Pirates 6 Mets 5

The miracle Mets had no miracles left as the Bucs walked off in the bottom of the 9th before a packed house at Forbes Field.

Game pitching matchups

Tom Seaver vs Bob Veale

Tom Terrific Seaver got the start for the Mets opposed by Bob Veale.  The game was scoreless until the bottom

of the 3rd when Richie Hebner hit a 3 run homerun to give the Bucs an early 3-0 lead.  The Mets responded by scoring 3 in the top of the 5th to tie the game 3-3.  Ken Boswell hit a single to drive in 2 and Cleon Jones also had a run scoring single.  The Mets would break the tie in the 6th as Bud Harrelson lined a triple into right scoring Jerry Grote to give them a 4-3 lead.  The Bucs offense went to sleep for 5 innings.  The Mets added another run in the 9th to take a 5-3 lead as Cleon Jones tripled home Tom Seaver.  The Mets needed just 3 outs to close it out.  The first 2 batters for the Bucs went down meekly and they were down to their last out.  The Bucs brought up Jose Pagan to pinch hit for their last hope.  Jose hit a homerun to left and now suddenly the Pirates only trailed 5-4.  Tom Seaver still in the game trying to close it out but laboring.  Gene Alley was the next pinch hitter and he lined a single to keep the rally going.  Tug McGraw was brought in to face lefty hitting Matty Alou.  Matty hit a single sending Alley to 3rd and the Bucs had men on first and 3rd still fighting.  The crowd was going crazy and stood on their feet as Roberto Clemente came up.  The crowd sensed something good would happen with their best player up to bat.  The Mets brought in Ron Taylor.  Roberto grounded a single into left between 3rd and SS to bring home Gene Alley and tie the game.  The next batter was Richie Hebner who homered earlier in the game.  The crowd was now yelling and screaming and it looked like 1961 world series again.  Hebner lined a single up the middle to score Matty Alou with the winning run as the Pirates walked off with the win 6-5.  The improbable happened to the Miracle Mets as the Bucs scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs on 5 straight hits.  The Bucs advance to the playoffs to face their arch rival the Reds.