SEAVER 2-HITS GIANTS
7th Straight 'W' For Mets Ace
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24 (AP) - Tom Seaver fired a two-hit shutout and the New
York Mets raced past the San Francisco Giants 6-0 at Candlestick Park in front
of the smallest crowd to attend a major league game thus far this season.
It was the seventh consecutive win for Seaver who is now tied with Randy Jones
of the San Diego Padres atop the National League leader board with 18
victories. It was the third shutout this season for Seaver, all of them in
the last month.
The Mets took firm control of the game in the very first inning with three runs
off Giants starter Jim Barr. Bruce Boisclair drew a lead-off walk and
motored to third on a hit-and-run single off the bat of Felix Millan. John
Milner followed with a double to right-center field, scoring Boisclair with the
game's first run and advancing Millan to third. Ed Kranepool's sacrifice
fly to right plated Millan with the second run of the frame and moved Milner to
third. After Mike Vail's grounder to a drawn-in Marty Perez at second base
failed to get Milner home, Jerry Grote capped the inning's scoring with an
infield hit to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
Barr held New York at bay until the eighth when Boisclair and Millan again set
the Mets up to pad their advantage. Boisclair singled to open the inning
and Millan's double down the right field line put runners on second and third
with no outs. Lefty Gary Lavelle relieved Barr but immediately yielded a
run-scoring single to Milner, scoring Boisclair to make it 4-0 and leaving
runners on the corners. But Lavelle wiggled out of further difficulty.
Boisclair and Millan pulled one more tag team in the ninth as both laced RBI
singles to end the scoring.
Seaver, meanwhile, simply handcuffed the Giants. He retired the first six
batters he faced before yielding a lead-off single to Chris Speier in the
third. Speier made it as far as third base following ground outs off the
bats of Dave Rader and Barr but was stranded when Seaver retired Gary Thommasson
on a fly ball to left to end the inning.
That was the last San Francisco baserunner to make it past first base.
Bobby Murcer reached with two outs in the fourth when right fielder Vail
misplayed his fly ball, but Seaver retired Ken Reitz on a fielder's choice
grounder to end the frame. Darrell Evans drew a free pass to open the
fifth inning but Seaver retired the next three batters in order, two of them on
strikes. Gary Matthews' two-out single in the sixth amounted to nothing
when Murcer grounded out and Murcer's two-out walk in the ninth--was nothing
more than a footnote as Reitz rolled out to Millan at second to end the game.
Seaver is the third Mets starter to toss a two-hitter this year. Jerry
Koosman and Jon Matlack turned the trick on consecutive days against the
Philadelphia Phillies on July 30 and 31.
The seven-game winning streak by Seaver is the second longest by a National
League hurler this year. Don Sutton of the Los Angeles Dodgers won eight
straight games from May 11 to June 22. Wayne Garland of the Baltimore
Orioles holds the major league season high mark with nine consecutive wins from
mid-June to late July.
8/24/1976, NYN76-SF 76, Candlestick Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Mets 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 6 11 1 6 0 1976 Giants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 5 2 Mets AB R H BI AVG Giants AB R H BI AVG Boisclair cf 4 2 3 1 .261 Thomasson cf 4 0 0 0 .289 Millan 2b 5 1 3 1 .289 Perez,M 2b 4 0 0 0 .287 Milner lf 5 1 3 2 .266 Matthews lf 4 0 1 0 .264 Kranepool 1b 3 0 0 1 .282 Murcer rf 3 0 0 0 .236 Vail rf 4 0 0 0 .193 Reitz 3b 4 0 0 0 .299 Grote c 4 0 1 1 .227 Evans,D 1b 2 0 0 0 .223 Staiger 3b 4 0 0 0 .240 Speier ss 2 0 1 0 .222 Harrelson ss 4 1 1 0 .234 Arnold 2b 1 0 0 0 .212 Seaver p 3 1 0 0 .108 Lavelle p 0 0 0 0 .143 36 6 11 6 Rader,Da c 3 0 0 0 .211 Barr,J p 2 0 0 0 .131 LeMaster ss 1 0 0 0 .218 30 0 2 0 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Seaver W 18-7 9.0 2 0 0 2 5 110 73 2.56 9.0 2 0 0 2 5 110 73 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Barr,J L 11-13 7.0 7 4 4 1 1 88 54 3.92 Lavelle 2.0 4 2 2 1 0 26 18 2.11 9.0 11 6 6 2 1 114 72 SF : Perez,M moved to ss in the 6th Arnold inserted at 2b in the 6th Perez,M moved to 2b in the 8th LeMaster inserted at ss in the 8th E-Vail, Evans,D. 2B-Millan(24), Milner(13). RBI-Boisclair(27), Millan(49), Milner 2(47), Kranepool(41), Grote(30). SB-Boisclair(6). K-Staiger, Perez,M, Evans,D, Speier, Barr,J, LeMaster. BB-Boisclair, Seaver, Murcer, Evans,D. SF-Kranepool. GWRBI: Milner Chris Speier was ejected from this game Temperature: 82, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 15 MPH. Attendance: 4,271 Game Time: 2:13