Phillies alumni: Lefty’s “Lost” Month

Steve Carlton’s masterful 1972 season ended with a 27-10 record for a team that won 59 games. An amazing nugget.

Well, here’s another one ... His 10 losses included a five-game losing streak in May. As Richie Ashburn often said, “Hard to believe, Harry.”

Carlton's red-hot April continued in his first two May starts. Then, the wheels fell off.

• Start of Carlton's historic season

Start #5 (4-1, 1.47 ERA)
May 3: 5-1 over Dodgers in 2:05. Six hits, one walk, nine strikeouts

“He had the best stuff of the trip, best of the year. Had better control in San Francisco, but not much better. The curve ball he had tonight in the first four innings had a shot of striking out anybody, but he worried me in the middle innings. He was dropping down his arm like he had a sore arm, and his curve lost that real good bite,” said Tim McCarver.

• Phillies Alumni

Start #6 (5-1, 1.73 ERA)
May 7: 8-3 over the Giants before a Veterans Stadium Sunday afternoon crowd of 44,880. Seven hits, one walk, 13 strikeouts. Crowd was fourth largest in brief Vet history.

“I felt terrible while I was warming up. I had that tired sensation. I warmed up early so I could sit on the bench and give myself five minutes to rest,” Carlton.

Lefty struck out the first four Giants, allowed a single to Dave Kingman and not another hit until the seventh. His fifth strikeout of the game was career #1,000.

Start #7 (5-2, 1.83 ERA)
May 13: 3-1 loss to Dodgers at home on a Saturday night, 27,003. Three runs (two earned), seven hits, seven innings, two walks, six strikeouts. Seven-inning outing is shortest of the short season.

With a runner on first, Carlton fielded a Claude Osteen bunt but threw wildly to first; Right-fielder Mike Anderson’s throw home was also wayward. Two errors led to two runs.

“Carlton’s throw wasn’t that bad. It sailed on him,” said manager Frank Lucchesi.

Start #8 (5-3, 1.99 ERA)
May 17: Jose Cardenal’s RBI single in the top of the 9th lifts Cubs to a 3-2 win before 12,528 fans. Earlier in the game, Cardenal homered for their first run. Carlton went the distance, six hits, three runs, three walks, eight strikeouts.

Start #9 (5-4, 2.22 ERA)
May 21: 41-year-old Willie Mays did the damage as the Mets swept a four-game series, 4-3, before a Bat Day crowd of 57,267 on a Sunday afternoon. Mays doubled in the sixth inning to break up Carlton’s no-hit bid. In the top of the eighth, the future Hall of Famer hit a two-run homer to win the game. Lefty’s line: six hits, four runs, three walks, nine strikeouts.

Start #10 (5-5, 2.46 ERA)
May 26: 6-4 loss in Pittsburgh. Seven innings, 10 hits, five runs (four earned), four walks, nine strikeouts.

“These guys [the Pirates] are hot right now, hitting everything. I made some bad pitches and they hit them. And I made some damn good pitches and they hit them,” Carlton said.

“Carlton had very good stuff tonight, but we are very hot with the bats,” said Roberto Clemente (two singles, two doubles).

Mike Ryan caught Carlton for first time and said after the game that Lefty didn’t have his sharp curveball he was throwing earlier in the season. “He might need an extra day’s rest.”

Loss is Phillies' 14th in last 15 games.