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The Mets, tied 2-2 in a series but unable to solve Mike Scott whatsoever, suddenly have the psychological context of their series switched on them. If a win Scott over Darling is such a given for game seven, that forces them to approach Games Five and Six as two consecutive elimination games. And with Game Five pushed back a day, the specter only grew, with reporters and the players left with nothing to do but talk and talk and talk about Mike Scott.
When the teams finally took the field on October 14, it was Met fireballers of two different generations matching up, with Nolan Ryan coming in against Dwight Gooden. The matchup lives up to its billing, with the two legends, 17 years of age difference between them, trading zeros through the first four. In the fifth, Houston scratches out a run on a double by Hal Ashby (their only extra base hit, a single by Craig Reynolds, a bunt by Ryan, and an RBI groundout by Billy Doran.
Do the Mets answer? Oh they do! Ryan had been masterful to this point, holding the Mets hitless (the way he tends to do) through four and a third with eight (eight!) strikeouts. But power against power is a beautiful thing, and Darryl Strawberry extending his arms against Nolan Ryan is a whole lot of power, and in this case resulted an a long homer down the rightfield line.
And... that's it. At the end of regulation, the teams are still tied at onesis, wit the Mets only garnering a single hit the rest of the way, a Hernandez single in the seventh. Even against the all-time walk leader, the Mets only managed a single free pass, also in the seventh, but with two on, Mookie Wilson flied out to end the faintest hint of a rally.
So, up against it, Davey Johnson makes the bold decision to get a 10th inning out of Dwight Gooden, cruising pretty well himself. Gooden gets two quick outs before pinch-hitter Terry "Swimming" Puhl tries to ignite a one-man rally, reaching on a an infield hit and stealing second. (You just know Tim McCarver was carrying on about Gooden's high leg kick) Gooden, pitches around Doran, and walks him, but ends the threat when Billy Hatcher flies to right.
That pinch-hit, though, cost the Astros their right to continue with old Nolie, and they send in their wierdo rookie seteup man Charlie Kerfeld. (Kerfield has had a fine season and would eventually finish fourth in Rookie of the Year voting, but has been perhaps overused this season and would never be good again.) He picks up where Ryan left off, getting the Mets 4-5-6 hitters in order while striking out Strawberry and Wilson.
The Mets double switch Danny Heep in left and turn the game over to Jesse Orosco. Somewhere in the clubhouse, Kevin Mitchell breaks a few bats in outrage at the slight. Orosco is all over the Astros, striking out Denny Walling and Glenn Davis and getting Kevin Bass on a groundout back to the box. Mets half of the 11th, though, is no better, with Knight and Mazzilli (pinch-hitting for Rafael Santana) grounding out, Heep whiffing, and Mitchell trashing the porn room.
On to the twelfth and Orosco pitches a second perfect inning, getting the legendary Jose Cruz (who I think history hasn't been kind enough to), Ashby and Thon. In the Astros half, Lanier gets a little silly as he tries to get a third inning out of the punk rocker Kerfeld. But, you know, Kerfeld is a big guy. Wally Backman, coming up with one out, opts to save his bunts for another day and raps one toward third that ricochets off the glove of Denny Walling. He takes and aggressive lead of first, and Kerfeld tries to pick him off, but in perhaps the TURNING POINT OF THE GAME, he instead throws wild, sending Backman into scoring position with still on out and the heart of the order coming up. Kerfeld intentionally walks Keith Hernandez to take one more crack at Gary Carter, in the midst of a 1-21 slump. Carter works a full count before singling up the middle and OH MY GOD THE METS WINNNN!!!!! Thier second walkoff win of the series!
The accounts of the day remind me that double-plays were a big part of the story.
[list][*]The Astros led off the second with two straight singles, but Gooden defused the rally by striking out Ashby and getting a double-play on Craig Reynolds. Replays suggested Fred Brocklander blew the call and Reynolds beat the relay.
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[*]The Mets attempted to get out of the fifith-inning Astro rally with a doubleplay, but Backman doubleclutched on the relay, and Brocklander, perhaps as a subconscious make-good, called Doran safe, giving the Astros their lone run.
[/*:m]
[*]In the eighth, a hard-charging Mookie Wilson corralled what looked like a line single by Walling and had Billy Doran doubled easily off of first.[/*:m][/list:u]
On to Game Six. Ojeda vs. Knepper, with Mike Scott looming... ever looming. This might be good.
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