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Message #: 22001
Games 3-5 could hardly have been more tense, but the Reds were able to eke out 2 of 3 wins @ Shea Stadium and win the series in an upset. Congrats to the Mets on their fine season, and thanks Jon for playing online! =========================================== Game 3: Ted Power and Bob Ojeda faced off on a day when the wind was against them; there were 6 homers in the contest. Power allowed singles to the first 3 NYN batters he faced, and was quickly down 2-0 as a result. Tracy Jones homered in the 3rd to cut the lead in half, but Darryl Strawberry answered with the first of his 2 homers, making the score 4-1 Mets. With Power gone and Jose Rijo in the game, the Reds rallied in the 6th when Eric Davis tripled home a pair of runs and was immediately followed by a Dave Parker home run that gave the Reds the lead. Temporarily. That lead lasted exactly 2 batters, which is when Darryl delivered again, a solo shot that tied the game 5-5. The Reds bagged 2 solo gophers in the 7th, the first of them by pinch-hitter Eddie Milner and the second by rookie SS Barry Larkin. A 2-out passed ball in the bottom of the 7th put the Mets back to just one run down. CIN reliever Ron Robinson retired all 5 batters he faced, and John Franco got the final out by fanning Davey Lopes. Final score: 7-6. Rijo was credited with the victory while Rick Aguilera took the loss for New York. =========================================== Game 4: Another start for Mike Scott and another win for the Mets - but not without considerable difficulty and with considerable assistance from one Cincy player. Bob Walk retired the first 2 Mets in the first inning then after a walk and a single he nailed Strawberry (retaliation for game 3?) with a pitch to load the bases. Bill Doran's timely error then gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. Down 2-0 in the third, Kal Daniels doubled home one run but he gave 2 right back: gunned at the plate (80% safe chance) to end the inning, Daniels sulked out in left field, where he promptly played Gary Carter's easy drive into a single, then compounded matters with a throwing error. Having established that he cannot run, field or throw, at least Daniels can hit, right? (Daniels was 1 for 11 in the series at the plate at this point and was finally benched in favor of Eddie Milner). Those 2 unearned runs proved critical, as they so often do. With the score 4-1, both teams' offenses slept through the middle innings. Three Cincy relievers locked down the Mets bats, while Mike Scott cruised along. Finally in the 9th, the Mets made a game of it despite a continuing lack of hits: Milner walked and stole second; Diaz singled him home and pinch-runner Mariano Duncan stole second and third; Larkin's grounder made the score 4-3. Von Hayes walked with 2 outs but Scott left the game and Doug Sisk enticed Bill Doran to ground out to end the game. =========================================== Game 5: Joe Cowley vs. Ron Darling and neither pitcher will want to remember this game. The Reds struck first when Wally Backman booted Von Hayes' game-opening grounder and the Reds parlayed that into a run. Given a lead, Cowley (Cincy's best starter in 1986) went right to work. He simply forgot which team he was supposed to be working for. A single, stolen base, wild pitch, and two home runs later (and the first inning wasn't even over yet) the Mets had a 3-1 lead and Cowley was just about finished for the day. Cincy got a run back in the second and then launched a pair of home runs of our own (Milner & Diaz back to back) in the third that gave the Reds a 5-3 lead. Cowley had been yanked after 1 inning, replaced by Tom Browning, Ron Robinson and John Franco before the game was even half over. The Reds tacked on 3 runs in the middle innings to take an 8-3 lead and anyone who thinks that automatically meant "game over" knows very little about the Reds. With Cincinnati nearly out of pitchers, Bill Gullickson took over in the 6th but ran into trouble in the 7th. Steve Farr bailed him out with just 1 run scoring. 8-4. Farr tossed a 1-2-3 8th but with the Mets down to their final out he allowed consecutive doubles to Dykstra & Teufel. 8-5. But Keith Hernandez then tapped a slow roller back to the mound and Farr threw him out to end the game and the series. The series MVP might have been Eddie Milner, who didn't play much early on but delivered 4 key extra-base hits when needed, or possibly John Franco who tossed 4.2 innings of perfect relief and registered 2 saves. Alan |
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