Taking advantage of ninth-inning mistakes, the Pirates swept a twi-night doubleheader, 5-4 and 2-1, to pull within 1½ games of the Phillies in the East division race. Bake McBride hit a two-run double for the Phillies in the fifth inning of the opener, but the Pirates came back with four runs in the sixth on a triple by Frank Taveras, singles by Omar Moreno and Dave Parker and a homer by Willie Stargell. McBride knotted the count with another two-run double in the seventh. In the Pirates' ninth, Ed Ott hit a fly that either center fielder Garry Maddox or right fielder McBride might have caught, but the ball fell between them for a triple. Maddox then overthrew third base, allowing Ott to continue home with the winning run.

In the nightcap, Greg Luzinski smashed his 34th homer of the year for the Phillies off Bruce Kison in the second inning. Not to be outdone, Kison surprised by tagging Steve Carlton for his first homer of the year and second of his career in the fifth. Parker started the Pirates' ninth with a double and took third when Maddox misplayed the carom off the fence. Carlton passed both Bill Robinson and Stargell intentionally before being removed in favor of Warren Brusstar. Facing Phil Garner, Brusstar balked on his second delivery, allowing Parker to score the winning run. Kent Tekulve was the victor in relief in both games. [The Sporting News]



Pittsburgh Pirates 5, Philadelphia Phillies 4 (Game 1)
Game Played on Friday, September 29, 1978 (Night game) at Three Rivers Stadium
Phillies     0  0  0    0  2  0    2  0  0  -   4  7  1
Pirates      0  0  0    0  0  4    0  0  1  -   5  9  1


Phillies             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
McBride rf            5   0   2   4     0   2   .268      Taveras ss            4   1   2   0     0   1   .278
Bowa ss               4   0   0   0     1   2   .297      Moreno cf             3   1   2   1     0   1   .236
Maddox cf             3   0   1   0     1   0   .286      Parker rf             4   1   2   0     0   0   .333
xLuzinski lf          3   0   0   0     0   1   .000      Stargell 1b           4   1   1   3     0   1   .297
Hebner 1b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .283      Ott c                 4   1   2   0     0   0   .268
Schmidt 3b            3   1   1   0     1   0   .252      B. Robinson 3b,lf     3   0   0   0     0   1   .244
Boone c               4   1   2   0     0   1   .281      Milner lf             3   0   0   0     0   1   .273
Sizemore 2b           4   1   0   0     0   0   .223        Berra 3b            0   0   0   0     0   0   .206
Ruthven p             2   0   0   0     0   1   .221      Garner 2b             3   0   0   0     0   0   .263
  McCarver ph         0   0   0   0     1   0   .248      Blyleven p            2   0   0   0     0   2   .129
  Smith pr            0   1   0   0     0   0   .000        Stennett ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .244
  McGraw p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Tekulve p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .095
  Gonzalez ph         1   0   1   0     0   0   .182
  Reed p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               33   4   7   4     4   7             Totals               31   5   9   4     0   7

Time of Game: 2:11
Left on Base: Phillies 7, Pirates 3
DP: Phillies 0, Pirates 1
Errors: Maddox, Ott
Doubles: McBride 2 (20)
Triples: Boone (4), Taveras (9), Ott (4)
Home Runs: Stargell (27)
Stolen Bases: Schmidt (19), Moreno (69)
Caught Stealing: Moreno (22)
Sacrifice Hits: Moreno (17)
GIDP: Luzinski (10)


Phillies               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Ruthven                 6     7   4   4   0   5   1  25   3.38
McGraw                  2     1   0   0   0   2   0   6   2.99
Reed L(3-4)             0     1   1   0   0   0   0   1   2.25
Totals                  8     9   5   4   0   7   1  32

Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blyleven                7     6   4   4   3   5   0  30   3.03
Tekulve W(7-7)          2     1   0   0   1   2   0   8   2.27
Totals                  9     7   4   4   4   7   0  38

Umpires: HP - Paul Pryor, 1B - Terry Tata, 2B - Satch Davidson, 3B - Ed Vargo


PHILLIES 1ST: McBride was called out on strikes; Bowa was called
out on strikes; Maddox walked; Luzinski reached on catcher's
interference by Ott [Maddox to second]; Hebner popped to catcher
in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Phillies 0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 1ST: Taveras singled to pitcher; Moreno out on a
sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first) [Taveras to second]; Parker
flied out to left; Stargell grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Pirates 0.

PHILLIES 2ND: Schmidt grounded out (shortstop to first); Boone
popped to second; Sizemore grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 2ND: Ott popped to third; B. Robinson grounded out
(third to first); Milner grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 0, Pirates 0.

PHILLIES 3RD: Ruthven flied out to right; McBride flied out to
left; Bowa was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Phillies 0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 3RD: Garner flied out to left; Blyleven struck out;
Taveras grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Phillies 0, Pirates 0.

PHILLIES 4TH: Maddox singled to third; Luzinski grounded into a
double play (shortstop to second to first) [Maddox out at
second]; Hebner popped to third; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies
0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 4TH: Moreno struck out; Parker singled to center;
Stargell popped to third in foul territory; Ott singled to right
[Parker to third]; B. Robinson struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
 Phillies 0, Pirates 0.

PHILLIES 5TH: Schmidt singled to center; Boone singled to left
[Schmidt to third]; Sizemore forced Boone (shortstop to second)
[Schmidt stayed at third]; Ruthven struck out; McBride doubled
to left [Schmidt scored, Sizemore scored]; Bowa walked; Maddox
forced Bowa (shortstop to second); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Phillies 2, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 5TH: Milner flied out to right; Garner flied out to
right; Blyleven struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 2,
Pirates 0.

PHILLIES 6TH: Luzinski was called out on strikes; Hebner popped
to right; Schmidt flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Phillies 2, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 6TH: Taveras tripled to center; Moreno singled to center
[Taveras scored]; Moreno stole second; Parker singled to second
[Moreno to third]; Stargell homered [Moreno scored, Parker
scored]; Ott grounded out (shortstop to first); B. Robinson
flied out to left; Milner was called out on strikes; 4 R, 4 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 2, Pirates 4.

PHILLIES 7TH: BERRA REPLACED MILNER (PLAYING 3B); B. ROBINSON
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); Boone tripled to center;
Sizemore popped to second; MCCARVER BATTED FOR RUTHVEN; McCarver
walked; SMITH RAN FOR MCCARVER; McBride doubled to center [Boone
scored, Smith scored]; Bowa popped to second; Maddox grounded
out (second to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 4,
Pirates 4.

PIRATES 7TH: MCGRAW REPLACED SMITH (PITCHING); Garner grounded
out (third to first); STENNETT BATTED FOR BLYLEVEN; Stennett
flied out to right; Taveras struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Phillies 4, Pirates 4.

PHILLIES 8TH: TEKULVE REPLACED STENNETT (PITCHING); Luzinski
grounded out (shortstop to first); Hebner flied out to right;
Schmidt walked; Schmidt stole second; Boone struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 4, Pirates 4.

PIRATES 8TH: Moreno singled to right; Parker flied out to left;
Moreno was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop);
Stargell struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 4, Pirates
4.

PHILLIES 9TH: Sizemore flied out to left; GONZALEZ BATTED FOR
MCGRAW; Gonzalez singled to center; McBride struck out; Bowa
flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 4, Pirates
4.

PIRATES 9TH: REED REPLACED GONZALEZ (PITCHING); Ott tripled to
center [Ott scored (error by Maddox) (unearned) (no RBI)]; 1 R
(0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 4, Pirates 5.