GIANTS STAY IN HUNT, TAKE 3 OF 4 FROM METS

9/8 – 9/9 – Candlestick Park
GAME 1 – Giants 9 , Mets 4

Offense was expected to be at a premium as the low-scoring Giants challenged the Mets vaunted pitching trio of Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack and Jerry Koosman. Right-hander Randy Tate wasn't considered among that list of elites but the Mets' No. 4 starter did enter the series opener sporting a nifty 2.70 ERA. So it didn't look too keen for the G-Men after John Milner belted a two-run HR in the sixth, staking the Metropolitans to a 4-1 lead. But the Giants finally got to Tate in the bottom half of the sixth, chasing the 22-year-old with four hits and a walk to tie the game. Then the Mets bullpen imploded as SF rocked reliever Rick Baldwin for four hits and 5 runs in just 2/3 of an inning to put the game on ice. Chris Speier was the catalyst for San Francisco, delivering three hits and three RBIs in the game. Jim Barr (2-1) survived a shaky start to pick up the victory. Gary Lavelle provided stellar relief, retiring all six batters he faced, four on strikeouts. San Francisco's nine-run outburst was the most allowed by New York's pitching staff this season.

GAME 2 – Giants 3, Mets 1          

OK. This one was more like it. Tom "Terrific" Seaver baffling opposing batters and the NY offense manufacturing a run. There's your lead Tommy. Hold it!  And Seaver pretty much did. Until the fifth inning, when a walk, error and Dave Rader’s improbable three-run HR lifted SF to a 3-1 lead. Rader even seemed dismayed himself, shaking his head in disbelief repeatedly as he rounded the bases. Meanwhile, Giants starter Pete Falcone was pretty terrific himself, holding NY to just a balk-aided run in the fourth. The hard-throwing lefty left after seven innings, yielding just the run and four hits while fanning seven. Seaver went the distance, keeping SF scoreless the rest of the way, though the California native did have to work out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth. Giant relievers Dave Heaverlo and Randy Moffitt blanked NY over the final two innings as SF halted Seaver's four-game winning streak.

9/10 – Doubleheader -- Shea Stadium
GAME 3 – Mets 2, Giants 1 (10 innings)
Would a change of venue bring a change of fortune for the struggling Mets? Or would it be déjà vu all over again for San Francisco starter Ed Halicki, who on August 24, 1975 hurled a no-hitter against these same New York Mets? The answers were yes and...almost.  For a while at least, it must have seemed like 1975 once again for Halicki, who retired the first 12 batters and entered the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead. But then Dave Kingman - a .144 hitter of all people - rifled a single past diving shortstop Chris Speier for the Mets' first hit. Consecutive singles by Del Unser and Jerry Grote plated a run to tie the game before Halicki induced an inning-ending DP from Ed Kranepool. Halicki allowed two more singles before leaving after 8 innings with the score still tied 1-1. That's because his counterpart, Mets lefty Jon Matlack, was just as dominating on the mound. After yielding a run on Speier's sacrifice fly in the third, Matlack kept the Giants off the scoreboard until leaving for pinch hitter in the eighth. The game remained deadlocked at 1-1 until NY settled it with a run in the 10th, compliments of Unser's double and three walks from reliever Charlie Williams.   

GAME 4– Giants 5, Mets 2 (10 innings)
The finale was a matchup of two lefties that appeared to favor the Mets and southpaw Jerry Koosman, who had a 2.37 ERA before being belted around by San Diego last week. San Francisco countered with sinkerball specialist Mike Caldwell, who would probably have given his left arm for Koosman's ERA. Caldwell entered the nightcap with a 6.52 ERA, having yet to make it out of the sixth inning this season. Surprisingly, Caldwell and Koosman dueled to a 1-1 standoff until the sixth inning, when Joe Torre broke the tie with a two-out double to left. That chased Caldwell and Jerry Grote greeted reliever Dave Heaverlo with a single to center. Torre raced around third with a much-needed insurance run but was gunned down at home by San Francisco's Von Joshua.  Koosman pitched well (8.2, 9K, 2 ER) but was once again victimized by the longball. He surrendered home runs to Derrell Thomas Thomas in the third and a game-tying shot to Chris Speier in the eighth. That gave the 32-year-old veteran 12 gopher balls in 52 innings, worst among KOD starters. The Giants won the game in the 10th. After Steve Ontiveros drew a leadoff walk and was balked to second, Speier doubled and Bobby Murcer and Willie Montanez ripped RBI singles off losing pitcher Bob Apodaca. Randy Moffitt set the Mets down 1-2-3 in the tenth and sent SF home with a split of its twinbill.

--Submitted by Ron Leone--