Beanball War Mars Glavine’s 11th Victory

All of a sudden, the Atlanta Braves, America’s Team for goodness sake, are Public Enemy No. 1 to the Phillies.

The latest skirmish in the escalating Otis Nixon War stole the thunder from Tom Glavine, who struck out a career-high 12 batters while becoming the first National League pitcher to win 11 games, as the Braves halted Philadelphia’s modest two-game win streak 9-2 Wednesday afternoon.

The Phillies salvaged something from their dreary performance by finally retaliating against Nixon for the Kung Fu kick he unloaded on Wally Ritchie on June 4.

Nixon, currently appealing the four-game suspension he drew for his part in that brawl, was drilled on the shoulder by a Roger McDowell fastball with two out in the ninth inning.

Home plate umpire Bob Davidson immediately ejected McDowell, who had dusted Nixon with his first pitch.

“No doubt about it,” Davidson said when asked if he thought McDowell was looking to collect a bounty. “We were aware of the situation. But to be honest, the first couple of nights Nixon played and there was no problem. We were in the ninth inning and I had forgot all about it. He brought it back to my memory with that first pitch real fast.”

Nixon, pointed his finger at McDowell after being plunked. He also threatened to storm the Phillies dugout after reaching base before cooler heads prevailed.

The Braves answered by throwing at Dale Murphy, an Atlanta institution, leading off the bottom of the ninth. Glavine didn’t connect on the four pitches, only because Murphy was stepping completely out of the batter’s box while the pitches were coming in.

“I was looking inside,” Murphy chuckled. “That was the old game of dodge ball. I don’t think Tommy had the same velocity on those pitches that he did the rest of the game. I don’t want to get into reading minds. Whatever happened, happened. Interesting game.”

Still, Davidson gave Glavine the heave-ho, too.

“Having Dale up made for a very uncomfortable situation,” Glavine said. “He was a good friend to me when he was here. He was one of the first to really support me when things weren’t going well. He’s the consummate professional.”

Glavine admitted coming inside on right-handed hitters has been a big reason for his stunning success so far.

“That’s a dangerous spot; you don’t have a lot of room to make mistakes,” Glavine said. “But my concentration has been good and my control has been good.”

Glavine, now 7-1 against Philadelphia in his career, also flourished at the plate with three singles and a pair of RBI.

The win halted Atlanta’s five-game losing streak and kept the Phillies from posting their first three-game sweep of the Braves at the Vet since Aug. 29-31, 1977.

The Braves (32-30) hit for the cycle during a four-run fourth that drove the ailing Terry Mulholland (6-7) from the game.

Lonnie Smith started the uprising with a triple; Dave Justice crashed his 11th homer; Jeff Blauser singled; Greg Olson slashed a one-out RBI double, and Glavine spanked a two-out RBI single.

Justice’s homer gave him a league-leading 51 RBI.

Mulholland’s June swoon continued. He’s 0-4 this month with an 8.00 ERA. Lifetime, his June numbers are 1-10, 6.41 compared to a 21-22, 3.65 record the rest of the year. It’s worth noting that Mulholland’s recent skid has coincided with a sprained left knee that can be healed only with rest.

“We’re going to evaluate what to do with him in the next few days,” Fregosi said. “He can’t push off with his left leg, and now he’s starting to aggravate his right knee. It’s affecting his velocity and he’s not getting the ball down in the zone.”

“I’d by lying if I said I was 100 percent,” Mulholland said. “I think they’re looking more at what my next 15 starts will be like, rather than the next one or two. I don’t know what can be worked out. My knees didn’t play a part in the Braves beating me today. I just didn’t make good pitches. Location is everything.”

Mulholland’s miserable showing on a day when he was featured on a give-away poster honoring Phillies’ no-hit pitchers also featured his first wild pitch of the season. Every Philadelphia hurler except Bruce Ruffin, who has toiled just nine innings since being recalled from Scranton, has uncorked one to the backstop this season, a big reason the Phils lead the universe with 46 wild pitches (The Mets are second with 30).

The Phils (28-37) scored an unearned run in the second when John Kruk reached on a three-base error by center fielder Ron Gant and Charlie Hayes (2-for-4) doubled.

The Phils got another tainted run in the sixth when Lonnie Smith dropped a foul fly off Kruk’s bat to set up a two-out Murphy RBI single. Murphy has hit in six straight games.