Remembering Mets History (1985) Gary Carter Hits Five HRs & Drives In Nine Runs Over Two Games

Tuesday September 3rd, 1985: In the tight pennant race of 1985, Davey Johnson's second place Mets (79-52) were just one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals in hot pursuit in the midst of a five-game win streak.

The previous night, the Mets won the opening game of a three game set in San Diego taking on Dick Williams' third place Padres (69-62) as Keith Hernandez had a big multi-five hit game as he & Ray Knight both hit HRs.

Tonight the Mets sent rookie Rick Aguilera (6-5) to the mound up to go up against the Padres' Dave Dravecky (11-7) in front 14,960 fans at Jack Murphy Stadium.

On June 12th, Aguilera had been brought up making his big league debut.

In the top of the 1st inning, Keith Hernandez walked, then Gary Carter started his big night with a two run HR. It was Carter's 21st HR of the year.

In the top of the 4th inning, Gary Carter led off the inning with his second HR of the game making it 3-0 Mets. 

In the top of the 5th inning, with one out, Tom Paciorek & Keith Hernandez both singled. 

Multi- Three HR Game: Gary Carter then stepped in & greeted the new Padres pitcher, Luis DeLeon with his third HR of the game, the three runs shot gave him five RBIs as well. It was his 23rd HR & 73rd RBI of the season.

Mets HR Trivia: Gary Carter became the fifth Mets player in team history to hit three HRs in a game. Jim Hickman (1965) Dave Kingman (1976) Claudell Washington (1980) & On August 5th, of that 1985 season, Darryl Strawberry had hit three HRs in a win over the Cubs. Carter & Strawberry were also the only two NL hitters to hit three HRs in a game that season. 

It would be fourteen years until another Edgardo Alfonzo (1999) would hit three HRs in a game. 

Quotes- Gary Carter: "It's the the thrill of a life time & I'll remember it a long time. It's greatest feeling in the world, knowing that only ten players in the history of the game ever hit four HRs in a game, I feel very proud that I hit three."

Darryl Strawberry followed with a back-to-back HR giving the Mets a dominating 7-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 5th, Carmello Martinez put the Padres on the board with a solo HR. In the home 7th, Terry Kennedy added a solo HR the second off Aguilera. In the bottom of the 8th, Steve Garvey homered off Jesse Orosco for the Padres third & final run.

Rick Aguilera pitched 6.2 innings allowing two runs on six hits, two strike outs & a walk earning the win (7-5). Jesse Orosco came on & pitched three innings, allowing a run on two hits, with a walk.

In the bottom of the 8th, Steve Garvey hit a solo HR his 17th HR of the season the 250th of his great career.

In the top of the 9th, pitcher Jesse Orosco hit a one out single, then Lenny Dykstra added an RBI triple, as the Mets went on to the 8-3 victory. 

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Wednesday September 4th, 1985: With the Cardinals also having won the previous night, the Mets were still one game back of the St. Louis Cardinals, keeping pace in the heat of an outstanding September pennant race.

The Mets had won four of six on this West Coast road trip, with Ron Darling (13-5) going up against former Met Roy Lee Jackson. 

Ron Darling had won his last three starts allowing just two runs over his last 23 innings (0.78 ERA).

In the top of the 2nd, the hot hitting Gary Carter, blasted a solo HR putting the Mets up 1-0. 

In the top of the 3rd, Rafael Santana led off with a base hit & was sacrificed over to second. Wally Backman's RBI single scored Raffy making it a 2-0 Mets lead. 

In the top of the 4th, Danny Heep led off with a base hit. With one out Howard Johnson tripled scoring Heep. Roy Lee Jackson then balked bringing in HoJo with the Mets fourth run 4-1.

In the top of the 5th inning, Wally Backman singled & Darryl Strawberry was hit by a pitch, putting two men on for Gary Carter. The hot streak continued as Carter singled bringing in Backman with his second RBI of the game, making it 5-1 Mets.

In the top of the 7th inning, Gary Carter hit his second HR of the game, a two out solo HR off Ed Wonjna, giving the Mets a 6-1 lead. Carter had a multi-three hit, three RBI night in the Mets 9-2 win.

It was Carter's 25th HR of the season, the fifth time in his career he reached the 25 HR mark.

Record Tying Performance: For Gary Carter, he was the 11th player in MLB history to hit five HRs over two games. "Kid" was in the midst of a ten-game hitting streak, where he collected 19 hits, blasted eight HRs & drove in 15 runs. Carter was leading the Mets during this stretch in the hot pennant race.

In the top of the 9th, Padre pitcher Bob Patterson walked three Mets batters loading the bases. Danny Heep & Tom Paciorek added RBI singles topping off the win.

Carter would finish his first season in New York leading the club with 32 HRs (5th most in the NL) & 100 RBIs (6th best in the NL). He was second on the club in hits (156) to Keith Hernandez & Runs scored (83).

For Ron Darling he would earn his 14th win of the season, winning his fourth straight decision. He allowed just two runs on seven hits over eight innings, striking out four & walking three. Roger McDowell closed it out with a scoreless 9th.