Remembering Mets History (1974) Jon Matlack Tosses His Second Career One Hitter
The Mets were still the reigning NL Champions, but injuries & poor offense made for a fifth-place finish in 1974.
Tom Seaver was struggling thru his mechanics & had just gone on the disabled list after his last start. He went on the worst season of his career.
The Mets came into this game having won three of their last four, sweeping a series with the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Today the Mets sent Jon Matlack (5-5) to the hill to face the Cards John Curtis (4-7). Matlack had lost his last four decisions & had given up twenty earned runs in his last 51.2 innings although his ERA was still a low 2.68. Prior to that Matlack had won five of his first six with a 1.89 ERA.
In the top of the 1st inning, Matlack started the game striking out Lou Brock.
All Time Mets HR Leader: The HR for Cleon was the 86th HR of his career, passing up Ed Kranepool at that time as the All Time franchise HR leader.
In the top of the 3rd inning, with one out Matlack gave up a base hit to the opposing pitcher John Curtis.
Matlack retired the next six Cardinals in a row, then after the walk to Tom Heintzelman he retired the last 12 batters of the game striking out seven of them.
For Jon Matlack it was his sixth victory on the year (6-5) his third shut out & fourth complete game. He struck out seven & issued three walks, lowering his ERA to 2.47.
Today the Mets sent Jon Matlack (5-5) to the hill to face the Cards John Curtis (4-7). Matlack had lost his last four decisions & had given up twenty earned runs in his last 51.2 innings although his ERA was still a low 2.68. Prior to that Matlack had won five of his first six with a 1.89 ERA.
Lou Brock Trivia: Later that season on September 10th, Lou Brock would break Maury Wills single season stolen base record & finish the season with 118 steals.
Matlack then walked Ted Sizemore, then struck Reggie Smith & Ted Simmons to end the inning.
In the home 1st, Wayne Garrett led off with an infield hit. With two outs, Cleon Jones blasted his sixth HR of the year, a two-run shot for an early 2-0 lead.
Quotes- Cleon Jones: "I went up there with the idea of hitting the ball hard, it was a good pitch. I was lucky to hit it for a HR. It's a lot easier to play the game for the hitter, too, when you're ahead".
In the top of the 3rd inning, with one out Matlack gave up a base hit to the opposing pitcher John Curtis.
Trivia: John Curtis had ten hits in 63 at bats that year & was a .175 lifetime hitter.
This was the only hit Matlack would allow that afternoon. The Cardinals would only have one more base runner the rest of the way, when pinch hitter Tom Heintzelman drew a walk in the 6th inning.
The Mets gave him more run support. In the bottom of the 5th, Wayne Garrett led off the inning with a HR into the left field bullpen, his seventh HR of the year giving the Mets a 3-0 lead.
Wayne Garrett who was struggling, had two hits in the game with three runs scored on the day, getting his average over the .200 mark.
In the bottom of the 7th, Garrett drew a walk off Cards reliever Mike Thompson to start the inning. He advanced on George Theodore's grounder to first base then Cleon Jones doubled, scoring Garrett giving the Mets the 4-0 lead. Cleon had himself a multi- hit three RBI game.
Mets One Hit Trivia: This game was the eleventh one hit game thrown by a Mets pitcher in franchise history. In July of 1973 Matlack had pitched the last Mets one hitter as well.
Jon Matlack Trivia: In 1974 Matlack led the league in shut outs with seven, going 13-15 on the year with 195 strike outs (4th in the NL) & a 2.41 ERA (3rd best in the NL). In the Mets fifth place season, Matlack took a lot of hard luck losses.