WILD SEAVER WINS IT FOR METS
Saturday, May 10, 1969
Houston had a hard time getting any hits off Tom Seaver at Shea Stadium.
The franchise’s ace pitcher gave up just 4 hits through 9 innings in leading the Mets over the Astros. But Seaver had to fight off some bouts of wildness, as he walked 6 – including 3 in the opening frame - and also threw 2 wild pitches. But he struck out Doug Rader with 2 outs and the bases loaded in the 1st. After that, Tom Terrific gave up just one run when Johnny Edwards scored on a fielder’s choice in the 7th.
Seaver entered the inning staked to a 3-0 lead courtesy of Ed Charles’s RBI double and Al Weis’s sacrifice fly in the 4th and Cleon Jones’s leadoff home run in the 6th. With the score 3-1 in the 7th, Weis’s infield error put Joe Morgan on base, and Seaver had to do some tightrope walking after a free pass to Jimmy Wynn and a wild pitch moved the potential tying runs onto second and third. But again he escaped, this time by getting cleanup hitter Curt Blefary on a fly out to Jones in left. After that, Seaver allowed just a Denis Menke single in the 8th and that was it. Denny Lemaster went 7 innings and took the loss for Houston.
Jones had 2 runs and 2 hits and Bud Harrelson went 2 for 4 for New York. The win moved the Mets into third place in the East by percentage points over the Philadelphia Phillies.
NL EAST STANDINGS
Team Name W L PCT GB Chicago Cubs 19 11 .633 - Pittsburgh Pirates 16 13 .522 2.5 New York Mets 13 15 .464 5.0 Philadelphia Phillies 12 14 .462 5.0 St. Louis Cardinals 12 17 .414 6.5 Montreal Expos 11 17 .393 7.0
“RECREATING THE MIRACLE SEASON” is a look back at the storied division race between the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets in 1969. Keep checking back throughout the 2009 season to get the game stories from 40 years ago to the day. This on-going feature is brought to you by the book 1969: The Year Everything Changed, available now from Skyhorse Publishing.
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Tags: 1960s, 1969, Al Weis, Baseball, Books, Bud Harrelson, Cleon Jones, Ed Charles, Houston Astros, New York Mets, Rob Kirkpatrick, Shea Stadium, Tom Seaver
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