The Phillies are flailing. Going into today’s game, the Phils were in last place in the East, five games behind the Mets. The top two RBI men in today’s starting lineup were Greg Luzinski, with seven, and today’s starting pitcher, Larry Christenson, with four. Christenson had one fewer home run than Mike Schmidt (Schmidt had two) and Christenson was among the only four players in the lineup with a batting average above .234.
There were some positive signs today.
Mike Schmidt hit a home run. Luzinski hit two. The pair went back-to-back in the fifth.
But for every silver lining there is a cloud.
Larry Bowa's batting average fell below a dollar after going 0-5. He did get on base in the first but got himself thrown out trying to steal second.
Greg “The Bull” Luzinski was thrown out by a country mile attempting what he never should have attempted: to score from first on a Jay Johnstone double to right-centre. Jerry Morales picked the ball up off the warning track and threw to the cut off man Manny Trillo. Trillo turned and threw to catcher George Mitterwald who received the ball and had time to lift back his mask, remove his glove and give the ball a good rubbing before Luzinski arrived at the plate to be tagged out. (The reported attendance for the game was 2,413 - who’s going to say that didn’t happen?)
On the mound, it was much of the same. Larry Christenson sent the Cubs packing 1-2-3 in the first and the third. But in the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth, he gave up twelve hits, seven runs, two walks, and a home run.
None of this should take anything away from the Cubs who came from behind twice to win this ball game. Donnie Moore pitched brilliantly in three relief innings to earn the win. His only blemish, a run, came in the 8th, when he struck out the side, but also allowed three consecutive hits. Bruce Sutter collected his fourth save of the season.
Philadelphia are favoured to win the East for a second consecutive season but they aren’t playing like it. Some might want to panic. It’s easy to understand why. This was a game the Phillies should have won. It’s a game they need to win if they want to play in October. And it’s the kind of game they will win, even if they didn’t today.
As the weather warms up and we get closer to Memorial Day this early dry spell will have seemed like a bump in the road, if we even remember it at all. You can count on it.