Amazin’ Look Back – 9/21/1973: Mets Win, Vault Into First Place

Tonight at Shea Stadium, in front of 51,381 fans, the Mets clobbered the Pirates 10-3 to take over first place in the N.L. East.  With the win, the Mets reached the .500 mark with a record of 77-77 and took a half game lead in the division with a little over a week remaining in the season.

Jul 16, 2013; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets former player Tom Seaver before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the 2013 All Star Game at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

After Tom Seaver shut the Pirates down in the top of the first, the Mets erupted for four runs in the bottom half.  The damage was done by Cleon Jones and Jerry Grote, who both cracked two run doubles to give the Mets a 4-0 advantage.

The Pirates nicked Seaver in the second, plating two runs when Richie Zisk delivered an RBI triple and Milt May lifted a sacrifice fly.  That cut the Mets’ lead to 4-2.

The Mets added on in the third, plating two runs on a John Milner home run and a Bud Harrelson RBI single.

With Seaver cruising, the Mets were in complete control, but they added a run in the sixth and three more in the eighth to take a 10-2 lead.

Seaver shut down the Pirates in the ninth to secure the victory and vault the Mets into first place.

Here’s the box score and starting lineups from the game:

New York Mets

Pittsburgh Pirates

1.

, 3B

1.

, 2B

2.

, 2B2.

, CF

3.

, RF

3.

, 1B

4.

, 1B

4.

, LF

5.

, LF

5.

, 3B

6.

, CF

6.

, RF

7.

, C

7.

, C

8.

, SS

8.

, SS

9

.

, P

9

.

, P

Next Up:

The Mets open a two game set with the Cardinals tomorrow at Shea.

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