August 13th
The Astros other co-Ace Larry Dierker won his 14th and the
Mets were swept in Houston. The Astros knocked Gary Gentry out of the box with
three 1st inning runs, Denis Menke’s 3 run blast putting the Astros
up 3 zip.
Reliever Cal Koonce walked three and gave up four more runs
in his inning of work. Trailing 8-0 by the 3rd inning New York could
only muster 5 hits and 2 runs off Dierker, falling 8-2 and glad to not see
Houston again until 1970. The Astros owned the Mets in ’69 winning 10 of 12,
taking the final six in back to back sweeps. At this point Houston and New York’s
1969 seasons seemed to be going in opposite directions. The 3rd
place Astros were now only 2 ½ games back in NL West.
As for the Mets?
New York (62-51) wrapped up this road trip 4-7, losers of
three straight and finding themselves in a place they hadn’t been since the 2nd
of June-3rd place. The Cardinals (65-52) 5-0 shutout of the Dodgers
ended New York’s 71 day stay in 2nd place. The NL East leading Cubs
(74-53) won too-adding to the Met misery. They now trailed St. Louis by 1 and
Chicago by 10 as they returned home to Shea with less than 50 games to play.
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