Remembering Mets History (1969) Ron Swoboda's Multi HR Game Spoils Steve Carltons 19th K Record Performance
Tonight, they came to Busch Stadium to play Red Schoendienst's third place St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards were still the reigning NL Champs, a title the Mets would soon be taking away from them.
Tonight, the Mets sent Rookie Gary Gentry (11-11) up against future Hall of famer Steve Carlton (16-9)
It was a history making night at Busch Stadium for the 13,086 fans that came, as St. Louis' Steve Carlton set an MLB record (at the time) by striking out 19 batters.
Every batter in the Mets line up struck out at least once on the night. Six Met batters went down twice on strikes with rookie Amos Otis striking out four times on the evening, earning "the golden sombrero".
In the top of the 5th, Steve Carlton reached a dozen strike outs by fanning Amos Otis & Tommie Agee.
Carlton was still rolling along as he fanned two a batter in each of the next two innings reaching 14 Ks. After seven innings he was clinging to a one run 3-2 lead scattering six hits along the way.
In the top of the 8th inning, Tommie Agee led off with a single to center field. After Donn Clendenon struck out Ron Swoboda connected once again, hitting his 9th HR of the year, his second of the game giving the Amazing's a 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the 9th with one out, St. Louis threatened, as pinch hitter Phil Gagliano reached on an Ed Charles error at third base. Lou Brock then singled as pinch runner Joe Nossek went to second.
It was a history making night at Busch Stadium for the 13,086 fans that came, as St. Louis' Steve Carlton set an MLB record (at the time) by striking out 19 batters.
Every batter in the Mets line up struck out at least once on the night. Six Met batters went down twice on strikes with rookie Amos Otis striking out four times on the evening, earning "the golden sombrero".In the bottom of the 1st inning, Carlton started the game striking out Bud Harrelson & Amos Otis. After Tommie Agee reached on an error & Donn Clendenon singled, Carlton struck out Ron Swoboda to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd, he struck out Ed Charles & Jerry Grote then Al Weis collected a base hit but Carlton fanned Gary Gentry to end the inning with his sixth K.
In the top of the 3rd inning Bud Harrelson singled but was picked off by Carlton. "Lefty" then struck out Tommie Agee to end the inning with a total of seven Ks already documented.
In the top of the 4th inning, the Mets Donn Clendenon drew a walk, then Ron Swoboda hit his 8th HR of the year, putting the Mets up 2-0. Carlton would strike out three more Mets in the inning to total ten double digit Ks in the game.
In the top of the 4th inning, the Mets Donn Clendenon drew a walk, then Ron Swoboda hit his 8th HR of the year, putting the Mets up 2-0. Carlton would strike out three more Mets in the inning to total ten double digit Ks in the game.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, Mets starter, Gary Gentry squandered the lead, as all-time stolen base great, Lou Brock singled then stole second. Brock scored on an RBI single by Curt Flood to tie the game. Vada Pinson singled to right field & Joe Torre put the Cards ahead 3-2 with an RBI base hit to center scoring Flood. For Torre it was his 90th RBI of the year.
The Mets, Gary Gentry pitched six innings allowing three runs on seven hits. Tug McGraw came in to pitch the bottom of the 7th.
Carlton was still rolling along as he fanned two a batter in each of the next two innings reaching 14 Ks. After seven innings he was clinging to a one run 3-2 lead scattering six hits along the way.
Rocky Trivia: For Ron Swoboda it was his first multi-HR game since his 1965 rookie season. He would have another multi-HR game in 1970, the last of his career. The four RBIs matched a season high in which he had done twice before including hitting a grand slam HR two days earlier in Pittsburgh. In his last three games Rocky had three HRs with eight RBIs.
19K Record: In the top of the 9th inning, Steve Carlton struck out the side, setting an MLB record for most strike outs (19) in a game. The Mets Tom Seaver would match the 19 K record the following season.
In his career Steve Carlton led the NL in strike outs five times with 4136 career Ks fourth most all time.
Tug McGraw then got Curt Flood to fly out & Vada Pinson to ground out to short shop Bud Harrelson to win the game. The Mets increased their lead to 4.5 lengths in the NL East over the falling Cubs.
Quotes- Gil Hodges: "It's great to win when you play badly".