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Wednesday, October 1, 1969

The Mets’s had their scoreless innings pitched streak snapped, but they kept their winning streak going.

New York won 6-5 in 12 innings at Wrigley to record their 100th victory of the season. The Mets looked to have won it in the top of the 9th when Tommie Agee doubled off Cubs starter Ken Holtzman to drive in two runs. But Nolan Ryan walked the first two men he faced in the bottom of the inning, and both came around to score. Ron Taylor stranded the winning run at second, and the game proceeded into extra innings.

The game stayed knotted until the top of the 12th, when Bud Harrelson led off with a double off Dick Selma and then scored on a single from Art Shamsky. Rookie Bob Johnson took the mound for New York in the bottom of the 12th and preserved the win despite giving up a one-out double to Ernie Banks.

Tug McGraw pitched two scoreless innings for the Mets after Jerry Koosman went the first five. Bud Harrelson and Tommie Agee both went 2 for 6 with 2 RBI. Cleon Jones went 1 for 5 and now sits at .339 in the batting race.

Dick Young went 2 for 5 with a home run for the Cubs, while Paul Popovich, Billy Williams, and Ernie Banks each went 2 for 6.

Mets 6, Cubs 5 (12 inn.).  W: Taylor (9-4)  L: Selma (12-10)  SV: Johnson (1)

Saturday, September 20, 1969

The Mets may be in first place, but the Pirates are looking like the top team in the East right now.

Bob Moose threw a no-hitter at Shea, giving Pirates their third win in two days against New York. Moose walked 3 and struck out 6. After walking Rod Gaspar to lead off the ninth, Moose got Tommie Agee to pop up, retired Wayne Garrett on a ground out to third, and then secured the no-hitter when Art Shamsky grounded out to second.

Pirates 4, Mets 0. W: Moose (12-3)  L: Gentry (11-12) 

Errors by All-Stars Ron Santo and Glenn Beckert opened the door for four Cardinals runs as St. Louis emerged with a victory in Wrigley, despite a triple and home run from Jim Hickman.

Cardinals 4, Cubs 1.  W: Carlton (17-10)  L: Hands (18-14)  SV: Grant (7)

Friday, September 19, 1969

Looking for something to build off next year, the improving Pittsburgh Pirates jumped on the streaking New York Mets to sweep a doubleheader at Shea. Matty Alou led the charge in game one by going 4 for 4 with 3 RBI, and Willie Stargell was 3 for 5 with a home run and 2 RBI in the second game. New York’s Al Weis went a combined 4 for 7 on the day and Jerry Grote a combined 3 for 6.

Pirates 8, Mets 2 (1).  W: Veale (13-12)  L: Ryan (6-3)

Pirates 8, Mets 0 (2). W: Walker (3-6)  L: McAndrew (6-7)

Both Ken Holtzman and Bob Gibson recorded extra-inning complete games in the front end of a doubleheader at Wrigley, and Jim Hickman touched Gibson for a double with two outs bottom of tenth to drive in Billy Williams with the winning run.  The Cardinals struck back with 5 runs, 3 unearned, off the Chicago bullpen to pull away in game two.

Cubs 2, Cardinals 1 (1, 10 inn.).  W: Holtzman (17-11)  L: Gibson (18-12)

Cardinals 7, Cubs 2.  W: Torrez (9-4)  L: Selma (12-9)

***

STANDINGS AT CLOSE OF PLAY ON 9/20/69

NL EAST                              W    L    T   PCT    GB 
New York Mets                   91   61    0  .599     - 
Chicago Cubs                    88   66    1  .571   4.0
Pittsburgh Pirates              82   70    0  .539   9.0 
St. Louis Cardinals             82   70    0  .539   9.0
Philadelphia Phillies           61   91    0  .401  30.0 
Montreal Expos                  50  104    0  .325  42.0

Wednesday, September 17, 1969

Fergie Jenkins recorded his 20th win of the season despite allowing 12 hits and 4 walks in 7 1/3 innings to the Phillies at Wrigley. The Cubs seemed to break open a tie game with 5 runs in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by Jenkins’ own triple with the bases loaded, and another in the seventh. But Philly struck back with 4 in the top of the eighth before Rich Nye righted the ship with 1 1/3 scoreless innings to close out the game. Ron Santo went 3 for 3 with a 2-run homer and 3 RBI, and Billy Williams was 3 for 4 with a home run and scored three times.

Cubs 9, Phillies 7.  W: Jenkins (20-14)  L: Champion (5-10)  SV: Nye (3)

Jerry Koosman was untouchable on the mound in Montreal, tossing a six-hit shutout against the Expos. Leadoff man Wayne Garrett had two hits and two RBI for the Mets, Ken Boswell was 2 for 3 and scored a run, and Al Weis was 2 for 5 and knocked in a run.

Mets 5, Expos 0.  W: Koosman (15-9)  L: Waslewski (2-9)

NL EAST                               W    L    T   PCT    GB   
New York Mets                   90   58    0  .608     -  
Chicago Cubs                    87   63    1  .580   4.0

Tuesday, September 16, 1969

Someone old and someone new helped make Expos fans blue.

Billy Williams, owner of the National League consecutive games record, struck a two-run shot and rookie Oscar Gamble hit his first Major League home run as the Cubs edged Montreal.  Glenn Beckert also went 3 for 5 for Chicago.

Bill Hands pitched well for seven innings but gave up a two-run home run by Mack Jones to cut the Chicago lead to one run and then walked ex-Met Kevin Collins to put the trying run on first. But after Phil Regan came on in relief, catcher Randy Hundley caught pinch-runner Remy Hermoso stealing, and Regan then retired the next four Expos hitters to close out the game.

Cubs 5, Expos 4.  W: Hands (18-13)  L: Robertson (5-14)  SV: Regan (17)

The first-place Mets were idle today.

***

NL EAST                          W    L    T   PCT    GB
New York Mets                   89   58    0  .605     -
Chicago Cubs                    86   63    1  .577   4.0

Saturday, September 13, 1969

Ron Swoboda struck a grand slam in the eighth inning off reliever Chuck Hartenstein to power the Mets to a comeback win, their tenth straight victory. Tom Seaver went the distance to win his seventh consecutive decision.

Mets 5, Pirates 2.  W: Seaver (22-7)  L: Walker (2-6)

Meanwhile, Fergie Jenkins fell apart in the eighth in St. Louis as the Cardinals mounted their own four-run rally, with Joe Torre and Tim McCarver knocking in two runs apiece on singles. 

Jim Hickman and Randy Hundley had each homered for Chicago, while Billy Williams went 2 for 5 with an RBI.

Cardinals 7, Cubs 4.  W: Grant (8-11)  L: Jenkins (19-11)  SV: Hoerner (15)

BONUS GAME

With four teams all within 3.5 games of each other atop the National League West coming into Saturday, the Astros and Braves locked in an epic matchup. Houston’s Larry Dierker hurled an amazing 12 scoreless innings, nearly matched by Phil Niekro’s11 shutout frames. The Astros looked to have won it when Jimmy Wynn singled in two runs off Cecil Upshaw in the top of the 13th, but then closer Fred Gladding was touched for a single, double, walk, and single and was eventually charged with the loss when Wade Blassingame walked Bob Aspromonte to force in the winning run. The extra-innings win kept Atlanta in first place by one game over Cincinnati in the West.

Braves 3, Astros 2 (13 inn.).  W: Doyle (2-0)  L: Gladding (3-7)

***

NL STANDINGS

EAST                             G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
New York Mets                  145   88   57    0  .607     -   576  496
Chicago Cubs                   147   85   61    1  .582   3.5   668  544
St. Louis Cardinals            145   78   67    0  .538  10.0   534  490
Pittsburgh Pirates             143   76   67    0  .531  11.0   635  591
Philadelphia Phillies          143   57   86    0  .399  30.0   576  652
Montreal Expos                 146   46  100    0  .315  42.5   521  718

WEST                             G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Atlanta Braves                 146   81   65    0  .555     -   615  582
Cincinnati Reds                143   78   64    1  .549   1.0   724  709
Los Angeles Dodgers            143   78   65    0  .545   1.5   593  488
San Francisco Giants           145   79   66    0  .545   1.5   645  592
Houston Astros                 143   75   68    0  .524   4.5   625  589
San Diego Padres               145   45  100    0  .310  35.5   404  665

Monday, September 8, 1969

Jerry Koosman answered Bill Hands’s knockdown pitches and the Mets stood up to the Cubs in the opener of their crucial two-game series at Shea.

Hands, looking to deliver a message to the pesky Mets, knocked down leadoff batter Tommie Agee not once but twice in the first inning. But Koosman responded by drilling Cubs leader Ron Santo to begin the second inning, and then the lefthander proceeded to strand Santo on first by striking out the next three batters.

In the bottom of the third, Agee got his own measure of revenge. With two outs and Bud Harrelson standing on first, Agee drove a Hands offering over the fence to give the home team a 2-0 lead.

Koosman faltered in the top of the sixth. He gave up a run by surrendering singles to Don Kessinger, Glenn Beckert, and Billy Williams to begin the inning, and then Ron Santo’s sacrifice fly tied the game.

But again, New York answered back. Agee led off the bottom of the inning with a double and came around to score on Wayne Garrett’s single.

Koosman hung tough from there. Chicago threatened in the eighth when Beckert and Williams opened the inning with consecutive singles, but then Koosman induced Santo to ground into a double play, short to second to first. Ernie Banks stepped in the box with the tying run 90 feet away, but Koosman retired him on strikes and then worked around a Randy Hundley single in the ninth by notching his eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth strikeouts of the game.

The Mets’ victory drew the team to within just 1.5 games of first, the closest they’ve been all season.

Mets 3, Cubs 2.  W: Koosman (13-9)  L: Hands (16-13)

***

NL EAST STANDINGS

                                             W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Chicago Cubs                    84   57    1  .596     -   653  519
New York Mets                  81   57    0  .587   1.5   548  490

Sunday, September 7, 1969

Don Kessinger’s error on Al Oliver’s batted ball in the 11th inning opened the door for two runs, and the Pirates triumphed over the Cubs in a contest that featured a combined 25 hits. Jim Hickman’s two-run homer had given Chicago the lead in the bottom of the 8th, but Willie Stargell’s home run off Phil Regan in the top of the 9th sent the game into extra frames. Billy Williams had 3 hits for the Cubs, who were swept in the three-game series at Wrigley.

Pirates 7, Cubs 5.  W: Dal Canton (8-2)  L: Johnson (1-3)

Tied 3-3, the New York Mets rallied for two runs in the 7th and four more in the 8th to win going away against the Phillies. Nolan Ryan picked up the victory by throwing three scoreless innings to close out the game.

In the 7th, Art Shamsky’s sac fly and Ken Boswell’s triple plated two runs. Then in the 8th, Tommie Agee and Rod Gaspar (Shamsky’s defensive replacement) both recorded 2-RBI singles to put the game away.

The win moved the Mets to within 2.5 games of the Cubs, who now travel to Shea Stadium for a two-game series.

Mets 9, Phillies 3.  W: Ryan (5-1)  L: Champion (5-8)

***

NL EAST STANDINGS

                                              W    L    T   PCT    GB  
Chicago Cubs                    84   56    1  .600     -  
New York Mets                  80   57    0  .584   2.5

Friday, September 6, 1969

Billy Williams had a monster day for the Cubs, going 4 for 4 with two home runs. Unfortunately for Chicago, Pirates starter Steve Blass no-hit the rest of the lineup as his team routed the Cubs. Blass himself provided the biggest punch in the Pittsburgh lineup, as he went 4 for 5, homered, and drove in three runs. Don Kessinger was the only Cubs player beside Williams to reach base – twice on walks.

Pirates 9, Cubs 2.  W: Blass (14-8)  L: Holtzman (16-9)

Tom Seaver won his 20th game of the season and Jerry Grote hit a two-run home in Game One against the Phillies at Shea. Seaver and Al Weis also notched RBIs.

Rick Wise outpitched Jim McAndrew in Game Two, striking out 11 Mets in 9 innings.

Mets 5, Phillies 1 (1).  W: Seaver (20-7)  L: Jackson (12-14)

Phillies 4, Mets 2 (2).  W: Wise (12-11)  L: McAndrew (6-6)

***

NL EAST STANDINGS

                                               W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Chicago Cubs                    84   54    1  .609     -   642  496
New York Mets                  78   57    0  .578   4.5   533  485

Saturday, August 30, 1969

The Cubs held on to take a second game of a weekend series in Atlanta. Handed a 3-0 lead, Chicago starter Dick Selma got just two outs and gave up two runs before Leo Durocher pulled him in favor of Ken Johnson. The veteran Johnson earned his first win of the season by going 5 1/3 before handing things over to Phil Regan. Don Kessinger and Billy Williams had two hits, one run, and one RBI apiece, and Ernie Banks struck a two-run homer, his 21st of the season.

Cubs 5, Braves 4.  W: Johnson (1-2)  L: Reed (13-9)  SV: Regan (15)

Don Clendenon hit a 10th-inning home run off Gaylord Perry and Tug McGraw finished off the game with two scoreless frames to put the Mets over the Giants.  Ken Boswell had three hits and scored twice for New York, who got 7 1/3 strong innings from starter Don Cardwell.

Mets 3, Giants 2.  W: McGraw (7-2)  L: Perry (16-11)

NL EAST                          W    L    T   PCT    GB   
Chicago Cubs                    81   52    1  .609     -  
New York Mets                   75   53    0  .586   3.5

Thursday, August 28, 1969

Billy Williams went 2 for 3 with a home run and both Glenn Beckert and Ron Santo had two hits as the Cubs snapped their losing streak by beating the Reds.  Fergie Jenkins was dominant, striking out eight while allowing just five baserunners, all on singles.

Cubs 3, Reds 1.  W: Jenkins (18-11)  L: Arrigo (2-6)

NL EAST                          W    L    T   PCT    GB   
Chicago Cubs                    79   52    1  .603     -  
New York Mets                   74   52    0  .587   2.5