Remembering Mets History (1969) Win Streak At Six As Mets Sweep Padres

Gil Hodges New York Mets had just come off an outstanding home stand where they won nine of ten games including three shut outs & sweeps of the Dodgers & Padres. 

The Mets were now 71-52 five 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs. They had gained five games in the standings during that homestand & the Cubs were worrying.

Tuesday August 26th 1969: After an off day to travel to the West Coast, the Mets arrived in beautiful San Diego for a twi night double header. The starting pitchers were Tom Seaver & Dick Kelly in front of just 8873 fans at Jack Murphy Stadium, named after Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy's brother.

Starting Lineups

Mets

1	Bud Harrelson	SS
2	Bobby Pfeil	3B
3	Tommie Agee	CF
4	Cleon Jones	LF
5	Donn Clendenon	1B
6	Ron Swoboda	RF
7	Jerry Grote	C
8	Al Weis	2B
9	Tom Seaver	P

Padres

1	Jose Arcia	2B
2	Roberto Pena	SS
3	Ollie Brown	RF
4	Al Ferrara	LF
5	Nate Colbert	1B
6	Van Kelly	3B
7	Cito Gaston	CF
8	Walt Hriniak	C
9	Dick Kelley	P

For Seaver he would ear win #18 as he sailed through nine innings with another complete game, his ninth on the season. He allowed just four hits & three earned runs on this night. 

Young Padre Cito Gaston (future Toronto Manager) hit his second career HR, his sencond of the season as well, a two run shot. "Downtown" Ollie Brown hit his 16th HR of the year giving the Padres three runs. Brown would hit 20 HRs in 1969 & 23 in 1970.  Gaston's triple scored Al Ferrara who had reached on an error. Seaver struck out six & walked one.

In the 4th inning, after Tommie Agee walked, Donn Clendenon connected for a two run shot, his eigth  of the season. In the top of the 6th, Bobby Pfeil & Tommie Agee both singled. 

Cleon Jones then doubled to center field, both runners scored giving New York a 4-2 lead. Cleon now led the team with 70 RBIs & was batting .352.

The Mets then had a big 7th inning as well. Ron Swoboda led off with a HR, his 5th of the year. Jerry Grote & Al Weis singled. After Seaver struck out, Buddy Harrelson singled bringing in Grote. Bobby Pfeil grounded out but got Weis home with another run, making it 7-2. Tommie Agee topped off the scoring with a base hit bringing in Harrelson, it was Agee's 64th RBI.

Starting Lineups

Mets

1	Tommie Agee	CF
2	Bobby Pfeil	3B
3	Cleon Jones	LF
4	Art Shamsky	1B
5	Ken Boswell	2B
6	Ron Swoboda	RF
7	Duffy Dyer	C
8	Al Weis	SS
9	Jim McAndrew	P

Padres

1	Jose Arcia	2B
2	Roberto Pena	SS
3	Ollie Brown	RF
4	Larry Stahl	LF
5	Nate Colbert	1B
6	Van Kelly	3B
7	Cito Gaston	CF
8	Chris Cannizzaro	C
9	Joe Niekro	P

In the second game the Mets sent Jim McAndrew to the mound, fresh off a shut out in his last start. McAndrew would face Joe Niekro. Joe Niekro not the Hall of Famer his brother Phil was, but still had a fine career winning 221 games against 204 losses with a 3.59 ERA 1747 strike outs in 702 games over 22 seasons..

For McAndrew it was another fine night. He shut out the Padres on five hits, striking out six with no walks. He was in a zone this week for sure. It  was his third win in a row & second straight shutout, while tossing 23 straight scoreless innings. He was now 6-5 winning six of his last nine decisions.

In the 6th, Art Shamsky & Ken Boswell singled. Catcher Duffy Dyer drew a two out walk, following a double play. Then, Al Weis singled bringing in Shamsky with the first run. In the 7th, Shamsky brought in Tommie Agee with a single & the Mets second run.

In the 9th inning, Cleon Jones would single & reach third after Ron Swoboda's base hit. With Duffy Dyer at bat, Padre pitcher Frank Reberger threw a passed ball charged to catcher & original Met, Chris Cannizzaro. Jones scored with the third Mets run in a 3-0 win.

Wednesday August 27th 1969: The Mets completed the sweep of the Padres as Jerry Koosman won his 12th game of the year in a one run two hit shut out. Kooz struck out six & walked two in the win.

At bat Kooz singled in the 3rd, Tommie Agee walked & both scored on Cleon Jones double his 71 & 72nd RBIs of the year. In the 6th Bobby Pfeil singled to start off the inning. Art Shamsky doubled him in & Ken Boswell singled bringing home Shamsky for a 4-1 lead The Padres Ollie Brown had hit his 17th HR earlier.

Win StreaK: The Mets completed the six game win streak, winning twelve of their last thirteen games. They would lose the next game in San Francisco but take two more games after that, getting them to fifteen wins in their last seventeen games. After leaving San Diego they were just 2 1/2 games out of first, but the split of a four game set in Frisco drooped them to 4 1/2 before heading to Los Angeles.