Allentown Morning Call - July 7, 1980
Carlton strikeout king of lefthanders
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- 'I've seen him pitch better." Philadelphia Manager Dallas Green said yesterday after watching Steve Carlton become the major leagues' all-time left-handed strikeout leader in an 8-3 Phillies triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals.
"He just has that capability of coming in when we're going bad and going out and winning for us." Green said after Carlton boosted his lifetime strikeout total to 2,836.
By striking out seven, Carlton eclipsed the previous record for lefthanders set by Mickey Lolich. He also advanced to seventh on baseball's all-time strikeout chart.
"I'd figure it's what you'd call a typical Carlton game. It was a win. He had enough strikeouts to set a record which may not be broken lor a long time." Green said.
"The Cardinals are a very explosive team. It looks like they 've got some momentum. It looked like they might get their offense going."
Carlton, the major league's winningest pitcher, notched his 14th triumph by subduing St Louis on seven hits through the first eight innings. He gave way to Ron Reed preceding a two-run Cards ninth.
The strikeout topping Lolich's old standard of 2.832 came in the fourth inning as Tony Scott missed a low pitch. A Busch Stadium crowd of 17.7H9 gave the hurler a standing ovation after the inning ended, with Carlton leaving the dugout to acknowledge the cheers.
"That's not his bag, really." Green said of the moment. "The only thing on his mind was the win. I'm sure that the record will mean something when he sits down to reflect on it."
St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog called Carlton "masterful with his breaking stuff.
"He wasn't throwing that hard. He was getting us out with curve balls and sliders." Herzog said. "He really did have good control of his breaking pitches."
The all-time strikeout leader is righthander Walter Johnson, who fanned 3.508 in 20 years with the Washington Senators.
Carlton. 14-4. gave up seven hits and walked one in improving his lifetime record to 26-8 against the Cardinals, who traded him to the Phillies eight years ago.
Philadelphia took a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Manny Trillo and Bake McBride each doubled, then McBride advanced on a ground-out and scored when shortstop Garry Templeton threw home wildly after fielding Garry Maddox's grounder.
Maddox took second on the play, stole third and scored on Bob Boone's sacrifice fly.
Trillo's second of three doubles drove in John Vukovich in the Phillies' fifth, and Larry Bowa s squeeze bunt brought home Maddox in the sixth.
Maddox completed the runaway with a three-run homer in the ninth.
Carlton gave up George Hendrick s 18th homer of the year in the fourth inning. Reed gave up consecutive RBI doubles by Ken Oberkfell and Leon Durham in the ninth for the other St. Louis scores.