3 best NY Mets pitching performances in NLCS history ranked

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It is no secret that the New York Mets path to success in the playoffs has been great pitching, the thing that has defined the franchise throughout its history. For a franchise that has been successful in October (when they got there), they have ridden big-time performances to the World Series. With the 2024 NLCS upon us, now is a good time to look back at some of the greatest pitching performances in the National League Championship Series in Mets history.

3. Tom Seaver in 1973 vs. the Cincinnati Reds

Following a miraculous finish to the 1973 regular season, which featured the Mets winning the NL East despite winning just 82 games, the team had a much taller task ahead of them in the NLCS... a date with the heavily favored Cincinnati Reds and the Big Red Machine.

Tom Seaver started Game 1 of that series in Cincinnati, and he pitched exceptionally well, striking out 13 batters and walking none. However, with the Mets leading 1-0 in the 8th, he gave up a game-tying homer to Pete Rose and then a walk-off blast to Johnny Bench in the next inning as the Mets fell 2-1. Still, 13 strikeouts, including at least one against every batter that faced him during the game and a lineup that featured three Hall of Famers and the all-time hits leader, all in the primes of their careers, was pretty impressive.

Then, with the pennant on the line, Seaver came back and pitched the fifth and deciding game at Shea Stadium (back when the LCS was a best-of-five series). And he delivered, giving up just two runs (one earned) in 8.1 superb innings in a 7-2 win that won the pennant for the Mets.

Overall, "The Franchise" went 1-1 with a 1.62 ERA in 16.2 innings with 17 strikeouts and five walks in the best postseason performance of his legendary career.

2. Dwight Gooden in 1986 vs. the Houston Astros

The big pitching legacy surrounding the intense 1986 NLCS against the Houston Astros was the fear of the Mets having to face Cy Young winner Mike Scott of the Houston Astros if the series went 7 games because the Mets had no clue how to beat him.

Lost in the shuffle, however, was Dwight Gooden's incredible performances in Games 1 and 5 of that series. In Game 1, Gooden was matched up against Mike Scott. Gooden gave up just one run in seven innings of play (a 2nd-inning home run to 1986 NL MVP runner-up Glenn Davis), while Scott pitched a shutout as the Astros won 1-0. But Gooden did everything he could to keep the Mets in that game in his postseason debut.

In Game 5, Gooden pitched 10 innings and gave up just one run (on a Bill Doran grounder the Mets weren't able to turn a double play on), in a game the Mets won on Gary Carter's walk-off single in the 12th inning.

If a Mets player were to win NLCS MVP (Mike Scott was named the MVP of the series because of how he impacted the game planning throughout the series), it would have been Doc Gooden. Gooden finished the 1986 NLCS with a 1-1 record and a 1.06 ERA in 17 innings pitched in two games.

1. Mike Hampton in 2000 vs. the St. Louis Cardinals

Mike Hampton was an essential piece for the Mets run to the pennant in 2000, and helped solve a problem that burned the 1999 team that fell two wins short of the World Series, which was the lack of another big game pitcher. As such, the Mets acquired Hampton from the Houston Astros in December 1999. Hampton went 15-10 with a 3.14 ERA and 142 ERA+ in 217.2 innings during the regular season, then he turned his level of play up in October.

He was simply dynamite in that year's NLCS against the surprising St. Louis Cardinals, where he tossed 16 scoreless innings in 2 games the Mets won.

In Game 1 at Busch Stadium, Hampton tossed seven scoreless innings in an outing in which he had to pitch into and out of trouble because he did not have his best stuff that night. The Cardinals had the bases loaded in the first inning and didn't score, and then had runners at first and second with one out in the seventh inning and Hampton got Edgar Renteria and Jim Edmonds to fly out to get out of trouble there. The Mets won that game 6-2.

Then, in Game 5 at Shea Stadium, Hampton pitched the game of his life, tossing a three-hit shutout to send the Mets to the World Series. He also walked just one batter while striking out eight batters, including Jim Edmonds three times. He became the first Mets player to win NLCS MVP thanks to his efforts.

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The 3 best Mets pitching performances in NLCS history ranked

3. Tom Seaver in 1973 vs. the Cincinnati Reds

2. Dwight Gooden in 1986 vs. the Houston Astros

1. Mike Hampton in 2000 vs. the St. Louis Cardinals

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