The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 29

Phillies deadlock zany NL playoffs KEY PLAY Philadelphia's Pete Rose (left) bangs into Houston catcher Bruce Bochy to score the go-ahead run in the 10th inning Saturday as DPI Photo the Phils stopped the Astros, 5-3, and evened the National League Championship Series at two games apiece. HOUSTON (UPI) This is the city which has the medical center where the heart transplant was developed. The Philadelphia Phillies must have paid it a visit. Chastised for years as being a team without heart because of its series of failures in post-season competition, the Phillies battled back from incredible adversity Saturday to defeat the Houston Astros 5-3 in 10 innings and set up a showdown game Sunday for the National League pennant. In a game that featured more controversies than a summer softball game in the park, the Phillies rallied to win in the 10th on back-to-back run-scoring doubles by pinch hitter Greg Luzinski and Manny Trillo and overcame a controversial double play call that went against them in the fourth and deprived them of a potential big inning.

"You would believe-the team had no character if you turned the TV off early," said Phillies manager Dallas Green. "It's one of those frustrating games when we struggled early and didn't score runs. But we battled back. If anybody questioned the lack of character, I think the outcome proved differently." The Phillies, seeking their first pennant since 1950, will send rookie Marty Bystrom to the mound in the final game of the best-of-five series Sunday night while the Astros, looking for their first pennant in the 19-year history of the franchise, will counter with Nolan Ryan. Weird happenings Saturday's game had a little bit of everything if you like weird happenings.

Besides the controversial play in the fourth inning, the Astros had a potential run disallowed because the runner left too early and the Phillies got one run because the Astros threw home first instead of to first base to complete a double play in the eighth. "My appraisal is that it was indeed a strange game," said Astros manager Bill Virdon. "But I've seen them before. That's baseball. I've never been a full season that new things didn't come Huskers rip KU, 54-0 By MATT SEELEY KU Correspondent LAWRENCE Through the years, Nebraska's treatment of Kansas has been nothing short of cruel and usual punishment.

The tradition continued Saturday as the merciless Cornhuskers routed Kansas, 54-0, before a sellout crowd of 52,500 at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska dominated the game throughout, methodically marching up and down the field and racking up 520 yards in total offense. The Cornhusker running game, ranked second in the nation, was the key as back Craig Johnson, replacing injured Jarvis Redwine, was responsible for most of the damage. Johnson, who has rushed for 439 yards against Kansas in the last three years, had a pair of touchdowns in addition to his 109 rushing yards. "The coaches worked me hard to got me in shape for this game," Johnson said.

"I was a little surprised as to how well we moved the ball. We certainly didn't do that last week." Last week Nebraska, then ranked third in the nation, was upset at home by Florida State. This week's game, according to NU players, was a confidence builder, and the 'Huskers wasted little time in restoring that confidence. Nebraska's Ricky Simmons returned the opening kickoff 77 yards to the Kansas 23. Four plays later, the Corn- huskers scored on Johnson's 10-yard touchdown run.

Kevin Siebel's point after touchdown gave NU a 7-0 lead. "I knew we were in trouble when Nebraska lost last week. They are very conscious of their ranking and I knew they'd come down here wanting to make up for last week," Kansas head coach Don Fambrough said. "Then the opening kickoff was a pretty good indication of things to come." The Jayhawks mounted their most impressive drive of the day on their first possession. Starting on its own 24, Kansas marched to the Nebraska 13 before relinquishing the ball on an unsuccessful fourth-down attempt.

Nebraska made it 14-0 early in the second quarter, driving 90 yards in 15 plays. Andre Franklin scored the touchdown on a three-yard scamper with 11:45 to play. The Cornhuskers scored again on their next possession with Johnson going over on a one-yard run. The PAT kick was good and NU led 21-0. "We are not ready to play a team like Nebraska," Fambrough said.

"We would have had to play a perfect game and they would have had to make a lot of mistakes for us to have a chance to win the game." First downs Rushes-yards Passing yards Return yards Passes Punts Fumbles-lost Neb 35 131 62 11 Kan 14 87 0 Penalties-yards Instead of making mistakes, Nebraska was scoring touchdowns. Before halftime, it added another pair of TDs to build a 33-0 lead. With 2:03 to play, quarterback Jeff Quinn hit split end John Noonan on a 31-yard touchdown pass that capped a 68-yard, nine-play drive. The PAT failed, leaving NU with a 27-0 advantage. After Kansas was unable to move the ball, Nebraska got the ball on the KU 38.

Three plays later, the Cornhuskers scored on Roger Craig's one-yard burst with 40 seconds remaining. NU then elected to go for two points, mush to the displeasure of KU fans. Osborne defends play Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne later defended his move. "We're out there trying to win a football game and we didn't want to lose, 35-34," he said. "If you've got respect for people, you play to win.

I had respect for them and thought they were a good team. Apparently they didn't think so." Osborne, however, had little to worry about. His Cornhuskers marched 85 yards in 12 plays on their first possession of the second half to lead 40-0. The TD came on Quinn's eight-yard pass to Noonan. "We wanted to play a whole game, not just a half," Quinn said.

"All week that's what the coaches had stressed, to play a complete game." Noonan agreed. "Getting our confidence back was important, but going out there and controlling the entire game was what we really wanted. We needed a game like this." Nebraska was forced to punt on its next possession, but continued its scoring spree one possession later. It drove 65 yards in eight plays, scoring on Craig's second TD run of the day. The PAT was good, giving Nebraska a 47-0 bulge.

Both teams exchanged drives early in the fourth quarter then NU marched to the Kansas five-yard line before fumbling the ball into the hands of Jayhawk safety John McCarroll. KU then went to the Nebraska 42 before losing possession on an incomplete fourth- down pass. Nebraska closed out its scoring with 45 seconds remaining when Craig pulled a hat trick, scoring his third TD on a two-yard run. "Definitely my finest day," Craig said. "I don't play that much so there was some pressure on me.

I had some butterflies but Johnson told me to just go out there and play. He's been through all the wars so I did what he said." Fambrough said the Cornhusker offense might make them the best team in the country. "They are a good team and the good teams make the big plays on offense and defense. Nebraska and Pittsburgh are similiar on defense, but they (Nebraska) are much superior on offense. As I said, we weren't ready to play a team like Nebraska.

I had to send a lot of boys out there to play men." In addition to Nebraska's 520 yards of offense, the Cornhuskers managed 35 first downs, a KU record for most first downs by an opposing team. Kansas plays Iowa State next week in Lawrence. Nebraska 7 26 54 Kansas 0 0 0 0 0 Neb-Johnson 10 run (Seibel kick) Neb-Seibels Franklin 3 run (Seibel kick) Neb-Johnson 1 run (Seibel kick) Neb-Noonan 31 pass from Quinn (kick failed) Neb-Craig 1 run (run failed) Neb-Noonan 8 pass from Quinn (Seibel kick) Neb-Craig 1 run (Seibel kick) Neb-Craig 2 run (Neil kick) Cyclones bump K-State AMES, Iowa (UPI) Dwayne Crutchfield galloped for 165 yards and one touchdown and quarterback John Quinn rushed for 116 yards and threw a TD strike to lead 20th-ranked Iowa State to a 31-7 Big Eight Conference win over Kansas State. ISU fullback Jack Seabrooke added two touchdowns for the Cyclones, 5-0 and 1-0 in the conference. Kansas State dropped to 2-3, 0-1 in the league.

Alex Giffords put Iowa State on the board with a 45-yard field goal in the second period and Crutchfield capped an 8-play drive late in the period with a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Cyclones a 10-0 halftime lead. Kansas State's only TD came on Darrell Dickey's 7-yard TD pass to Roman Bates with 6:41 left in the third period. A fumble by Quinn at Kansas State 48 in the third quarter resulted in a mad scramble that ended up with Iowa State in possession at Wildcats' 10, Seabrooke scored his first touchdown on the next play with 9:59 left. Seabrooke added a 1-yard plunge on the Cyclones' next possession to give Iowa State a 24-7 lead. Larry Crawford intercepted one of Dickey's aerials early in the fourth period to set up the Cyclones at the Kansas State 24.

Three plays later, Quinn hit tight-end Dan Johnson with a 22- yard scoring toss. Things don't get any easier for K- State this weekend. They travel to Norman, to face Oklahoma, while Iowa State is at Kansas. First downs Rushes-yards Passing yards Return yards Passes Punts Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards KSU 13 85 0 ISU 22 44 31 Kansas Stale 0 0 7 0 7 Iowa State 0 10 14 Giffords 45 4 run (Giffords kick) 10 run (Giffords kick) 7 pass from Dickey (Jackson kick) ISU-Seabrooke 1 run (Giffords kick) ISU-Johnson 22 pass from Quinn (Giffords kick) Kings down Utah, 98-91 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UPI) Scott Wedman scored 26 points and guards Otis Birdsong and Phil Ford combined for 36 more to give the Kansas City Kings a 98-91 win Saturday night over the Utah Jazz.

Birdsong scored 20 and Ford 16 to help the Kings survive a brilliant individual effort by Utah's Adrian Dantley, who scored 33 points including 25 in the second half. Wedman scored eight points during the final six minutes of the first quar- ter to send the Kings from a 11-11 deadlock to a 27-22 lead after one period of their season opener. Wedman added nine more points in the second quarter, including three-point basket at the half-time buzzer to help Kansas City pad its lead to nine at 53-44. Dantley scored Utah's first li points of the third quarter, but Wedman offset him with eight points and two assists to keep Kansas City in front, 79-6B through three quarters. Sports The Salina Journal up but I haven't seen that many things come up before in one game." There was nothing strange, however, about the two runs the Phillies got in the 10th inning.

That was just good old fashioned hard-nosed baseball, with pugnacious Pete Rose leading the way. It was Rose who started the lOth-in- ning fireworks with a one-out single off losing reliever Joe Sambito and after Mike Schmidt flied out, Luzinski, who had been angry at being left out of the starting lineup, doubled into the leftfield corner as a pinch hitter for Bake McBride. Rose, running on the hit, was waved home by third base coach Lee Elia but it appeared he would be thrown out as the relay throw had him beaten. But catcher Bruce Bochy, a late-inning replacement for injured Luis Pujols, had trouble fielding the shortshop relay throw from Rafael Landestoy and juggled the ball as Rose crashed into him with the tie-breaking run. Trillo then doubled to left center for an insurance run and Tug McGraw protected the lead by retiring the Astros in order in the 10th.

"That was a perfect example of the beneficial play for the runner," said Rose. "Bochy was blocking the plate without the ball and there was no room for me to slide and when I saw him juggle it, I just went in straight up. It was a difficult play for Bochy. Johnny Bench (a former teammate) would have had trouble with that play." Coach credited Rose gave Elia a major share of the credit for the run that put the Phillies ahead. Elia had received much criticism in the Phillies' second-game loss to Houston when he failed to send McBride home in the eighth inning on a bloop single to right.

"I give a lot of credit to our third base coach. He saw the relays were coming up short and he gave me the green light," said Rose. "If it wasn't for him, I would have stopped. He showed plenty of courage in his decision." The Astros, who battled back from adversity all season, rallied for a run in the ninth off winner Warren Brusstar to tie it 3-3, forcing the third straight extra-inning game of the playoffs. Rafael led off the ninth with a walk, was sacrificed to second by Sambito and scored on Terry Puhl's single to right.

Held to only five hits by Vern Ruhle and scoreless for 18Mi innings, the Phillies finally got their act together in the eighth by putting together four straight singles, including run-scoring hits by Rose and Mike Schmidt and a sacrifice fly by Trillo to overcome their early frustration. The Phillies' victory was ensured, however, by a classic bonehead running play by Houston rookie Gary Woods in the sixth inning. Woods was called out on an appeal play for leaving the base too soon after he had ap- parently scored Houston's third run on a fly to right by Pujols. That controversy, however, was nothing compared to the one in the fourth which resulted from a controversial double play that took the Phillies out of a potential big inning. With the two teams scoreless, one of the most controversial moments in post-season playoff history occurred after McBride and Trillo led off the Phillies' fourth with successive singles and Garry Maddox then hit a soft, broken-bat line drive which Ruhle gloved near his left foot.

Harvey ruled, it a trap and Ruhle threw to first base for an out as the runners advanced. However, first base umpire Ed Vargo said Ruhle did catch the ball and therefore it was a double play. As Philadelphia manager Dallas Green and his players raced out to protest the call, Astros first baseman Art Howe ran to second base and tagged the bag as umpire Jerry Crawford signaled an out to complete what Houston claimed was a triple play. Now all bedlam broke loose. The Philies argued vehemently that Harvey's original decision should stand but third base umpire Bob Engel supported Vargo's claim that Ruhle did catch the ball.

Harvey, admitting he was screened from the play and did not see it clearly, allowed his colleagues to overrule him. But there was more discussion on whether to allow a triple play since time had been called when the argument started on the play at first. The umpires then convened with NL President Chub Feeney, who was sitting behind the first base dugout, and they decided to send McBride back to second and allow the double play to stand. Green then protested the game and Virdon also lodged a protest claiming the Astros were denied a triple play. PHILADELPHIA If Unser II Rose Ib Schmidt 3b McBride ri Luzinski ph Trillo 2b Maddox cl Bowa ss Boons Carlton Noles Saucier Reed Gross ph Brusstar McGraw ab 4 1 i 5 4 1 4 4 5 4 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 2 2 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 bi 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 HOUSTON Puhl ct Cabell 3b Morgan 7b Woods rl Walling ph Leonard rf Howe Ib Crui II Pujols Bochy Landestoy ss Ruhle DSmilh Sombito ab 3 4 3 2 1 1 3 3 4 0 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 b) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 40 5 13 5 Totals 30 3 5 3 Philadelphia 000 000 030 2 5 Houston 001 100 001 0 3 Londesloy.

DP Philadelphia 2. Houston 2. LOB Philadelphia Houston 8. 2B Howe, Cabell. Luzinski, Trillo.

3B Pujols. SB McBride, L. Smith, Lond- Bstoy. Woods, Puhl. Bowo.

Sambito. SF Howe, Trillo. IP ER SO Philadelphia Corlton 5V, 4 Noles 1 0 Saucier 0 0 Reed 0 Brusitar (W 1-0) 2 I McGrow (S 2) 10 Houston Ruhle 7 D. Smith 0 I Sombito 0-1) 3 4 Saucier pitched to I batter in 7th. Ruhle pitched to 3 batters in 8th D.

Smith pitched to I batter in 8th. 3:55. A 44.952. UPI Photo CRUNCH BUNCH A swarm of Kansas State defenders, including James Walker (55) and Vic Koenning (left), knock ball away from Iowa State quarterback John Quinn (dark jersey). Iowa State dropped the Wildcats, 31-7, Saturday..