MILLAN'S 6-HIT EFFORT FEATURED IN METS' ROUT
N.Y. Sets Season Club Marks in Runs and Hits

ATLANTA, July 11 (AP) – Felix Millan became the first major league player to amass six hits in a single game this year and the New York Mets went on to pound the Atlanta Braves, 15-4, at Fulton County Stadium.  The 15 runs represented a new season high for the Mets, who also set a new mark for hits in a single game with 20 and tied a high water mark for the year with four home runs.  New York closed out the first half of the season in style as five different players accrued multiple hits.

Millan, of course, set the tone, going 6-for-6, including a pair of doubles, scoring three runs and driving in two.  Bruce Boisclair, John Milner, Dave Kingman and Wayne Garrett all homered for the Mets.

New York took firm command of the game with a six-run second inning, driving Braves starter Dick Ruthven (6-9) from the hill in the process.  Bud Harrelson’s sacrifice fly and Boiclair’s two-run single gave the Mets a 3-0 lead but it was Milner’s long home run to right field—a two-out, three-run shot—that supplied the coup de grace. 

If there was any doubt about the outcome of the game the Mets put an end to it with a three-run sixth.  Boisclair’s bases loaded sacrifice fly was followed immediately by Millan’s two-run double to give New York a 9-0 advantage and a stranglehold on the contest.

Dave May’s pinch hit two-run homer off Mets starter Jon Matlack (9-4) in the bottom of the fifth put the Braves on the board but New York immediately got the runs back on Garrett’s two-run shot in the top of the sixth.  The Mets added a run on Ed Kranepool’s sacrifice fly in the eighth and then poured it on in the ninth with three more tallies.  Boisclair’s solo home run came first and Kingman capped the New York scoring with his league-leading 26th long ball of the year, a two-run bomb, off Mike Marshall.

Biff Pocoroba and May contributed consolation scoring for Atlanta in the ninth but it was just a delay of the inevitable. 

15 major league players had accumulated five hits in a single game—13 of them in a nine-inning contest—this season prior to Millan’s six-hit outburst against the Braves.  Millan is the first Mets player to surpass four hits in a single game this year.

7/11/1976, NYN76-Atl76, Fulton County Stadium
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1976 Mets              0  6  0  0  3  2  1  0  3    15 20  0    10  2
1976 Braves            0  0  0  0  2  0  0  0  2     4 10  1     7  1
 
Mets                 AB  R  H BI   AVG    Braves               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Boisclair         cf  5  2  2  4  .262    Royster           3b  5  0  1  0  .278
Millan            2b  6  3  6  2  .277    Gilbreath         2b  5  0  0  0  .270
Milner            lf  5  1  1  3  .255    Wynn              cf  4  0  0  0  .192
 Brown,L          ph  1  0  0  0  .111    Montanez          1b  2  0  1  0  .311
Kingman           rf  6  1  3  2  .225     LaCorte          p   0  0  0  0  .167
Kranepool         1b  4  2  1  1  .287     Gaston           ph  1  0  1  0  .471
Garrett,W         3b  5  3  3  2  .234    Paciorek          lf  4  0  1  0  .324
Hodges            c   5  2  2  0  .281    Henderson,K       rf  2  0  0  0  .253
Harrelson         ss  3  1  1  1  .227     Marshall         p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Seaver           p   0  0  0  0  .163     Beard            p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Myrick           p   0  0  0  0  .000     Chaney           ph  1  1  1  0  .271
Matlack           p   2  0  1  0  .233    Pocoroba          c   4  2  2  1  .241
 Torre            ph  1  0  0  0  .337    Robinson,C        ss  4  0  1  0  .182
                     43 15 20 15          Ruthven           p   0  0  0  0  .237
                                           Dal Canton       p   1  0  0  0  .500
                                           May,D            lf  2  1  2  3  .231
                                                               35  4 10  4
 
Mets                             INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Matlack          W 9-4           7.0  6  2  2  1  5  86  54  2.69
Seaver                           1.0  3  2  2  1  0  25  12  2.83
Myrick                           1.0  1  0  0  0  0  12   7  8.64
                                 9.0 10  4  4  2  5 123  73
 
Braves                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Ruthven          L 6-9           1.2  8  6  6  0  1  43  30  4.46
Dal Canton                       3.0  3  3  3  3  1  61  32  4.99
LaCorte                          1.1  3  2  2  0  2  26  15  3.94
Marshall                         2.1  5  4  4  1  1  44  26  3.99
Beard                            0.2  1  0  0  0  0  13   7  1.65
                                 9.0 20 15 15  4  5 187 110
 
NYN: Torre batted for Matlack in the 8th
     Garrett,W moved to ss in the 8th
     Torre moved to 3b in the 8th
     Brown,L batted for Milner in the 9th
     Boisclair moved to lf in the 9th
     Brown,L moved to cf in the 9th
Atl: Paciorek moved to 1b in the 5th
     May,D inserted at lf in the 5th
     Gaston batted for LaCorte in the 6th
     Gaston moved to lf in the 7th
     May,D moved to rf in the 7th
     Chaney batted for Beard in the 9th
 
E-Royster. 2B-Millan 2(17), Kingman(6), Pocoroba(8), Chaney(17).
HR-Boisclair(3), Milner(11), Kingman(26), Garrett,W(5), May,D(4).
RBI-Boisclair 4(20), Millan 2(30), Milner 3(35), Kingman 2(56),
Kranepool(32), Garrett,W 2(20), Harrelson(22), Pocoroba(12), May,D 3(19).
K-Boisclair, Kingman 2, Matlack, Brown,L, Royster, Gilbreath, Montanez,
Robinson,C, Dal Canton. BB-Garrett,W, Hodges, Harrelson, Matlack,
Henderson,K, Gaston. SH-Matlack. SF-Boisclair, Kranepool, Harrelson.
HBP-Kranepool, May,D. HB-Matlack, LaCorte. WP-Matlack, Seaver.
GWRBI: Harrelson
Temperature: 90, Sky: cloudy, Wind: none.
Attendance: 10,264
Game Time: 3:08