Remembering Mets History (1999) Mike Piazza Goes 4-4 In Mets Wild Card Pennant Hunt

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Saturday September 11th, 1999: Bobby Valentine's New York Mets (87-56) were three games behind the rival first place Atlanta Braves. 

But the Mets were leading the charge for the NL Wild Card fighting off the Cincinnati Reds.

On this Saturday the Mets were in Los Angeles facing Davey Johnson's fourth place Dodgers (66-76). Johnson was the last Mets Manager to get the team to the post season 11 years earlier.

Bobby Valentine sent Masato Yoshii (10-8) to the mound against L.A.'s Ismael Valdez (9-13). 

In the 1st inning the Mets loaded the bases as Valdez walked Rickey Henderson, who would steal second & third bases, Mike Piazza & Robin Ventura. But they stranded all three runners. 

In the 3rd inning, John Olerud singled after Henderson was caught stealing second. Mike Piazza then lined a two run HR over the Dodger Stadium fence, making it 2-0 Mets. It was Piazza's 35th HR of the year & his 110th RBIs.

The Dodgers tied it with a run in the 3rd, as Eric Young Jr.'s grounder scored Adrian Beltre. Then in the 4th inning, former Met Todd Hundley homered to tie it.

In the 6th, Piazza singled for his second hit, Robin Ventura walked & Shawon Dunston singled to load the bases up. 

That was it for Valdez as Matt Herges came into pitch. Roger Cedeno & Rey Ordonez singled bringing in a pair of runs each, making a 6-2 Mets lead.

Piazza would single again in both the 7th & 9th innings. At this point he was batting .319 & a favorite for the MVP Award. Mike Piazza finished the 1999 Mets Wild Card season with career highs in HRs (40) & RBIs (124) batting .303 with 100 runs scored & a .361 on base %.

Masato Yoshi would pitch a solid seven innings allowing two runs on six hits. Pat Mahomes came in for two scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. The Mets now led the wild card race by 2.5 games.

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