minutes than time remaining in the game. "I've never seen anything like it," said an angry Flyer Coach Pat Quinn. "Not even.