Remembering Mets History (1969) Mets Have Second Six Game Win Streak of August & Win Twelve of Thirteen Games

The Mets six game win streak ended when they dropped the final game of the series with the Giants. After coming back from being down 6-2, they lost the game in the 10th inning when Ken Henderson tripled off Ron Taylor scoring Don McMahon. It was just the second loss Ron Taylor suffered since June 25th.

Now Walt Alston's Los Angeles Dodgers (67-55) came in for a three game series. The Dodgers had won 10 of their last 14 games getting them into first place in a tight NL West, where the Reds, Giants & Braves were all within 1.5 games.

Friday August 22nd: Jerry Koosman (10-8) started the opener against Bill Singer (14-8).

In the bottom of the 2nd, Wayne Garret led off with a walk, then Ron Swoboda hit his fourth HR of the year, a two run shot giving him his second straight multi-RBI game.

In the bottom of the 3rd, three Mets singles from Tommie Agee, Cleon Jones & Art Shamsky made it 3-0. A passed ball charged to Dodger catcher Jeff Torborg allowed Cleon Jones to score giving New York a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the 4th, Torborg collected an RBI hit putting L.A. on the board. In the top of the 7th, the Dodgers started the inning with back to back singles. Jerry Koosman also balked causing Gil Hodges to bring in Tug McGraw. After striking out Manny Mota, Willie Davis & Wes Parker collected RBI singles making it 4-3.

In the bottom of the 8th, Tommie Agee collected his second hit of the game with a base hit to left field. In his last 17 games Agee was batting .330 with 23 hits 6 HRs 14 RBIs & 13 runs scored.

Agee advanced to third on a sacrifice & wild pitch. Cleon Jones then collected his second hit of the game with a single scoring Agee topping off the 5-3 win. 

In his last five games, Cleon had ten hits hitting .476 raising his season average to .354.

Saturday August 23: On Saturday afternoon 40,974 came to Shea as veteran Don Cardwell (5-9) took on the newest Dodger acquisition Jim Bunning (11-9) who arrived over a week earlier. Cardwell had not allowed a run in his last 14 innings & had won his last two decisions.

In the bottom of the 2nd Ken Boswell singled & stole second. Jerry Grote drove him in with a base hit to left field. In the home 4th, Art Shamsky hit his 11th HR of the year making it 2-0.

Don Cardwell held the Dodgers scoreless on three hits until the 8th inning. After getting the first two outs, Manny Mota singled then Willie Davis tripled & scored on Cleon Jones' error tying up the game.

In the bottom of the 9th, with Jim Brewer on the mound for L.A. Gil Hodges sent Donn Clendenon in to pinch hit & he drew a walk. Jerry Grote then delivered his third hit of the game, a walk off RBI double scoring Clendenon for the 3-2 win.

The win went to Ron Taylor (7-4) who had relieved Cardwell in the 8th inning. 

Sunday August 24th: A big crowd of 48,435 came for the series finale as the Mets went for the sweep. Today rookie Gary Gentry went up against Don Sutton (14-12). 

Gentry had been struggling as of late not earning a win in over a month, the last on July 15th. Sutton had won three straight after a stretch where he lost six of seven games.

In the bottom of the 1st, Don Sutton struggled, as Bobby Pfeil & Cleon Jones who was batting .353 both singled. Then Sutton walked Ken Boswell loading the bases then Ron Swoboda bringing in the Mets first run. 

The Dodgers got a two run HR  from Wes Parker, an RBI double from Ted Sizemore & RBI single from Willie Davis knocking Gentry out of the game.

In the bottom of the 6th down 4-2 Jerry Grote singled & scored on Tommie Agee's double to right field.

In the bottom of the 7th, Cleon Jones & Art Shamsky led off with hits getting Sutton out of the game, as Jim Brewer came in to pitch. But the Mets jumped on Brewer with a base hit from Ken Boswell loading the bases. 

Multi- Four RBI Game: Then Ron Swoboda hit a bases clearing three run double giving him
four RBIs on the day. In his last four games, Swoboda had driven in eight runs with five hits & two doubles. 

Multi- Three Hit Game: Jerry Grote followed with an RBI single, his third hit of the game & back-to-back multi-three game, as New York went on to the 7-4 win.

The Mets had now swept the Dodgers & completed a home stand with the West Coast teams winning nine of ten games where they gained five games in the standings. The Mets were now 19 games over .500 inching closer, just 5.5 games behind the first place Chicago Cubs.

Tuesday August 26th, 1969: It was off to California, after an off day to travel the Mets arrived in beautiful San Diego for a Twi-night double header. 

Tom Seaver (17-7) went up against  Dick Kelly (4-7) in front of 8,873 fans at Jack Murphy Stadium. 

Trivia: The stadium was named after Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy's brother who was influential in bringing MLB to the city of San Diego.

First Game: In the bottom of the 2nd, Cito Gaston hit his second HR of the season, a two-run shot making it 2-0. 

In the top of the 3rd, Tommie Agee walked, then Donn Clendenon connected for a two-run HR, his eighth of the season, to tie up the game.

In the home 7th"Downtown" Ollie Brown hit his 16th HR of the year giving the Padres the lead. Brown would hit 20 HRs in 1969 & 23 more in 1970.  

Al Ferrara then reached on an error at third base by Bobby Pfeil. Cito Gaston then tripled to score Ferrara with the unearned fourth run. 

On the night, Seaver struck out six & walked one.

In the top of the 6th, Bobby Pfeil & Tommie Agee both singled. Cleon Jones then doubled to center field, scoring both runners scored giving New York a 4-2 lead. Cleon now led the team with 70 RBIs & was batting .352.

In the top of the 7th, Ron Swoboda led off with his fifth HR of the year making it 5-2 Mets. It was Swoboda's second HR & ninth RBI in the last five games.

Jerry Grote & Al Weis followed with singles. After Seaver struck out, Bud Harrelson singled bringing in Jerry Grote. Bobby Pfeil grounded out to second Al Weis was able to score making it 7-2. Tommie Agee topped off the scoring with a base hit bringing in Bud Harrelson with Agee's 64th RBI.

Tom Seaver earned his 18th win of the year as he sailed through nine innings with another complete game, his ninth on the season. He allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits. 

Night Cap: In the second game, the Mets sent Jim McAndrew (5-5) to the mound, fresh off a shutout victory in his last start. McAndrew would face Joe Niekro (7-11). 

Joe Niekro was not the Hall of Fame pitcher 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 pitching in 22 seasons.

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

Niekro got out of a bases loaded jam in the third inning & held the Mets scoreless through the first five innings.

In the top of the 6th, Art Shamsky & Ken Boswell led off with base hits. After Ron Swoboda grounded into a double play, catcher Duffy Dyer walked.  Al Weis then singled to left field bringing in Shamsky with the Mets first run. It was Weis' 18th RBI on the season. 

In the top of the 7th, Tommie Agee led off with a base hit & was sacrificed to second by Bobby Pfeil. Art Shamsky then singled to right scoring Agee tying up the game.

In the top of the 9th inning, Cleon Jones collected a lead off single. 

Cleon Trivia: Jones was the NL's leading hitter most of the month, batting .351, he had now hit safely in 25 of his last 30 games.

Ron Swoboda followed with a base hit advancing Cleon to third. With Duffy Dyer at bat a passed ball was charged to catcher Chris Cannizzaro allowing Jones to score the Mets third in the 3-0 shut out. 

The Mets swept the twin bill, their third double header sweep of the Padres in nine days. They now had won five straight games, & eleven of their last 12. With the Cubs dropping two more games the Mets jumped to just 3.5 games out of first place.

Wednesday August 27th, 1969: The Mets Jerry Koosman (11-8) winner of last two starts went up against the NL leader in losses, Clay Kirby (3-17). 

In the bottom of the 1st inning, Koosman gave up a HR to "Downtown" Ollie Brown, Brown's 17th HR of the season. Next Al Ferrara singled to left field.

Al Ferrara Trivia: Brooklyn born Ferrara played with the L.A. Dodgers from 1963-1968. In that time he got small roles on classic TV shows Batman & Gilligan's Island.

After Ferrara's single he did not give up another hit the rest of the way. In the 3rd inning he walked the pitcher Clay Kirby, in the 6th inning he hit Jose Arcia with a pitch & then in the 8th walked Ed Spiezio, accounting for all five Padres base runners.

Kooz pitch a one run, two-hit complete game victory striking out six & walking two to earn his 12th win. 

Kooz Trivia: The two hitter was Koosman's lowest hit total of the season going beyond the 5th inning. Kooz would allow one run or less in 14 starts that season, tossing six shut outs. Thru the rest of the regular season Kooz went 8-1 finishing with a 2.28 ERA. He would go 2-0 in the World Series as well pitching a complete game in the Mets fifth & final Series clinching game.

Koosman also collected two hits in this game, as he only had four hits all season. 

In the top of the 3rd inning, Koosman hit a one out single to right field. Tommie Agee drew a walked & Cleon Jones hit his 25th double of the year, driving in both runners for his 71st & 72nd RBIs of the year giving the Mets a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the 6th, Bobby Pfeil singled to start off the inning. Art Shamsky then doubled him in for a 3-1 Mets lead. Ken Boswell followed with a base hit bringing home Shamsky for the Mets fourth run, capping off the scoring in the 4-1 win. 

Trivia: In the 1969 regular season the Mets had the most success against the expansion Padres goin 11-1 against them head to head.

Win Streak: With the Mets win, they completed another series sweep & were on a six-game win streak. They had now won twelve of their last thirteen games. The Mets went to twenty two games over .500 (74-52) & were now just 2.5 games behind the first place Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs were falling apart, as they had lost four straight games & seven of their last nine. After a seven game win streak to start August, the Cubs had gone 8-10 since August 8th, when they had an 8.5 game lead over the Mets.