7TH INNING LUCKY FOR METS, CUBS
Friday, May 16, 1969
The New York Mets prevailed in a wild, back-and-forth contest at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field on Friday.
The New York pitching staff squandered three leads (2-0, 3-2, and 4-3) and almost threw away a fourth. The Amazins struck back for 6 runs in the top of the 7th, all with two outs, off relief pitcher George Culver. After 6 Met singles, Tommie Agee’s 2-RBI triple gave New York a seemingly safe 10-6 lead.
But again the Reds came back. Cal Koonce inherited two runners with no outs in the bottom half of the inning and yielded an RBI single to Lee May. A second run scored when Tommy Helms grounded into a double play, and then Koonce served up a solo shot to Johnny Bench that cut New York’s lead to one. But the Mets reliever got out of the inning and held the Reds scoreless in the final two innings and was credited with the victory.
Wayne Garrett, Ed Kranepool, and Bud Harrelson each had 3 hits for the Mets. Tug McGraw started and was largely ineffective, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings.
Mets 10, Reds 9 W: Koonce (2-3) L: Culver (2-4)
***
It was both a close game and a pitcher’s duel for 6 innings in Houston between the Cubs and Astros. It was neither after 6 1/2 innings…
Chicago’s Ken Holtzman and Houston’s Larry Dierker held the opposing lineups scoreless through 5 innings. Ron Santo’s RBI triple scored Glenn Beckert in the top of the 6th, and the game stood 1-0 entering the 7th. Seven singles, two doubles, and two intentional walks later, the Cubs had batted around in a 10-run outburst. Randy Hundley, who led the inning off with a bunt single, and Don Young both had 2 hits in the inning.
Staked to a sudden double-digit lead, Holtzman kept about his business and finished off another gem of a game. He gave up just 3 hits in a complete-game shutout that lowered his ERA to 1.63.
Hundley had 3 hits and 2 RBI, Santo 2 hits and 3 RBI, and Beckert 2 hits and 2 RBI. Don Kessinger and Ernie Banks also had 2 hits apiece for the North Siders. The team has now won 24 of its first 35 games.
Cubs 11, Astros 0 W: Holtzman (6-1) L: Dierker (5-4)
NL EAST STANDINGS
Team Name W L PCT GB Chicago Cubs 24 11 .686 - Pittsburgh Pirates 17 16 .515 6.0 New York Mets 16 18 .471 7.5 Philadelphia Phillies 14 17 .452 8.0 St. Louis Cardinals 14 19 .424 9.0 Montreal Expos 11 20 .355 11.0
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Tags: 1960s, 1969, Baseball, Books, Bud Harrelson, Cal Koonce, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Crosley Field, Don Kessinger, Don Young, Ed Kranepool, Ernie Banks, Glenn Beckert, Houston Astrodome, Houston Astros, Ken Holtzman, New York Mets, Randy Hundley, Rob Kirkpatrick, Ron Santo, Tommie Agee, Wayne Garrett
This entry was posted on Saturday, May 16th, 2009 at 6:48 pm and is filed under 1969, Baseball, Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.