Today In Mets History: 1999- Robin Ventura Hits 2 Grand Slams in Twi Nighter

May 20,1999: Tonight the Mets play a rare twi-night double header against the Milwaukee Brewers at Shea Stadium. The attendance is just around 20,000. In the 1st game Al Leiter went against the one armed wonder, Jim Abbott. The Mets roughed him up in the bottom of the 1st inning; after getting the 1st two outs, John Olerud walked, Mike Piazza singled and Edgardo Alfonzo walked. Next, Robin Ventura hit a line drive down the right field line, it stayed fair and cleared the fence for a grand slam home run. It was his 7th home run of the season. Granny #1. Some how Al Leiter gave up 6 runs in 5 innings and still got the win, as Benny Agbayani (3 run blast) & Mike Piazza (2 run blast) also homered giving the Mets an 11-10 victory.

In the 2nd game, Masato Yoshii improved his record to 4-2 in one of his finest outings. He went 7 innings allowing just 1 run, on 8 hits while striking out 4 as the Mets cruised to a 10-1 victory. The Mets beat up Steve Woodard for 8 runs by the 4th inning, the biggest blow came when Robin Ventura made history. He became the 1st player to ever hit grand slams in both games of a double header. His 4th inning shot, in almost the same spot as the one in the 1st game was #8 on the season. It scored Roger Cedeno, and Alfonzo & Olerud who also scored on his 1st game granny. Granny #2.

In his career Robin Ventura hit 18 grand slam home runs, he is tied for 4th on the all time list, with Willie McCovey. His most famous one, was the grand slam single in the bottom of the 15th inning in Game #5 of the 1999 NLCS vs Atlanta. He is also one of only 12 players to have hit 2 grand slams in the same game. He did that in 1995 while with the White Sox.

The Mets swept the double header on 5/20/99, keeping pace with Atlanta 2 1/2 games back in 2nd place.