Remembering Mets History (1986) Doc Gooden Reaches 200 K's for Third Straight Season & Gary Carter Has Second Straight 100 RBI Season

 

Thursday October 2nd, 1986: Davey Johnson's The Mets (104-54) were winding down the regular season, fine tuning themselves up for the playoffs. Tonight's game had a few personal achievements at stake, as Dwight Gooden was trying to become the first pitcher in history to reach 200 strike outs in his first three seasons & Gary Carter was trying to become the first Met t drive in 100 runs in two straight seasons. 

The Mets were in Montreal playing the rubber game of a three game series against Buck Rogers fourth place Expos (77-80) at Stade Olympique in front of 10,726 fans. Expo legend Gary Carter still a popular figure in Quebec was greeted by the fans.

The starting pitcher for Montreal was Floyd Youmans.

Youmans Trivia: Youmans was a high school teammate of Dwight Gooden in Tampa. Floyd was a 1982 second round draft pick of the Mets, having been traded to Montreal along with Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald & Herm Winningham in exchange for Gary Carter prior to the 1985 season.

 In 1986 the hard throwing Youmans would strike out 202 batters but lead the NL in walks (118) going 13-12 with a 3.53 ERA. His career would be ruined by alcohol, drugs & injuries. In 1988 he admitted to using cocaine after being suspended indefinitely for not complying with MLB's drug policies

Earlier in the season Youmans had beaten Dwight Gooden the first time the two went head to head. In August Doc would win the next matchup.

In the top of the 1st Lenny Dykstra led off with a base hit then stole his team leading 31st stolen base of the year. With two outs Gary Carter singled driving in his 99th run of the season, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the1st, with one out & one on Dwight Gooden struck out Mitch Webster for his first K of the game & 294th of the season. Gooden would record strike outs in each of the next three innings as well getting him to 297 on the season.

In the bottom of the 3rd, after issuing a walk to Tom Foley who then stole second base, Andre Dawson singled bringing in the Expos first run. Dawson a future Hall of Famer would win the NL MVP the next season.

In the top of the 4th, Keith Hernandez doubled to right center field, it was his 34th double of the season which would lead the Mets team that season. It also marked the third straight season he hit 30 plus doubles as a Mets player & the eighth time in his career. 

After Gary Carter flew out, Darryl Strawberry hit a two run HR giving New York a 3-1 lead while driving in his 86th & 87th RBIs of the season. It was Straw's 26th HR of the season, he would finish up with 27 leading the the club in that category.

In the bottom of the 4th, Gooden walked Luis Rivera & Randy Hunt collected a base hit putting two men on with the pitcher coming up. Floyd Youmans grounded to Ray Knight who forced the runner at second as Luis Rivera scored making it 3-2. Youmans would drive in seven runs on the season.

In the bottom of the 6th, George Wright singled then was picked off first by Gooden. Doc ended the inning by striking out Randy Hunt for his fifth strikeout of the night & 198th of the year.

In the top of the 7th, Straw led off with a walk then stole his 27th base of the season. Mookie Wilson then dropped a hit into left field & reached second with a double as Strawberry scored the Mets fourth run. Ray Knight singled as Mookie reached third but was unable to score. Rafael Santana grounded into a double play but Mookie scored making it 5-2.

In the bottom of the 7th, Gooden struck out Mitch Webster giving him 199 strike outs on the year.

In the top of the 8th, with Floyd Youmans still on the mound, Lenny Dykstra led off with a walk. Keith Hernandez singled putting two men on for Gary Carter. The Kid homered to left field, giving New York the commanding 8-2 lead. For Carter it was his 24th HR of the season & three RBIs got him to 102 on the season. 

Mets/Carter RBI Trivia: Gary Carter became the first Mets player in franchise history to drive in 100 runs in back to back seasons. He would finish with a team leading 105 RBIs & had driven in 100 runs even the previous year. Personally, Carter had three straight seasons (dating back to 1984 when he led the NL with 106 while playing in Montreal) where he had driven in 100 or more runs. This would be thee last year he drove in as many runs & his career he had four 100 plus RBI seasons.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Dwight Gooden was looking for another strike out to make history going in the record books with another milestone. First Andre Dawson flew out to center, then Andres Galarraga grounded to short for the second out. After issuing a walk to George Wright, Gooden caught Luis Rivera looking a third strike.

Record Breaking K: With Gooden striking out Rivera he now had reached 200 strike outs on the season, becoming the first pitcher to record 200 or more strike outs in his first three seasons. In 1984 Doc led the league with 276 Ks then followed up in his 1985 Cy Young Award season striking out 268 as he won the Triple Crown of pitching also leading in wins (24) & ERA (1.53).

In the top of the 9th, Floyd Youmans still in the game after giving up eight runs on eight hits struck out the side, fanning Ray Knight to start the inning for his 200th K of the season matching Gooden.

Rick Anderson finished off the game for the Mets with a scoreless ninth. In 15 appearances rookie Rick Anderson was 2-1 with a 2.72 ERA. In March of 1987 he was traded to Kansas City along with Ed Hearn & Mauro Gozzo for David Cone.

This was Doc Gooden's final start of the regular season as he finished up 17-6 with 200 Ks a 2.34 ERA, two shut outs, 12 complete games in 250 innings pitched in 33 starts.

Mets Trivia: Already having established a franchise record in wins, the Mets would finish with 108 victories & end the season on a five game win streak, the ninth time on the year they had won at least five straight.