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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

Monday, September 15, 1969

Dick Selma lost his fourth straight decision as the host Expos, who sit in the NL East cellar with 100 losses, pummeled the second-place Cubs. First baseman Ron Fairly went 3 for 3 with a home run and 4 RBI, and second baseman Gary Sutherland was 4 for 5.

Expos 8, Cubs 2.  W: Wegener (5-12)  L: Selma (12-8)

Two days after hitting a game-winning grand slam, Ron Swoboda clubbed a pair of two-run homers to lead the Mets over the Cardinals in St. Louis. His second blast came in the eighth inning off starter Steve Carlton to give New York the lead for good. Tug McGraw took over for Gary Gentry in the seventh and pitched three shutout innings for the win.

Mets 4, Cards 3.  W: McGraw (8-3)  L: Carlton (16-10)

***

NL EAST                          W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
New York Mets                   89   58    0  .605     -   583  504
Chicago Cubs                    85   63    1  .574   4.5   671  554
St. Louis Cardinals             79   68    0  .537  10.0   539  495
Pittsburgh Pirates              77   69    0  .527  11.5   644  600
Philadelphia Phillies           59   87    0  .404  29.5   584  663
Montreal Expos                  48  100    0  .324  41.5   536  722

Thursday, September 11, 1969

The New York Mets and Chicago Cubs are like two ships passing each other in the National League East.  The Mets are sailing upward while the Cubs are steadily sinking.

The Mets downed the Expos for the third time in two days at Shea, this time behind a dominant performance by Gary Gentry. The 22-year-old righthander hurled a six-hit shutout, striking out nine while walking only two to even his season record.  Meanwhile, New York’s leadoff man Tommie Agee collected two hits and scored twice, fellow Alabama native Cleon Jones also crossed the plate twice, and Ken Boswell, yesterday’s extra-inning hero, went 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Mets 4, Expos 0.  W: Gentry (11-11)  L: Robertson (5-13)

Meanwhile, the Cubs remained in a rut in Philly. Dick Selma carried a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning, but Tony Taylor collected his third hit of the day with a leadoff double, John Briggs followed with a double to tie the game, and then slugger Dick Allen struck a home run to put the home team up by two. Willie Smith homered in the top of the ninth off starter Jeff James (who made his first appearance of the season) to draw Chicago within one, but Grant Jackson came on to get the final out.

Phillies 4, Cubs 3.  W: James (1-0)  L: Selma (12-7)  SV: Jackson (1)

Since August 13, when the Mets were in third place in the division and 9 1/2 games behind Chicago, New York has won 23 of 29 games while the Cubs have struggled at a pace of 10-17. 

NL EAST

                                             W    L    T   PCT    GB  
New York Mets                 85   57    0  .599     -  
Chicago Cubs                   84   60    1  .583   2.0

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

Tuesday, July 15, 1969

The middle of the New York Mets infield acted like they were hitting in the middle of the Mets lineup today.

Al Weis, New York’s eighth-place hitter who came into the game hitting just .208 with no home runs, lead off the third inning with a single and scored the game’s first run on Tommie Agee’s triple. An inning later, Weis homered over the Wrigley ivy with two on and two outs to give the Mets a 4-1 lead. Second baseman Ken Boswell also had two hits, including a solo shot in the fifth.

The Cubs drew within one run after back-to-back homers from Billy Williams and Ron Santo off starter Gary Gentry with two outs in the eighth, but Ron Taylor came on for a flawless four-out save.

After Taylor retired Jim Qualls for the last out, Mets ace Tom Seaver came out of the dugout and jumped up and clicked his heels together again and again, mocking Santo’s postgame gesture from the previous day.

Mets 5, Cubs 4.  W: Gentry (9-7) L: Selma (9-4)  SV: Taylor (8)

Team Name                        W    L    T   PCT    GB
Chicago Cubs                    57   35    1  .620     -  
New York Mets                   50   37    0  .575   4.5

Thursday, July 3, 1969

Seven was the lucky number as Chicago’s 7-run, 7th-inning outburst led them to victory in Montreal. Don Kessinger’s double, Billy Williams’s single, and Ron Santo’s home run each drove in two runs in the rally. Dick Selma gave up 3 runs, 1 earned, through 6 innings to record his 9th win of the season.

Cubs 8, Expos 4.  W: Selma (9-3)  L: Wegener (3-6)

***

Gary Gentry looked great in St. Louis, giving up just 1 run on 5 hits in 9 full innings against the Cardinals.  Tommie Agee also kept up his hot hitting with a home run and 2 RBI. Cleon Jones was 2 for 3, and Don Clendenon went 2 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI. Former Expos opening-day starter Mudcat Grant took the loss for St. Louis.

Mets 8, Cardinals 1.  W: Gentry (8-6)  L: Grant (4-9)

Wednesday, July 2, 1969

Jimmy Qualls had 2 doubles and triple and drove in 2 runs as Bill Hands went the distance in Montreal.  Glenn Beckert went 3 for 5, giving him 5 hits in his first two games back after missing a month with a broken writst. Pete Reiser managed the Cubs bench in place of the ailing Leo Durocher.

Cubs 4, Expos 2.  W: Hands (9-6)  L: Stoneman (4-11)

A long one at Busch Stadium as the Mets prevailed over the Cardinals in 14 innings.

New York led 4-0 with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the 8th.  But starter Jerry Koosman proceeded to walk the bases loaded and gave way to reliever Ron Taylor, who was greeted by pinch-hitter Vic Davaillo’s game-tying grand slam.

St. Louis loaded the bases in the 10th but couldn’t score. The game remaining scoreless until Tommie Agee collected his 4th hit of the game in the top of the 14th, stole second, and was singled in by Ken Boswell. Later, Wayne Garrett, the hitting star with 4 hits and 4 RBI, walked to force in Boswell with an insurance run.  Tug McGraw more than earned the win, pitching 6 scoreless innings in relief.

Mets 6, Cards 4 (14 inn.).  W: McGraw (5-1)  L: Willis (1-2)

Sunday, June 29, 1969

Bob Gibson struck out 10 batters but Fergie Jenkins got the win Sunday afternoon at Wrigley.

Jenkins gave up just 3 hits and 1 run, while Willie Smith was the hitting star for Chicago, going 3 for 4 with a homerun and 2 RBI.

Game two was a blowout. The Cubs pounded out 12 runs while starter Dick Selma got a complete-game,10-strikeout win. Ernie Banks hit a 3-run homer in the 1st. Ron Santo was 3 for 4 with a homerun and 5 RBI.  And Billy Williams was 4 for 5 with a double, triple, 3 runs and 3 RBI. Williams appeared in his 895th and 896th straight game to break Stan Musial’s NL record.

Cubs 3, Cardinals 1 (1).  W: Jenkins (10-5)  L: Gibson (10-5)

Cubs 12, Cardinals 1 (2). W: Selma (8-3)  L: Grant (4-8)

***

With Tom Seaver on the mound, 7 Mets runs were plenty against Pittsburgh. Recent acquisition Don Clendenon, who came into the day hitting just .118 as a Met,  went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI, and Cleon Jones and Ed Charles both knocked in 2. Tommie Agee scored twice.

Mets 7, Pirates 3.  W: Seaver (12-3)  L: Veale (4-9)

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB   

Chicago Cubs                    76   49   26    1  .653     -  

New York Mets                   71   39   32    0  .549   8.0  

Saturday, June 28, 1969

Bill Hands gave up just 3 hits and 1 run to St. Louis at Wrigley. Willie Smith and Don Young both homered for the Cubs.

Cubs 3, Cardinals 1.  W: Hands (8-6)  L: Giusti (3-7)

***

A 5-run Pirates rally in the 8th inning broke open a Saturday night game at Shea. Cleon Jones went 3 for 4, scored twice, and drove in a run in a losing effort. Ed Kranepool had 2 hits and 2 RBI, and Al Weis added 2 hits and an RBI.

Pirates 7, Mets 4.  W: Bunning (7-5) L: Gentry (7-6)  SV: Gibbon (4)

Friday, June 27, 1969

The Cubs rapped out 10 hits but managed only 1 run against Steve Carlton and the Cardinals. The St. Louis lefty tossed a complete game and worked around trouble by striking out 12 Chicago batters. Ken Holtzman gave up jst 2 runs in 7 innings but took his second loss of the season. Ron Santo went 2 for 4 and knocked in Paul Popovich for the only Cubs run.

Cardinals 3, Cubs 1.  W: Carlton (8-5)  L: Holtzman (10-1)

***

Steve Blass outpitched Jerry Koosman in a pitcher’s duel at Shea Stadium. The Mets managed only 3 hits, with J.C. Martin driving in Art Shamsky for the sole New York tally.

Pirates 3, Mets 1.  W: Blass (8-4)  L: Koosman (5-5)  SV: Gibbon (3)

Thursday, June 12, 1969

The Cubs rapped out 16 hits against Braves pitchers en route to a 12-6 victory. 

Chicago led 7-0 after seven innings, thanks in large part to Al Spangler. The left-handed half of the Cubs’s rightfield platoon went 3 for 5 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI. Ron Santo also had 3 hits including a 2-run shot in Chicago’s 5-run outburst in the 9th inning to cap off the game.   

Atlanta’s 3 runs in the 8th off starter Dick Selam and 3 more in the 9th charged to Phil Regan, made the final score sound closer than the game really was.

Cubs 12, Braves 6  W: Selma (6-3)  L: Hill (0-1)  SV: Abernathy (3)

***

Team Name                        W    L    T   PCT    GB
Chicago Cubs                    38   18    1  .679     -
New York Mets                   29   24    0  .547   7.5

Sunday, June 1, 1969

Ken Holtzman had another rocky outing but again the Cubs still came away with the win.

Chicago scored 6 runs in the 3rd inning off Atlanta starter Pat Jarvis, the big blow coming on Randy Hundley’s 3-run shot. But Holtzman gave up two 2-run homers, one to a unusual suspect (catcher Bob Tillman) and one to a very usual one (Hank Aaron) and failed to make it out of the 5th inning.

Dick Selma came on to pitch 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, though, to earn the win as the Cubs pulled away from the Braves and completed a three-game sweep. Ron Santo had a monster day with 3 hits and 4 RBI.  Billy Williams (who also homered), Ernie Banks, and Willie Smith had 2 basehits apiece for the home town, and Jim Hickman added a home run of his own. The Braves’s Orlando Cepeda had 3 hits.

Cubs 13, Braves 4  W: Selma (5-3)  L: Jarvis (5-3)

***

Willie McCovey homered for the third consecutive game against the Mets but New York emerged with the win and the series sweep at Shea.

With the score tied 4-4 going into the bottom of the 9th, Giants reliever Joe Gibbon walked the bases loaded and then walked Ron Swoboda to force in Bud Harrelson with the winning run.

Neither starter had fared well. Bobby Bolin was fortunate to give up only 4 runs in surrendering 8 hits and 3 walks in just 4 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, the Mets’s Jim McAndrew was similarly lucky after giving up 3 hits and 4 walks that led to 2 runs (1 unearned) in 1 2/3 innings.  Manager Gil Hodges brought in Don Cardwell, who pitched a strong 6 1/3 innings while giving up 2 runs. Ron Taylor pitched the 9th and got the win in relief.

Both Harrelson and Swoboda went 2 for 4, and Jerry Grote was 2 for 3 with a triple. Ed Kranepool had an RBI single.

Mets 5, Giants 4  W: Taylor (1-0)  L: Gibbon (1-3)

NL EAST STANDINGS

Team Name                        W    L   PCT    GB
Chicago Cubs                    33   16  .673     -
Pittsburgh Pirates              25   23  .521   7.5
New York Mets                   22   23  .489   9.0
St. Louis Cardinals             22   25  .468  10.0
Philadelphia Phillies           18   25  .419  12.0
Montreal Expos                  11   33  .250  19.5

Friday, May 23, 1969

Gary Gentry was knocked around early and often by the Houston Astros, who rocked him for 6 runs in 2 1/3 innings.  Jerry Grote went 2 for 4 for the Mets.

Astros 7, Mets 0  W: Griffin (2-2)  L: Gentry (3-4)

***

The Chicago Cubs seem to have gotten the better of their trade with the San Diego Padres. Dick Selma pitched a sparkling 2-hit shutout against the Padres, and ex-Cub Gary Ross took the loss by giving up 5 runs (4 earned) 4 1/3 innings. Billy Williams went 2 for 4 with a 2-run homer, Don Kessinger went 3 for 5 and scored twice, and Ernie Banks went 2 for 4 and knocked in 3 runs.

Cubs 6, Padres 0  W: Selma (4-3)  L: Ross (1-4)