National League Roundup : Felske Checks Temper, but Phillies Lose Again

John Felske said all spring that if the Philadelphia Phillies got off to a good start, they could battle the New York Mets for the pennant in the National League East.

The fiery manager of the Phillies may not find out.

After Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry hit consecutive home runs in the seventh inning, the Mets went on to a 4-1 victory over the Phillies Wednesday night at Philadelphia.

The Phillies have lost seven of eight games. With the season just a little more than a week old, they are already 4 1/2 games behind the Mets and fading fast.

After Tuesday night’s 7-5 loss, in which the Phillies made three errors and gave up three unearned runs, two on catcher Lance Parrish’s passed balls, Felske threw a tantrum.

He broke bats, destroyed furniture, used language unfit to print and tried to strong-arm a desk.

He apologized to his team for the display.

“It is totally out of character for me,” he said. “I used to get hot early in my career, but I learned to control myself. Last night, I guess things built up inside of me and I had to let go.”

All he could do this time was watch the Mets’ drives go sailing out of the park.

The Mets only had a 1-0 lead when Carter opened the seventh inning against reliever Kent Tekulve with his second home run of the season. It was his 23rd at Veterans Stadium, the most by a visiting player. Strawberry followed with his fourth of the season.

Pittsburgh 3, Chicago 1--There was some quick second-guessing when Pirate Manager Jim Leyland removed Rick Reuschel after the 37-year-old right-hander held the Cubs to 3 hits in 8 innings at Chicago.

To make matters worse, Jody Davis homered off reliever Don Robinson with one out in the ninth to end Robinson’s scoreless streak at 18 innings.

All’s well that ends well, though, and Jim Morrison singled in Andy Van Slyke from third base with the winning run in the 10th to get his manager off the hook.

“I’d do it again,” Leyland maintained. “Robinson is my Lee Smith. I batted for Rick because we had a chance to add to the lead.”

Atlanta 4, Cincinnati 3--Andres Thomas hit a three-run home run in the third inning at Atlanta, and Rick Mahler, with bullpen help, maintained his command over the Reds.

Although both Paul Assenmacher and Gene Garber had to help subdue the Reds before it was official, Mahler (2-0) improved his career record against the Reds to 10-2.

The Reds chased Mahler in the eighth with their first two runs and scored again off Garber in the ninth.

San Francisco 1, San Diego 0--Kelly Downs pitched a three-hitter, and former Dodger Candy Maldonado hit a home run at San Diego as the Giants swept the three-game series.

To make matters worse, Padre first baseman Steve Garvey had to leave the game when he was hit on the chin by a Downs fastball. Garvey was not seriously injured and may face the Dodgers today.