Tom Seaver Fan Club

1986 World Series – Game Seven
October 27, 1986 at shea Stadium
Mets 8, Red Sox 5  Mets Win Best of Seven Series 4-3

Rain delayed this game by one day and that appeared to be a boon for the Red Sox as Bruce Hurst, who had won his other two games in the World Series, would be ready to pitch over Oil Can Boyd.  Ron Darling took the mound for the Mets.

Neither team scored in the first inning but the Red Sox pummelled Darling in the second.  Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman led off with back to back homeruns and then Wade Boggs singled home Dave Henderson to give the Red Sox an early 3-0 lead.

In the meantime, Bruch Hurst was cruising.  He gave up only one hit in the first five innings.  The Red Sox threatened in the fourth inning and put two men on, but Sid Fernandez relieved Darling and got out of the jam.

The Mets finally figured out Hurst in the fifth inning.  Rafael Santana grounded out to lead things off and then Lee Mazillli singled to left.  He moved to second on Mookie Wilson’s single and then Tim Teufel loaded the bases when he drew a walk.  Keith Hernandez then drove home Mazzilli and Wilson with a single and Wally Backman scored on Gary Carter’s fielders choice to tie the game at 3-3. 

Roger McDowell put the Red Sox in order in the seventh inning.  Calvin Schiraldi came in to pitch for Bruce Hurst and then the flood gates opened.  Ray Knight led off with a homerun and gave the Mets their first lead of the game.  Lenny Dykstra then singled and then he moved to second on a wild pitch.  Rafael Santana singled home Dykstra and then Santana moved to second on McDowell’s bunt.  Joe Sambito relieved Schiraldi and he gave Mookie Wilson a free pass.  he then walked Wally Backman to load the bases before Keith Hernandez hit a fly ball far enough to score Santana.  The Mets had a 6-3 lead with only two innings to go.

The Red Sox did make things interesting in the eighth.  Dwight Evans doubled home Bill Buckner and Jim Rice to cut the lead to 6-5 but Evans was stranded at second base despite getting their with nobody out.  This was the closest the Red Sox would get.

Darryl Strawberry hit a solo homerun and then Jesse Orosco singled home Ray Knight to give the Mets an 8-5 lead.  Orosco put the Red sox down in order in the ninth inning and struck out Marty Barrett to end the game.

The Mets were the World Champions.  Little would Mets’ fans know they’d still be waiting 20 years for another one.  This team appeared to be a dynasty but they never got over the hump again.

1986 World Series – Game Six
October 25, 1986 at Shea Stadium
Mets 6, Red Sox 5  Best of Seven Series Tied 3-3

The Mets evened up their series with the Red Sox in a classic game.  We’ve all seen the end of this one.  Roger Clemens got the start against Bob Ojeda.

It didn’t take long for the Red Sox to get to their former pitcher.  Bob Ojeda gave up an RBI double to Dwight Evans in the first inning and an RBI single by Marty Barrett in the second.  The 2-0 Red Sox lead would stand until the fifth when the Mets finally began to hit Roger Clemens.

Darryl Strawberry led off the fifth with a walk and then he stole second.  Strawberry then scored on Ray Knight’s RBI single and then Knight moved to third on Mookie Wilson’s single and an error by Dwight Evans.  Ray Knight then scored when Danny Heep grounded into a double play.  The Mets had tied the game up at 2-2 though.

Roger McDowell came in to relieve Ojeda in the seventh and in that inning, an error by Ray Knight cost the Mets a run.  Dwight Evans eventually grounded out but Barrett scored the go ahead run on the play.

The Mets went down quietly in the bottom of the seventh and the Red Sox threatened in the eighth and loaded the bases up but Jesse Orosco got Bill Buckner to fly out to center to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Lee Mazzilli led off with a single.  Lenny Dykstra then laid down a bunt and they tried to get Mazzilli out at second but failed.  Wally Backman then moved both baserunners over and Keith Hernandez was given a free pass before Gary Carter hit a fly ball far enough to score Mazzilli.  Darryl Strawberry then flew out to end the inning and the game entered the ninth inning 3-3.

Kevin Elster’s fielding error gave the Red Sox a baserunner in the ninth but Rich Gedman grounded into a double play to end the inning.  The Mets then got the first two hitters on base in the bottom of the ninth but failed to bring either on home.  The game then headed into extra frames.

Dave Henderson led off the tenth with a homerun to make it 4-3.  Rick Aguilera then struck out Spike Owen and Calvin Schiraldi, but Wade Boggs kept the inning alive with a double.  Marty Barrett then singled home Boggs to give the Red Sox a 5-3 lead.

Things looked very grim for the Mets in the tenth.  Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez both flew out to start the inning and the Mets were down to their last out.  Gary Carter kept things alive with a single and Kevin Mitchell followed that up with a single and then Ray Knight drove home Carter with a single to make it 5-4.  Bob Stanley then replaced Schiraldi on the mound to try to stop the damage.

Stanley then threw a wild pitch.  Mitchell scored to tie the game up, and now the Mets had the winning run in scoring position.  Mookie Wilson then hit what appeared to be a routine ground ball to first baseman Bill Buckner, but the ball scooted between his legs and Ray Knight came around to score from second base to end the game.

The Mets were pretty much done, but they found new life somehow.  Now things would come down to a game seven that would decide the 1986 World Series.

1986 World Series – Game Five
October 23, 1986 at Fenway Park
Red Sox 4, Mets 2  Red Sox Lead Best of Seven Series 3-2

The Red Sox avoivded a sweep at Fenway and won a pretty good pitchers dual between Bruce Hurst and Dwight Gooden.  The game saw the Red Sox jump to an early lead and then the Mets come up short in an attempt at a comeback late in the game.

The Red Sox drew first blood when Dave Henderson tripled in the second inning then scored on Spike Owen’s sac. fly.  An error by Rafael Santana in the third inning put Bill Buckner on in the third inning and he eventually came around to score on Dwight Evans RBI single.

The fifth was the toughest inning for Gooden.  He gave up a lead off triple to Jim Rice and then a single to Don Baylor to make it 3-0.  Dwight Evans followed that up with a single to put runners at first and third and Davey Johnson went to the pen and brought in Sid Fernandez.  Fernandez was able to strike out Rich Gedman but then Dave Henderson doubled home Baylor to give the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.

It wasn’t until the eighth inning when the Mets finally got to Bruce Hurst.  Tim Teufel hit a one out solo homerun to put the Mets on the board.  Then in the ninth, Mookie Wilson doubled with two outs and scored on Rafael Santana’s single, but Lenny Dykstra struck out to end the game.

The Mets now had to go back to Shea Stadium and win both games.  Not an insurmountable task, but they’d have to face Roger Clemens in game six.

1986 World Series – Game Four
October 22, 1986 at Fenway Park
Mets 6, Red Sox 2  Best of Seven Series Tied 2-2

Just yesterday, the Mets were playing for their lives.  Now after a solid outing by Ron Darling and a big fourth inning, the Mets now find themselves tied at two game a piece in the World Series.

Neither team did much in the first three innings but the Mets jumped all over Al Nipper in the fourth.  Wally Backman led off with a single and then he moved to second on Keith Hernandez’s ground out.  Then Gary Carter hit a huge two run shot to make it 2-0.  Darryl Strawberry followed that up with a double and then Ray Knight singled him home to give the Mets and Darling a nice comfortable 3-0 lead.

The Mets padded that lead in the seventh when Lenny Dykstra hit a two run shot to make it 5-0.  In the meantime, Ron Darling was shutting down the Red Sox.  When Roger McDowell replaced him in the eighth, Darling had given up only five hits through seven shutout innings.

In the top of the eighth, the Mets added one more on a solo shot by Carter. It was his second homerun of the game and that made it 6-0.  The Red Sox did tag McDowell for two runs in the bottom of the eighth but the Red Sox never got closer then 6-2.

1986 World Series – Game Three
October 21, 1986 at Fenway Park
Mets 7, Red Sox 1  Red Sox Lead Best of Seven Series 2-1

The Mets gave their fans some hope tonight as their lineup jumped all over Oil Can Boyd and Bob Ojeda gave them a nice performance on the mound.  They still had a long road to win this one, but they took the first step with this win.

This one was effectively over after the first inning.  Lenny Dykstra led off the game with a solo shot and then Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez hit back to back singles.  Gary Carter then drove home Backman with a double and Danny Heep drove both Carter and Hernandez home with a single to make it 4-0.

The Red Sox scored their one run in the third inning when Marty Barrett singled home Dave Henderson.  The Red Sox would have their only run and two of their five hits in that inning.

Boyd actually settled down and didn’t up another run until the seventh inning.  Gary Carter’s two run single in that game blew the game open.  The Mets did add another run in the eighth on an RBI double by Ray Knight, but this one was pretty much in hand by then.

Ojeda gave up only one run on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts in seven innings of work.  Roger McDowell closed out the game with two perfect innings.

I’ll be honest with you, I was really worried here.  The Cardinals had their ace, and the Mets had John Maine, who appears to have a bright future but who I thought might be over his head.  I guess this is why they play the games.

Maine was nothing short of phenomonal.  He threw 5 1/3 shutout innings and allowed the Mets to take a lead with their two early runs.  Then the National League’s best bullpen did the job at least until the ninth inning when Billy Wagner gave everyone a scare by giving up two runs.  Fortunately the Mets had four by then and the two runs the Cardinals scored only got them half way.

Jose Reyes gave the Mets a very early run when he led off the game for the Mets with a homerun.  Shawn Green singled home Carlos Beltran in the fourth inning and then Paul Lo Duca came through huge with a two run single in the seventh inning.

Now, it’s all up to Oliver Perez.  I can’t believe I just wrote that.  Jeff Suppan throws for the Cardinals.  It’s win or go home time.

1986 World Series – Game Two
October 19, 1986 at Shea Stadium
Red Sox 9, Mets 3  Red Sox Lead Best of Seven Series 2-0

The Red Sox took a commanding 2-0 lead in the 1986 World Series in a blow out win over the Mets in game two.  Dwight Gooden took a pounding while the Red Sox bullpen was nearly flawless when Roger Clemens came out of the game in the fifth inning.

The Red Sox scored three in the second and the Mets seemed to respond nicely in the bottom half of the inning with two runs of their own.  Unfortunately, the Mets kept piling on the runs and by the middle of the fifth inning, it was 6-2.  Rick Aguilera and Sid Fernandez both gave up runs in relief of Gooden, who came out after five innings.

Wally Backman singled home Rafael Santana and then Dwight Gooden scored on Keith Hernandez’s ground out in the second inning.  The Mets scored their third and final run of the game in the fifth when Gary Carter singled hom Backman.

The Mets’ backs were definitely against the wall now.  They needed to win four of their next five games, which included three at Fenway Park, to win it all.

1986 World Series – Game One
October 18, 1986 at Shea Stadium
Red Sox 1, Mets 0  Red Sox Lead Best of Seven Series 1-0

Ron Darling was about as good as you’d want in a World Series opener, but unfortunately 13 game winner Bruce Hurst was even better.  Hurst held the Mets to four hits and four walks and he struck out eight in a 1-0 pitchers dual.

The Red Sox scored their only run in the seventh inning.  Jim Rice led off with a walk and he moved to second on Ron Darling’s wild pitch.  Dwight Evans grounded out to Darling before Rich Gedman came to the plate.  Gedman then reached first when Tim Teufel misplayed a ball hit to him and Jim Rice came around to score the unearned run.  oddly, Teufel was the hitting star.  He had two of the Mets four singles.

Darling gave up the unearned run along with three hits and three walks with eight strikouts.  55,076 were in attendance at Shea Stadium for the pitching battle.

Win or go home is the mantra the next two days as the Cardinals are now one win away from pushing the Mets out of the playoffs.  Jeff Weaver of all people outdueled Tom Glavine and now the Mets find themselves in a must win situation.

The Mets actually had the lead in this one for a short bit.  Jose Valentin doubled home Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green, but those were the only runs the Mets would score the entire game.  Tom Glavine was bumped in the fifth without getting anyone out and giving up the third run and Pedro Feliciano gave up a solo shot to Chris Duncan.

So now it’s all up to John Maine, who will have to beat Chris Carpenter.  Hopefully the Mets will be able to get the bats going tonight, because if they don’t, they might get to start working on their golf game earlier then wanted to.

This was a good old fashioned beatdown.  It was 2-2 after four innings but three runs in the fifth and six in the sixth broke this one open.  The final was 12-5.

Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Jose Valentin lead the way with the bats.  Beltran homered twice and scored four runs.  Carlos Delgado drove in five runs and he now has nine in the series.  Jose Valentin drove in three runs and even David Wright got in on the action with a solo homerun.

Oliver Perez wasn’t neccesarily sharp, but he didn’t get blown out which was all the Mets needed.  He gave up five runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.  Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano and Guilermo Mota closed the game out with 3 1/3 shutout innings.

So this series is going at least six games, and the way things are going, it’ll probably be seven.  Tonight, it’ll be a rematch of game one with Tom Glavine and Jeff Weaver going at it.  It sure would be nice going home with the lead and I like our chances in this pitching match up.

National League Championship Series Game Six
October 15, 1986 at the Astrodome
Mets 7, Astros 6  Mets Win Best of Seven Series 4-2

It was hard to beat game five as far as excitement goes, but game six did it.  Rather then summarize it, it’s best to go through this game as it happened.

Bob Ojeda got the start against Bob Knepper in this one.  The Mets went down in order but the Astros jumped all over Ojeda.  Bill Doran led off with a single and he was forced by Billy Hatcher.  Phil Garner then drove home Hatcher with a double and Garner scored on Glenn Davis’ single.  Kevin Bass walked and then Davis scored on Jose Cruz’s single.  So in the blink of an eye, the Mets were down 3-0. 

Bob Knepper then completely shut down the Mets at least through eight innings.  In the meantime, Bob Ojeda calmed down and he didn’t a yield a run through his next four innings.  He was replaced by Rick Aguilera and he gave up only one hit through the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.  The Mets entered the ninth still down by three runs and time was running out. 

Lenny Dykstra led off the ninth with triple and he scored on Mookie Wilson’s single.  Wilson moved to second on Kevin Mitchell’s ground out and then he scored on Keith Hernandez’s double.  Dave Smith came in to pitch for Knepper and he walked Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry.  Then Ray Knight came up huge with a fly ball deep enough to score Hernandez.  Wally Backman was given a free pass but Danny Heep struck out to end the inning with a 3-3 score.

Roger McDowell then pitched five innings of one hit ball to hold the Astros to their three runs through the thirteenth inning.  The Astros needed three relievers to get that far and when the top of the fourteenth came around, Aurelio Lopez was throwing for the Astros and Jesse Orosco had reliever McDowell.

Gary Carter led off the fourteenth with a single and Strawberry walked.  Knight then failed to bunt the batters over and Carter was forced out at third.  Then Backman singled and he gave the Mets their first lead of the game, al beit by a single run.

Orosco struck out Doran to start the bottom of the fourteenth but then Billy Hatcher came up huge with a solo shot to tie the game.  Orosco got out of the inning with no further damage but the game continued.

Neither team threatened in the fifteenth, but in the sixteenth, all hell broke lose.  Strawberry led off the inning with a double and he scored on Ray Knight’s single.  Jeff Calhoun replaced Lopez and he then threw a wild pitch that moved Knight to third.  Backman walked, but then another wild pitched scored Knight and pushed Backman to second.  Orosco moved Backman to third on a bunt and Lenny Dykstra singled home Backman to give the Mets a three run lead.  They’d need every single one of those three runs.

Orosco got into trouble early. He did strike out Craig Reynolds to start things but Davey Lopes then walked and he moved to second on Doran’s single.  Lopes scored on Hatcher’s single and Doran moved to third when Denny Walling forced Hatcher out at second base.  Glenn Davis singled home Doran to cut the lead to one, but Orosco buckled down and struck out Kevin Bass to end the game and the series.

The Mets would go up against the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

Man, Steve Trachsel laid an egg.  With nobody out in the second inning, he had already been tagged for five runs, including giving up a homerun to the Cards pitcher, Jeff Suppan.  And then the bats never got on track.  They managed only three hits and a single walk and despite a strong relief outing by Darren Oliver, the Mets never got back into this one.

Tonight it’ll be Oliver Perez against Anthony Reyes.  Perez has looked pretty good in his last game but hasn’t pitched in a week and a half.  He has a pretty good start in his only appearance against the Cardinals this year and he’ll have to be on, because we can’t go down 3-1 and expect to win this series.

National League Championship Series Game Five
October 14, 1986 at Shea Stadium
Mets 2, Astros 1  Mets Lead Best of Seven Series 3-2

This was one of those classic and defining games that made the 1986 Mets truly special.  In a pivotal game five, the Mets and Astros played to a 1-1 draw through eleven innings before the Mets finally put the game away in the twelth.  With that, they were only one win away from the franchise’s second World Series appearance.

Nolan Ryan actually outpitched Dwight Gooden in this game.  Ryan threw nine innings and gave up only two hits with twelve strikeouts.  One of those two hits though was a solo homerun by Darryl Strawberry.  That one run was all the Mets needed to send the game into extra frames.

The Astros had scored their lone run in the top half of that fifth inning.  Alan Ashby scored on Bill Doran’s groundout.  Gooden was almost as good.  he threw ten innings and gave up that one run on nine hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

The Astros got two men on in the tenth but couldn’t bring one across while the Mets went down easily in both the tenth and eleventh innings.  The Astros didn’t do anything in the eleventh or twelth and that set up one of those memorable moments.

Wally Backman singled with one out in the twelth.  He was picked off of first base but Astros reliever Charlie Kerfeld threw the ball away.  Keith Hernandez was given a free pass and then Gary Carter made the Astros pay for their mistake with a walk off RBI single to win it.

One more game, and the Mets would be headed to the World Series.

John Maine could never get going in this one and while the Mets great bullpen did an admirable job, two guys, Guillermo Mota and Billy Wagner, were subpar and gave up runs that cost the game.

The Mets had leads of 3-0, 4-2 and 6-4 before the Cardinals tied it up in the seventh.  Then in the ninth, Billy Wagner got shelled for three runs including a solo homerun by the slap hitting So Taguchi to bust the game open.

This was pretty much a two man show on offense.  Jose Reyes went three for four with an RBI and two runs while Carlos Delgado went two for five with four RBIs and two homeruns.  The rest of the team had only four hits and one RBI.

Tonight will be in St. Louis and Steve Trachsel has to get the job done against Jeff Suppan.  I have a feeling this one is coming back to New York and it’d be nice to come back with a 3-2 lead.

Looks like the old man still has something left in the gas tank. Tom Glavine was exceptional last night.  Seven shutout innings in which he gave up only four hits and two walks.  Guillermo Mota and Billy Wagner pitched an inning each and both kept the shutout intact.  Even Albert Pujols was held in check.  In five plate appearances he had no hits and one walk.

The big inning for the Mets was the sixth.  Carlos Beltran broke the scoreless tie with a two run homerun and that was all of the scoring for either side.

The downer was Cliff Floyd left the game after reaggravated his achilles heel injury and he’s going to have an MRI today.

Tonight we’ll see the Cards ace.  It’ll be Chris Carpenter going up against John Maine.

National League Championship Series Game Four
October 12, 1986 at Shea Stadium
Astros 3, Mets 1  Best of Seven Series Tied 2-2

Probably the only surprising thing about this game was that the Mets actually scored on Mike Scott.  In the eight inning, Mookie Wilson singled, moved to third in a heads up play on Ray Knight’s ground out and then scored on Heep’s sac. fly.  Outside of that, the Mets produced only two hits and they didn’t draw a single walk.

Sid Fernandez threw a nice game but he was outmatched in this one.  He gave up a two run shot to Alan Ashby in the second inning and then a solo shot to Dickie Thon in the fifth.  In all he gave up only three hits and a walk but those two homeruns were all Scott needed to win his second game of the series.

The Mets/Cardinals were rained out last night so the two teams will square off in game one of the NLCS tonight.  Fortunately the rain out doesn’t add any extra days off for either team because that would allow the Cards to push Chris Carpenter forward in the current rotation.  You’d like to see him as late as you possibly can.

I do like our chances in this series though.  Once you get past Albert Pujols, this lineup isn’t all that great.  Scot Rolen, Chris Duncan and Jim Edmonds can hurt you, but not with any great consistency.  I’m going to say Mets in Five.

National League Championship Series Game Three
October 11, 1986 at Shea Stadium
Mets 6, Astros 5  Mets Lead Best of Seven Series 2-1

The Mets came back to top the Astros in game three of the NLCS and in the process, took their first series lead.  Bob Knepper got the start for the Astros while Ron Darling threw for the Mets.

The Astros jumped out in front early.  In the first inning, the Astros tagged Darling for two runs on three hits.  Denny Walling singled home Billy Hatcher and Jose Cruz singled home Walling to make it 2-0.

Darling didn’t get much of a break because the Astros hit him hard in the second inning as well.  Bill Doran’s two run homerun put the Astros comfortably in the lead 4-0.

While this was happening, Knepper was mowing down the Mets.  New York posed no real threat until they got two men on in the fourth but even that was with two outs and Knepper got Ray Knight to fly out to end the inning.  It wasn’t until the sixth inning that Mets finally got to Knepper and started their comeback.

Kevin Mitchell led off the sixth and he moved to second on another single by Keith Hernandez.  Gary Carter then reached base on Craig Reynolds error and Mitchell came around to score.  Then Darryl Strawberry hit a huge three run homerun to clear the bases and tie the game up 4-4.

The Astros answered in the very next inning.  Walling hit into a fielders choice with Bill Doran on third base and Doran scampered home.  The Mets then went down quietly in the seventh and eighth and entered the ninth still down by a run.

Wally Backman laid down a bunt single to put a runner on and then Andy Ashby’s passed ball allowed Backman to move over to second.  Danny Heep flew out to center, and then Lenny Dykstra came through huge with a two run walk off homerun to win it for the Mets.

National League Championship Series Game Two
October 9, 1986 at the Astrodome
Mets 5, Astros 1  Best of Seven Series Tied 1-1

The Mets bounced back to even up their series with Astros behind a strong outing by Bob Ojeda.  Ojeda was touched up for ten hits and two walks but he gave up only one run on Phil Garner’s RBI single in the seventh inning.

The Mets didn’t do much until the fourth inning.  Lenny Dykstra grounded out to first to begin the inning, then Wally Backman singled off of Nolan Ryan.  Keith Hernandez followed that up with a single and then Gary Carter doubled home Backman to make it 1-0.  Darryl Strawberry then flew out deep enough to score Hernandez to make it 2-0 before Mookie Wilson flew out to left.

The Mets struck again in the fifth inning.  Ray Knight led off with an out to second before Rafael Sanata singled.  Bob Ojeda hit into a fielders choice to make it two outs but Lenny Dykstra kept the inning alive with a single.  Wally Backman then singled home Ojeda and Keither Hernandez drove home Dykstra and Backman with a triple to make it 5-0.

The two teams had a day off tomorrow as the scene moved to Shea Stadium.

National League Championship Series Game One
October 8, 1986 at the Astrodome
Astros 1, Mets 0  Astros Lead Best of Seven Series 1-0

Mike Scott was by far the best pitcher in 1986 and he had a season that was as good as anyone else’s in the 1980s.  He had only face the Mets once in the regular season and that was on July 19, 1986.  In that game, he was only good and while the Astros pulled out the game, it came down to the ninth inning.  Today, the Mets didn’t have a chance and Scott made the Mets look downright silly.

Dwight Gooden was about as good as you could ask but the one run he gave up was enough for the Astros.  Glenn Davis hit a solo homerun in the second inning and that was the only blemish against Doc.  He gave up the one run on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts in seven innings of work.

The Mets only real threat came in the eighth inning.  Lee Mazzilli struck out but then Danny Heep and Lenny Dykstra both singled.  Mike Scott buckled down though and struck out Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez to end the threat.

Alright, so far, so good.  The Mets took care of business last night and will now move on to play either the Padres or the Cardinals.  The good news is, the team will get three days rest so the Mets will be able to get their rotation back in the right order and give some of these older guys a rest.

The Mets didn’t wast much time.  They scored three in the first off of three RBI singles and then Shawn Green doubled home Cliff Floyd in the second to make it 4-0.  Then the Dodgers stormed back with five runs combined in the fourth and fifth (off of Steve Trachsel and Darren Oliver) and just like that, the Mets were down.

All that seemed to do was wake the Mets up though.  They answered with three in the sixth and piled on two more in the eighth to make it an 8-5 final.  No worries.

All nine runs were scored by nine different hitters.  And only Jose Valentin and Steve Trachsel out of the nine starters went hitless.  Greg Maddux didn’t stand a chance.

And it looks like we won’t be having a subway series. The Yankees were bounced by the Tigers and they’re now my choice to lose to the Mets in the World Series.

Okay, no crazy play at the plate for Dodgers fans to hide behind in this one.  Tom Glavine just shut them down for six innings before the pen did their job in the final three frames.  The only blemish was a solo homerun by Wilson Betemit off of Aaron Heilman in the eighth inning.

The Mets drove in three of their four runs without hits.  Jose Reyes and Julio Franco drove in runs with ground outs and Paul Lo Duca hit a sac. fly in the fifth that scored Jose Valentin.  The final run was scored on an RBI single by Reyes in the sixth.

Game three is Saturday night and it would sure be nice to wrap this series up then.  It’ll be Steve Trachsel going up against Greg Maddux.

October 5, 1986 at Shea Stadium 

Mets 9, Pirates 0  (108-54)

The Mets finished their season with a dominating win and a five game winning streak (nine wins in their last ten games) as they swept the Pirates.  Ron Darling and Sid Fernandez combined for a four hit shutout in which they struck out eleven batters.

Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry both hit homeruns.  It was Carter’s 24th and Strawberry’s 27.  Ray Knight also went yard for the eleventh time in the season.

With only two days rest, the Mets had get ready to square off against the Houston Astros in the NLCS.

Wow, what a game.  The Mets jumped out to an early lead, saw it disappear and then came back to win it.

The Dodgers got on the board first.  Marlon Anderson doubled home Russ Martin in the second inning and that was the last lead the Dodgers had.  Carlos Delgado and Cliff Floyd hit solo shots in the fourth and then David Wright doubled home two runs in the sixth to give the Mets a 4-1 lead.

Then the Dodgers struck.  Three runs in the seventh in an inning capped off by Nomar Garciaparra’s two run double and just like that the game was tied.  Fortunately it was short lived because the Mets got two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead for good.  Carlos Delgado singled home Jose Reyes and David Wright doubled home Carlos Beltran.

Billy Wagner got into trouble in the ninth inning and gave up a run but he struck out Nomar to strand the tying run at second base.  The game had it’s ups and downs and like the Mets season, they did what they needed to win.

Tomorrow, Tom Glavine will go up against Hong-Chih Kuo.  Hopefully the Mets can head to Los Angeles with a 2-0 lead.

October 4, 1986 at Shea Stadium 

Mets 6, Pirates 1  (106-54)

The Mets won the front end of their doubleheader with the Pirates behind a strong outing by Bob Ojeda.  He won for a team high eighteenth time as he held the Pirates scoreless in six innings of work.  Jesse Orosco held the Pirates scoreless in the final two frames to walk away with his 21st save of the season.

Lee Mazzilli went three for three with two runs and Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson both drove in a pair.

October 4, 1986 at Shea Stadium 

Mets 5, Pirates 2  (107-54)

The Mets finshed their doubleheader sweep over the Pirates with another good outing by their starter.  Rick Aguilera won his tenth game as he held the Pirates to two runs (one earned) on three hits in five innings of work.  Roger McDowell held the Pirates hitless in the final three frames to earn his 22nd save of the season.

Ray Knight had three hits, and RBI and a run and two other Mets had two hits.  In all, the game could have been a blow out because the Mets stranded 13 men on base.

October 2, 1986 at Olympic Stadium 

Mets 8, Expos 2  (105-54)

The Mets won their series with the Expos by whalloping them in the finale.  The Mets took a 3-2 lead into the seventh, then opened the game up with two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth.

Gary Carter homered and drove in four runs and Darryl Strawberry hit his 26th homer of the seaosn.  Dwight Gooden won his 17th game and gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits with seven strikeouts.

Thank you Nationals.  While I don’t buy into momentum too much in baseball, I do feel a bit better that the Mets rolled into the post season with four straight wins.  That included a three game sweep over Washington.  Next up is the Dodgers with game one being four pm on Tuesday.

It was fun to Julio Franco put up some nice numbers on Saturday.  He had three hits, including a homerun, and five RBIs.  It was also nice to see Tom Glavine throw six shutout innings.  He came short of 200 innings, but he did get his 15th win and he’s set himself up nicely to notch win number 300 next year.

It’s playoff time, and the Mets are in it.  Hopefully they’ll be able to go as far as they did in 1986.

October 1, 1986 at Olympic Stadium 

Mets 6, Expos 4  (104-54)

Jesse Orosco gave up the lead in the bottom of the ninth, but fortunately the offense was there to pick the Mets up in the top of the tenth.  Each team had one run leads twice before the the Mets scored two in the tenth to end it.

Jesse Orosco, despite blowing the save, improved to 8-6.  Roger McDowell saved his 21st game of the season with a perfect tenth inning.

Darryl Strawberry hit his 25th homerun of the season.  Keith Hernadez went two for four with three RBIs and Mookie Wilson went two for five with two runs.