SEAVER CONTINUES CY YOUNG PUSH WITH 2ND STRAIGHT SHUTOUT
Kingman Hits 4th HR in Last 2 Games
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (AP) - Tom Seaver put his name deeper into the conversation
surrounding the National League Cy Young Award by firing his second straight
shutout as the New York Mets defeated the Chicago Cubs 3-0 at Shea
Stadium. Seaver followed a 3-hit complete game shutout of the Pittsburgh
Pirates on September 18 with a 2-hit whitewash of the Cubs, improving his record
to 21-8 and lowering his earned run average to 2.42--it's lowest mark since
early May. It was the 10th win in the last 11 decisions for Seaver who has
tossed all five of his shutouts this season over the course of the last two
months. The five shutouts have Seaver in a bottleneck along with five
other NL hurlers, one behind leader Don Sutton of the Dodgers. The 21
victories ties Seaver with Steve Carlton of the Phillies and Randy Jones of the
Padres for the NL lead.
Cubs starter Ray Burris matched Seaver for four innings, but in the bottom of
the fifth the Mets scored the only run they would need. After Burris
struck out Bruce Boisclair to open the frame, John Stearns laced a double to
right-center and Roy Staiger followed with a two-bagger of his own into the
left-field corner to give New York a 1-0 advantage.
The Mets picked up an insurance run in the seventh when Dave Kingman belted the
first pitch he saw from reliever Mike Garman into the stands wrapping around the
left field foul pole for his 33rd home run of the season. It was the
fourth home run in the last two contests for Kingman who hammered three long
balls and drove in six runs in New York's bludgeoning of Montreal on September
22 at Jarry Park.
In the eighth, the Mets capped the scoring. Pinch hitter Joe Torre led off
with a double, yielded by Chicago reliever Joe Coleman, and was replaced by
pinch runner Leo Foster. Seaver dropped down a perfect sacrifice, moving
Foster to third, and then Coleman uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Foster to trot
home to put New York on top 3-0.
Seaver was in full command throughout. He issued a pair of first inning
walks--to lead-off hitter Rick Monday and, one out later, Larry Biittner--but
pitched around them. Seaver then set down 19 consecutive batters, taking a
no-hitter into the seventh inning. It was by far the deepest into a game
that Seaver had held an opponent without a hit this season. (He had previously
failed to reach the fourth inning with a hitless game intact.) The run
toward immortality came to an end with Manny Trillo's two-out seventh inning
single. Seaver shrugged it off, retiring the side on Rob Sperring's weak
grounder to first.
Biittner's two-out double in the top of the ninth was the second--and
final--safety of the game amassed by the Cubs; Seaver closed out the contest by
retiring Jerry Morales on a routine grounder to Staiger at third. Seaver
finished the game with twice as many strikeouts (8) as hits and walks combined
(4).
Since dropping a contest to the Houston Astros on July 17, Seaver has compiled a
record of 10-1 with a 1.45 ERA, allowing 74 hits (just two home runs) in 105 1/3
innings pitched, with 24 walks and 72 strikeouts. In the 13-start span,
the Mets right-hander has completed six games with five shutouts.
9/24/1976, ChN76-NYN76, Shea Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Cubs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 1 1976 Mets 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 x 3 6 0 2 0 Cubs AB R H BI AVG Mets AB R H BI AVG Monday 1b 3 0 0 0 .287 Mazzilli cf 4 0 0 0 .255 LaCock lf 4 0 0 0 .248 Millan 2b 4 0 1 0 .299 Biittner rf 3 0 1 0 .260 Kranepool 1b 3 0 0 0 .267 Morales,Je cf 4 0 0 0 .262 Kingman rf 3 1 1 1 .224 Trillo 2b 3 0 1 0 .226 Boisclair lf 3 0 0 0 .258 Sperring 3b 3 0 0 0 .321 Stearns c 3 1 2 0 .305 Mitterwald c 3 0 0 0 .179 Staiger 3b 3 0 1 1 .215 Kelleher ss 2 0 0 0 .206 Harrelson ss 2 0 0 0 .227 Tyrone ph 1 0 0 0 .176 Torre ph 1 0 1 0 .325 Burris p 2 0 0 0 .122 Foster,L pr 0 1 0 0 .204 Garman p 0 0 0 0 .000 Seaver p 2 0 0 0 .115 Wallis ph 1 0 0 0 .243 28 3 6 2 Coleman p 0 0 0 0 .182 29 0 2 0 Cubs INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Burris L 15-12 6.0 4 1 1 0 2 66 48 2.94 Garman 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 13 9 5.86 Coleman 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 13 7 5.18 8.0 6 3 3 0 4 92 64 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Seaver W 21-8 9.0 2 0 0 2 8 107 67 2.42 9.0 2 0 0 2 8 107 67 ChN: Tyrone batted for Kelleher in the 8th Wallis batted for Garman in the 8th Trillo moved to ss in the 8th Sperring moved to 2b in the 8th Tyrone moved to 3b in the 8th NYN: Torre batted for Harrelson in the 8th Foster,L ran for Torre in the 8th Foster,L moved to ss in the 9th E-Trillo. 2B-Biittner(11), Stearns(3), Staiger(17), Torre(11). HR-Kingman(33). RBI-Kingman(75), Staiger(25). CS-Harrelson. K-Monday 2, LaCock, Trillo, Sperring, Mitterwald 2, Tyrone, Mazzilli, Boisclair, Stearns, Seaver. BB-Monday, Biittner. SH-Seaver. WP-Coleman. GWRBI: Staiger Temperature: 74, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 12 MPH. Attendance: 12,953 Game Time: 1:53