Remembering Mets History (1973) Tug McGraw Collects- Save, Victory & Game Winning Hit in a Twin Bill Sweep at Montreal

Friday September 7, 1973: Yogi Berra's Mets (67-73) were rolling along to a hot start in September, coming into tonight's game winning eight out of their last eleven games. All of a sudden, a team that was in last place in late August found themselves just four games back of first place.

Gene Mauch's Montreal Expos (68-71) were just ahead of the Mets in that wild NL East race.

On a chilly evening at Montreal's Park Jarry, 24,167 fans came out to see the Expos host the Mets in a Twi-night double header.

Trivia: Twi-night Double Headers were the norm in those days, meaning the first game would start in the late afternoon & the second game after a break in the nighttime hours.

In the first game, the Mets lefty Jon Matlack went up against (former Met) Steve Renko. It turned out to be a real pitching dual classic.

In the top of the 1st, Wayne Garrett led off the game with his 12th HR of the year.  Garrett now had two HRs & four RBIs in his last three games.

In the top of the 2nd, Don Hahn singled, then Steve Renko walked Jon Matlack & Garrett, but got Felix Millan to ground out to end the inning.

In the top of the 5th, Millan doubled, Renko then loaded the bases walking Rusty Staub & Ed Kranepool but got out of the jam as Jerry Grote grounded to second base to end the inning.

Although Renko walked six batters in six innings he held the Mets to just a run.

In the top of the 7th, Rusty Staub led off with his 33rd double of the season with a shot to right field. Expos Manager Gene Mauch removed Renko & brought in his star reliever Mike Marshall. 

Marshall was one of the best relief pitchers in the game in the early to mid 1970s. Marshall would get the first out, then walk Ed Kranepool intentionally. He then got Jerry Grote to ground into an inning ending double play. 

In the top of the 8th, the first two Mets reached base as Don Hahn walked & Bud Harrelson singled. Mike Marshall then struck out Jon Matlack, got Wayne Garrett to fly out & Felix Millan to ground out.

In the bottom of the 9th with New York clinging to a 1-0 lead, Matlack started the inning getting Ron Woods to strike out looking. He then retired (former Met) Tim Foli on a fly ball to center for the second out. 

The Expos sent up pinch hitters, Pepe Mangual & (former Met) Mike Jorgensen who both drew walks off Matlack. 

Manager Yogi Berra felt his young pitcher was out of gas & made the change. He went to the bullpen for his relief specialist Tug McGraw who was just getting his season going after a long struggle.

Jon Matlack went 8.2 shutout innings, scattering five hits he gave up four walks.

Tug McGraw faced (former Met) Ron Hunt & got him to ground out back to the mound to end the game. 

The reigning NL Rookie of the Year, Jon Matlack earned his 12th win (12-15). Tug McGraw collected his 17th save of the year, his fourth in the last ten days.

___________________________

Nightcap: After a two hour forty-three-minute first game, this one would be a marathon. The
second game, was almost double the length, lasting four hours & thirty-eight minutes ending after midnight. The Montreal fans who stayed for the duration, would have over seven hours of baseball on the night. 

The pitching matchup was Montreal's Mike Torrez (9-11) against the Mets, Jerry Koosman (12-14). 

Koosman came into the game having not allowed a run in his last three starts & was on a personal four game win streak. Torrez was also on a personal four-game win streak, although he had also pitched in relief the past month.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 3rd inning. Felipe Alou doubled & was brought in by Bob Bailey's RBI single. 

It was the first run Koosman had allowed in his last 33.2 innings a franchise record at the time. He would pitch six innings, allowing four hits, striking out three & walk four.

Mike Torrez held the Mets scoreless thru the first six innings & retired 12 Mets in a row into the 7th inning. 

In the top of the 7th, with two outs, Jerry Grote reached on an error by second baseman Pepe Frias. Torrez then had control issues, an ongoing problem that would drive manager Gene Mach crazy. 

Torrez walked three straight batters, Don Hahn, Bud Harrelson & pinch hitter Ken Boswell to tie up the game at one. Mauch came out fuming & brought in Mike Marshall once again. Marshall got the third out & would pitch eight more innings.

In the bottom of the 7th, Mets Reliever Harry Parker came on to pitch & tossed three scoreless innings, allowing two hits, striking out three. 

The game remained scoreless as both pitchers kept blanking their opponents. 

In the top of the 10th, Yogi Berra who always went with a hot hand, brought in Tug McGraw out of the pen for his second outing of the evening.

In the top of 15th, Jon Milner led off with a single. Ed Kranepool followed with a double putting runners on second & third with nobody out.

Don Hahn hit a flyball to right field, deep enough for Milner to score the go ahead run.  Bud Harrelson was then walked intentionally to get to the pitcher's spot, Tug McGraw. Mets manager Yogi Berra kept his fireman in the game & sent McGraw to bat, 

Mike Marshall then threw a wild pitch advancing the runners.

Tug McGraw came through, helping himself get the win, as he ripped a shot to right field scoring both Jon Milner & Ed Kranepool for a 4-1 lead. McGraw was thrown out trying to advance to second.

In the bottom of the 15th, Tug McGraw came back out to close out the game. After getting Hal Breeden to ground out, he gave up a base hit to Ken Singleton & a walk to Tim Foli. Then Mike Jorgensen doubled to right field, bringing in both runners making it a 4-3 game.

Trivia: All three of those batters, were former Mets who all who came over to Montreal in the deal for Rusty Staub in 1972.

Yogi Berra replaced McGraw with veteran Ray Sadecki. Sadecki struck out Pepe Mangual & got Felipe Alou to fly out to center to end the game. 

Sadecki collected his first save of the year. He was a big part of the Mets staff that year, used both as a starter & reliever as needed.

A tired McGraw got the win, pitching 5.1 innings in relief, allowing one run on four hits striking out six & walking four. 

In two games on this night, Tug had earned a save, a win & his two-run single proved to be the games winning run. 

In his past eight appearances, McGraw was 3-0 with four saves. He gave up three runs on seven hits for a 1.45 ERA. He struck out 19 & walked seven in 18.2 innings of work. Opponents were hitting just .111 against him.