Remembering Mets History (1984) Ron Darling Wins Seven Straight Starts

Ron Darling debuted with the Mets as a September call up in 1983.  He went 1-3 with a 2.80 ERA, showing signs that he would be a key part of the rotation for years to come. In his 1984 rookie season, he won his first game & by the end of May was 3-3 with a 4.61 ERA due to a couple of bad starts. 

By this time, the Mets started showing that they were a good team with many good young players as well as having a few veterans mixed in as well. Ron Darling always pitched in the shadows f phenom Dwight Gooden who broke all the record & his strike outs electrified a once dark Shea Stadium. But Darling was very important to the Mets success & would have been a number one pitcher on most other teams.

Trivia: At this point in time Darling was wearing uniform #44 before his familiar #12.

Monday June 4th, 1984: Ron Darling went up against the Pirates Don Robinson at Three Rivers Stadium. In the top of the 1st, Darryl Strawberry helped Darling with a two-run HR to start the Mets scoring. 

In the top of the 3rd, Darling led off with a base hit, Wally Backman followed with another base hit. After Keith Hernandez reached on an error, Strawberry singled to left field, Darling scored the third run but Backman was thrown out at third base by former Met Lee Mazzilli. In the 5th, Darryl Strawberry walked reaching base for the third time of the game, Hubie Brooks base hit brought him in for the fourth Mets run.

Darling held the Pirates scoreless for the first four innings. In the 5th RBI singles from Lee Mazzilli & Bill Madlock made it 4-2. Darling held the Pirates there, exiting after six innings with Doug Sisk & Jesse Orosco finishing off the win.

The Mets went on a six-game win streak, getting them to within a half game of the first place Cubs. The win streak proved the Mets were for real & a force to be reckoned with in the NL, something that would last for seven straight seasons.

Saturday June 9th: Darling got the start in the first game of a double header in Montreal. In the 2nd, Gary Carter hit a HR off Darling for the first Expo run. He would allow just one more run, an RBI hit to Terry Francona in the 5th inning.

George Foster hit his 10th HR of the season & had a three hit, multi-three RBI game leading to the 5-3 Mets win. In the 4th, Keith Hernandez & Darryl Strawberry led off with walks & Foster's two run double brought them both in. Jose Oquendo brought in Straw & in the 8th Mookie Wilson added a solo HR.

The win got Ron Darling to 5-3 as the Mets win streak reached five games. They swept the double header, but the win streak ended the next night as the Expos beat Walt Terrell 3-2.

Thursday June 14th, 1984: It was always a big game for Keith Hernandez when he went up against his old Cardinal teammates & his former manager Whitey Herzog. Herzog had commented on Keith's lack of hustle & alleged drug use. Keith changed his ways in New York & was the main player in their 1980's success. At this point the Mets Cardinal rivalry was in it's infancy. Keith collected two hits in the game with a two run double breaking the 6th inning scoreless tie.

Darling would go to throw his first career shutout, a six-hit win where he struck out five & walked two, getting to 6-3 on the season lowering his ERA to 3.66. 

In the Mets six run 6th inning, Hubie Brooks & Jose Oquendo added two run doubles as they sent 11 men to the plate, collected five hits & drew three walks to complete the 6-0 victory.

Wednesday June 20th, 1984: Darling made his first start at Shea Stadium in almost a month, facing off against the Phillies & veteran Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. This was Carlton's 13th season in Philadelphia, as he would win 13 games having won double figures dating back to his Cardinal days in 1967.

This was not Darlings best effort, allowing four runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings, but Steve Carlton had a worse day, giving up seven runs, including a three-run HR to Darryl Strawberry & a two run shot to Mookie Wilson. Keith Hernandez collected two more hits with an RBI getting his average to .293. Geroge Foster added an RBI hit as well for his team leading 32.

Monday June 25th, 1985: The Mets moved on to Philadelphia, with Ron Darling riding his personal four game win streak. Tonight, he went up against Charlie Hudson.

In the top of the 2nd, with two outs & Mike Fitzgerald on second, Darling drove a base hit to left field scoring Fitz with the first Met run. In the top of the 4th, Darling led off with his first double of the year as he had his first multi-hit game. 

Wally Backman then drew a walk & Keith Hernandez hit a three-run run HR. Keith had another muti-hit game driving in three runs, passing Foster for the team RBI lead & was now batting .307.

George Foster drove in two more runs to keep pace with Keith, Ron Gardenhire drove in a pair & Mike Fitzgerald added another.

Ronnie got the win for his fifth straight victory, getting to 8-3. He gave up five runs on ten hits & struck out six.

Sunday July 1st, 1984: On this Sunday afternoon, the Mets had come into the game on a four-game losing streak, two games out of first place. Darling who had started the last game the Mets won six days ago, went up against the Braves Rick Mahler. 

Darling had his best outing since the June 14th shut out, as he held the Braves scoreless thru seven innings. He gave up just two hits, a double to Chris Chambliss in the 2nd & a single to Ken Oberkfell in the 6th.

Rick Mahler kept the Mets down until the bottom of the 7th, when a single & pair of walks led to Darryl Strawberry's two run single. It was all Darling needed, although Jesse Orosco gave up a run in the 8th, the Mets went on to the 2-1 win. Darling reached his sixth straight win, getting to 9-3 on the season.

Monday July 6th, 1984: In the first game of this double header at Riverfront Stadium, Ron Darling went up against the Reds Jeff Russell. It was a classic pitcher's duel with Darling earning the 1-0 win. Darling threw his second complete game shutout, allowing just four hits while reaching double digits in victories while winning his seventh straight start.

The lone run came in the 6th inning when Hubie Brooks hit his tenth HR of the season. Brooks was also leading the club in batting at .312 just ahead of Keith Hernandez.

The Mets went on a season best eight game win streak but an eight-game losing streak at the end of the month set them back & hurt them in chasing the First place Cubs.

Ron Darling had a fine rookie year, coming in fifth for the Rookie of the Year voting behind teammate Dwight Gooden. In the shadows of Gooden, Darling went 12-9 with a 2.90 ERA. He struck out 136 batters & walked 104 in 205 innings in 33 starts.