METS 5-RUN 9TH OVERCOMES BURRIS' STREAK
Cubs Starter Retires 23 Straight; CG for Matlack
CHICAGO, June 25 (AP) - The New York Mets got off the deck, scoring five runs in
the top of the ninth inning to defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7-2, at Wrigley
Field. Cubs starter Ray Burris had retired 23 consecutive batters before
the Mets opened the ninth inning with three straight hits to break a 2-2
tie. After each team scored two runs in the first inning, Mets starter Jon
Matlack and Burris matched zeroes until the New York offense exploded in the
final frame.
Mike Phillips led off the top of the first with a triple off the ivy in
right-center field and then scored on Felix Millan's soft grounder to
short. Jon Milner followed with a home run that landed halfway up the
right field bleachers and it appeared as though it might be a long day for
Burris. But the Mets didn't manage a third baserunner in the game until
the ninth inning.
Meanwhile, the Cubs quickly matched the Mets' first inning exploits in the home
half of the opening frame. Rick Monday led off with his ninth home run of
the year and, after Jose Cardenal grounded to short, Bill Madlock cracked his
eighth home run of the season to tie the game.
That was all the scoring until the faithful ninth. The Mets let Matlack
hit to lead off the ninth and he rewarded the decision by ending the long streak
of consecutive batters retired by looping a single to left-center field.
The 23 straight batters retired by Burris is the longest such string in a single
game in the major leagues this season. Phillips followed Matlack with an
infield hit, putting runners on first and second. Millan then worked the
count full before grounding a single to right, scoring Matlack with the go-ahead
run, with Phillips advancing to third and Millan to second on the throw to the
plate. Chicago manager Jim Marshall replaced Burris with Darold Knowles
but the Mets didn't quit at one run. Mike Vail pinch hit for Milner and
chopped one back to the mound, but Knowles took his eye off the ball and botched
the play. The error allowed Vail to reach and Phillips scored the second
run of the inning while Millan took third. The infield came in and Knowles
induced Dave Kingman to ground to short but Dave Rosello's throw to the plate
was too late to get Millan, who made it 5-2. Ed Kranepool attempted to
sacrifice the runners along but Knowles fielded the bunt and got the force at
third base for the first out. Del Unser then struck out for the second out
of the inning but Wayne Garrett made it 6-2 by lining a single to right, scoring
Kingman and chasing Kranepool to third. Jerry Grote capped the scoring
with a base hit to left-center. Kranepool scored on the play but the Cubs
cut off the throw to the plate and nailed Grote trying to advance to second,
finally ending the inning.
Matlack returned to the mound and closed out the game in style, striking out the
side to end the contest.
6/25/1976, NYN76-ChN76, Wrigley Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Mets 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7 7 1 1 0 1976 Cubs 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 1 6 0 Mets AB R H BI AVG Cubs AB R H BI AVG Phillips ss 4 2 2 0 .245 Monday cf 4 1 1 1 .292 Millan 2b 4 1 1 2 .249 Cardenal lf 4 0 0 0 .278 Milner lf 3 1 1 1 .249 Madlock 3b 4 1 2 1 .318 Vail ph 1 0 0 1 .375 Morales,Je rf 4 0 1 0 .272 Kingman rf 4 1 0 1 .221 Mitterwald 1b 4 0 0 0 .195 Brown,L lf 0 0 0 0 .125 Trillo 2b 4 0 2 0 .194 Kranepool 1b 4 1 0 0 .283 Swisher c 3 0 0 0 .242 Unser cf 4 0 0 0 .318 Adams,M ph 1 0 0 0 .120 Garrett,W 3b 4 0 1 1 .233 Rosello ss 3 0 0 0 .238 Grote c 4 0 1 1 .217 Burris p 3 0 0 0 .106 Matlack p 3 1 1 0 .216 Knowles p 0 0 0 0 .000 35 7 7 7 34 2 6 2 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Matlack W 7-4 9.0 6 2 2 1 6 114 83 2.81 9.0 6 2 2 1 6 114 83 Cubs INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Burris L 7-6 8.0 5 5 4 0 6 102 74 2.39 Knowles 1.0 2 2 0 0 1 22 18 4.44 9.0 7 7 4 0 7 124 92 NYN: Vail batted for Milner in the 9th Vail moved to rf in the 9th Brown,L inserted at lf in the 9th ChN: Adams,M batted for Swisher in the 9th E-Kingman, Knowles. 2B-Trillo(11). 3B-Phillips(2). HR-Milner(8), Monday(19), Madlock(7). RBI-Millan 2(25), Milner(26), Kingman(45), Garrett,W(15), Grote(20), Vail(3), Monday(41), Madlock(34). K-Kingman, Kranepool, Unser 2, Grote, Matlack 2, Cardenal, Mitterwald, Trillo, Rosello, Burris, Adams,M. BB-Rosello. GWRBI: Millan Temperature: 75, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 18 MPH. Attendance: 13,476 Game Time: 2:21