Amazin’ Look Back, September 2, 1973: Cards Soar Past Mets Late

The division-leading Cardinals scored three runs each in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to salvage a split with the suddenly-steamy Mets, 7-4. Eddie Fisher was on the winning side for the host Redbirds, while Buzz Capra took the loss for the visiting New Yorkers, and Diego Segui earned his 16^th save of the year.

May 17, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals mascot Fredbird pumps up the crowd during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. St. Louis defeated Milwaukee 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis got on the board early as Ted Simmons singled in Lou Brock off the Mets’ Jon Matlack in the first. Matlack and Rick Wise then settled in for a pitchers’ duel that lasted until the fifth inning. Wayne Garrett led off with a walk in the top of the frame, and light-hitting Felix Millan went yard for his third home run of 1973. The offense didn’t stop there for the Good Guys, as Rusty Staub cracked a one-out single, went to second on Wise’s wild pitch, then came home on Jerry Grote’s two-out triple. Don Hahn’s single immediately brought home Grote, chased Wise, and gave the Mets a 4-1 lead as they looked to steal a series from the Cards at Busch Stadium.

Fate was to be unkind to the Mets in the sixth and seventh, however, as Matlack served up a solo home run to Ken Reitz, then surrendered two more singles and was relieved by Buzz Capra. After nearly getting out of it, Tim McCarver tied the score with a two-run single. The story was more of the same in the next frame, as Mike Tyson and Ted Sizemore got to Capra for singles that combined to drive in three runs, and all of a sudden what had been a 4-1 Mets lead was a 7-4 Redbird romp. New York couldn’t muster the offense in the eighth and ninth against the veteran Segui and had to settle for a 2-2 split against their NL East rivals.

The starting lineups for the Sunday afternoon affair consisted of:

New York Mets

St.Louis Cardinals

3B1

LF2

2B2

2B3

LF3

1B4

RF4

1B5

CF6

3B7

CF7

RF8

SS8

SS9

The result was a disappointing end to what turned out to be a very good week for the Amazin’s, who went 5-2 and pulled within 5.5 games of first place in the desperately weak Eastern Division. The Mets look to make up more ground this week as they return home to host the Philadelphia Phillies in tomorrow’s Labor Day doubleheader.

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