RetroSimba

(Updated on Dec. 31, 2017)

Needing to win one of three games against the Mets to block them from taking a share of first place in the National League East, the Cardinals finally achieved the goal in the finale of an intense October series at St. Louis.

On Oct. 1, 1985, the Mets trailed the first-place Cardinals by three games entering a weeknight series at Busch Stadium.

With the tension building after Mets wins in each of the first two games, the Cardinals got a one-run victory and held on to first place alone.

Here is a look at that critical Mets-Cardinals series:

Game 1

The Oct. 1 game was scoreless through 10 innings. John Tudor, the Cardinals’ starter, pitched 10 shutout innings. Mets starter Ron Darling went nine innings and Jesse Orosco pitched the 10th.

In the 11th, Ken Dayley relieved Tudor and struck out the first two batters, Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter.

Darryl Strawberry batted next.

With the count 1-and-1, Dayley delivered a breaking pitch. Strawberry hit a towering drive that slammed into the scoreboard clock for a home run.

“Darryl then may have made the slowest trot around the bases I ever saw,” Mets center fielder Mookie Wilson said in his book “Mookie.”

“He hit a curveball _ a hanging curveball,” Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog told Larry Harnly of The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill. Video

In the Cardinals’ half of the 11th, Orosco struck out Willie McGee. The next batter, Tommy Herr, lofted a fly ball to shallow center. Wilson got a late jump and attempted a basket catch, but dropped the ball for a two-base error.

Brian Harper, pinch-hitting for Darrell Porter, grounded out to second, advancing Herr to third with two outs.

Orosco ended the drama by getting Ivan De Jesus, pinch-hitting for Andy Van Slyke, to fly out to Wilson, giving the Mets a 1-0 victory.

“Tell me,” Mets manager Davey Johnson asked reporters in discussing the Strawberry home run, “is the clock still working?” Boxscore

Game 2

The pressure still was on the Mets, who trailed the Cardinals by two with five games remaining on Oct. 2.

The Mets responded to the challenge.

Starter Dwight Gooden went the distance. He allowed nine hits and issued four walks, but he struck out 10 and the Cardinals stranded 10.

The Mets scored five runs off Cardinals starter Joaquin Andujar and won, 5-2, slicing the St. Louis lead to one with four games to play.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Cardinals nearly rallied. Trailing 5-1, they scored a run and loaded the bases with two outs against Gooden.

“I knew he was tired and I knew it was draining him,” Johnson said. “At the same time, I thought Gooden was our best bet. He bends a little, but he doesn’t break.”

The move nearly backfired.

Herr laced a line drive that was caught by second baseman Wally Backman, ending the game. Video

“When Herr first hit the ball, I thought it was going to be over Wally’s head,” Gooden said. “It was panic time.” Boxscore

Game 3

After the Mets won Game 2 of the series, Johnson said, “We’ve done what we had to do so far. We’ve got two-thirds of the job done. The pressure is on them now.”

If the Mets won the Oct. 3 series finale, they’d be tied with the Cardinals and would have the momentum.

Instead, the Cardinals won, 4-3. Vince Coleman was 3-for-4 with two RBI. Ozzie Smith contributed two hits, two runs and a RBI. Starter Danny Cox held the Mets to two runs in six innings and the bullpen, especially Ricky Horton and Jeff Lahti, preserved the lead.

Horton retired the last two batters of the eighth and the first two batters of the ninth before Hernandez singled, representing the tying run. It was Hernandez’s fifth hit of the game.

“He broke his bat on the hit,” Horton said. “It was a fastball down and in. He makes a living on hitting good pitches.”

Lahti relieved and faced Carter. “We figured Carter might be looking for a slider,” Lahti said. “I asked (catcher) Darrell Porter what he wanted and he wanted a fastball. I go along with his suggestions.”

Lahti’s first pitch was a fastball away. Carter swung and drove a fly ball to right. Said Lahti: “When Carter hit it, I was screaming, ‘Catch it. Catch it.’ He’s beaten me to right field before.”

The ball carried to Van Slyke, who made the catch, ending the game and giving the first-place Cardinals a two-game lead with three to play. Boxscore

“It ended a series that was the greatest I had ever been a part of,” said Mookie Wilson. “Considering the magnitude and importance of each game and how each of the three came down to the final at-bat, it was like two gladiators fighting with the ultimate will to win.”

In the San Diego Union-Tribune, Herr said of the Mets: “They’re like the bowler who needed three strikes in the 10th (frame) to win. They got the first two, but they left the 10-pin standing on the third.”

On Oct. 4, the Cardinals beat the Cubs (Bob Forsch over Dennis Eckersley) and the Mets defeated the Expos, leaving St. Louis two ahead with two to play.

The Cardinals clinched on Oct. 5, beating the Cubs Boxscore while the Mets lost to the Expos.

Previously: Cesar Cedeno and his amazing month with Cardinals

Bob Gibson capped one of his best seasons as a hitter by slugging a grand slam against a fellow future Hall of Famer.

On Sept. 29, 1965, Gibson hit his first career grand slam. It came against Gaylord Perry at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, lifting the Cardinals to a victory that severely damaged the National League pennant hopes of the Giants.

The home run was the fifth of the season for Gibson, who batted .240 with 19 RBI in 1965. The year before, when the Cardinals won the pennant and World Series crown, Gibson batted .156 with no home runs.

In his book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “I was pleased that my stroke had returned after an off year in 1964.”

During his Cardinals career, Gibson hit 26 home runs _ 24 in the regular reason and two in the World Series. Each came against a different pitcher. Perry was the only one who, like Gibson, would be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Doing it all

The Giants entered their Wednesday afternoon game against the Cardinals in second place, a game behind the Dodgers, with five remaining.

It was their misfortune to be matched against Gibson. He dominated the Giants for eight innings that day with his pitching and hitting.

Gibson singled twice and scored the Cardinals’ first two runs.

In the eighth, with the Cardinals ahead, 4-0, runners on second and third and one out, Perry relieved starter Bob Shaw.

With Gibson on deck, Giants manager Herman Franks instructed Perry to issue an intentional walk to Bob Skinner, pinch-hitting for Julian Javier.

Perry, 27, hadn’t yet mastered the spitball that would transform him into an ace.

The first pitch from Perry to Gibson was a strike. The next was a high slider and Gibson lined it over the fence in left-center, giving the Cardinals an 8-0 lead.

“I’m not going to find fault with my pitchers at this late stage,” Franks said to the Associated Press. “Maybe they haven’t been going so well lately, but they’ve been good all year. I’ve got no complaints.”

Unhappy exit

Gibson took a two-hit shutout into the ninth.

Seeing their pennant chances slipping away, the Giants rallied for five runs off Gibson on three singles, a walk and Jim Davenport’s three-run home run.

With one out and the bases empty, rookie pinch-hitter Bob Schroder was sent by Franks to face Gibson. The first pitch to the left-handed batter was a ball.

Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst decided to make a pitching change, bringing in left-hander Curt Simmons. Gibson was “seething” as he walked off the mound, the Oakland Tribune reported.

Simmons retired the first batter he faced, Bob Barton, who had replaced Schroder, for the second out of the inning.

The Giants, though, weren’t done. Cap Peterson reached second on an error by shortstop Dick Groat and scored on Jesus Alou’s single, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 8-6.

That brought Willie Mays to the plate, representing the potential tying run.

High drama

Schoendienst removed Simmons and brought in the closer, Hal Woodeshick, a left-hander. Schoendienst told him to throw only fastballs at Mays’ fists. Explained Gibson: “He’d murder the ball if he could straighten his arms.”

Mays turned on one of the inside deliveries and bounced a single off the glove of third baseman Ken Boyer.

With Alou on second and Mays on first, slugger Willie McCovey was up next. A double likely would bring home both runners, tying the score. A home run would give the Giants a victory after being eight runs down entering the ninth.

The tension built with each pitch. McCovey slashed one long, but foul.

With the count 3-and-2, Woodeshick threw a curve. It broke down and away from the left-handed batter.

“The pitch was bad,” said Woodeshick. “I thought it was ball four.”

Said McCovey: “Everybody in the park could see it was a ball. I knew it, too _ too late.”

McCovey swung and missed.

“When you’re tensed up and excited like those guys are, that kind of thing happens,” Woodeshick said.

The Giants’ loss combined with a Dodgers victory over the Reds dropped San Francisco two behind with four to play. The Dodgers would go on to win the pennant. Boxscore