September 23rd
Met manager Gil Hodges relaxes with team one win away from clinching NL East |
On the first day of fall Jim McAndrew had a tall task in front of him as he faced off
against Bob Gibson. Earlier in the day at Wrigley the Cubs faded further into
obscurity, falling to the expansion Expos. A win tonight would give the Mets the
chance to clinch the next night during their final home game of the 1969
season.
Wayne Garrett’s run scoring single of Bud Harrelson put New
York up 1-0 in the 3rd.
The lead held into the 5th. Singles
by Lou Brock and Curt Flood put runners on 1st and 2nd
with two down but 2B Ken Boswell booted Vada Pinson’s grounder-allowing Brock
to score from 2nd. Joe Torre’s single broke the 1-1 tie, driving
home Flood and putting St. Louis ahead 2-1. The Mets tied it against Gibson in
the 8th on Art Shamsky’s RBI single of Tommie Agee.
It would remain
that way until the 11th Eddie Kranepool flied out to begin the
inning but the next two batters-Ron Swoboda and Jerry Grote singled off Gibson,
and then Harrelson delivered the game winning hit to give the Mets a 3-2
victory. Tug McGraw pitched four scoreless in relief of McAndrew for the win.
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