CHICAGO — Keith Moreland blasted Jesse Orosco’s first pitch of the bottom of the ninth to Waveland Avenue. Now, the 1984 Chicago Cubs are one win away from winning the @JackSacco6 @sacco_john “The Best Teams of the 1980s” Strat-O-Matic World Series and waving goodbye to the mighty 1986 New York Mets.
Moreland’s walk-off home run made the Cubs a, 7-6, winner over the Mets and gave Chicago a commanding three-games-to-one lead over heavily-favored New York.
Two of the Cubs’ three wins in the series have come in their last at bats.
Moreland’s HR made a winner out of reliever Dennis Eckersley, who worked two innings in relief of starter Rick Sutcliffe.
Eckersley’s clutch pitching in the top of the ninth set the stage for Moreland.
With the game tied 6-6, Mets’ lead-off hitter smacked a double off Eckersley to open the ninth. After a Wally Backman ground out to second, moved Dykstra to third, Chicago Manager @JackSacco6 ordered Eckersley to intentionally walk Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry — New York’s No. 3 and No. 4 hitters — to load the bases.
With no margin for error, Eckersley responded by striking out Gary Carter and the series’ hottest hitter, Howard Johnson, to end the threat.
Chicago jumped on Gooden for two runs in the first, but the Mets responded with three-run second off Sutcliffe.
The Cubs came right back with a three-run second inning of their own to re-take the lead at 5-3.
New York tied the score in the third with two runs with three consecutive hits from Dykstra, Backman (a double), and the first of two RBI singles by Hernandez.
The starting pitchers held it together through the middle three innings until Chicago scored in the bottom of the sixth.
With one out, Gooden walked three consecutive batters then yielded a run-scoring single to third baseman Richie Hebner.
The Mets answered right back as pinch-hitter Stanley Jefferson smacked a one-out triple in the seventh. After Dykstra lined out to second, Backman walked, and Hernandez drove Jefferson home with a single.
Gooden was touched for nine hits in his seven innings. He walked six.
Johnson led the Mets with three hits, including an RBI triple. Dykstra had a double and Strawberry a home run.
Ryne Sandberg had two hits for Chicago while Gary Matthews reached base in all five of his plate appearances — two singles and three walks.
First baseman Leon Durham had a single and two-run double and walked twice. Hebner had two hits.
Game 5 will be played Monday with Chicago’s Scott Sanderson dealing against the Mets’ Bobby Ojeda.
Game 6 and 7, if needed, will be played in New York’s Shea Stadium.
NOTES — The Cubs have scored 29 runs (7.25 per game) in the series while New York has tallied 26 runs (6.5 per game). . . Chicago and New York have combined to score 10 of the series’ 55 runs in the last inning of the four games and 17 runs of the 55 in the last two innings of each game. . . Sandberg is hitting .421 with five runs scored and four RBI in the series. He has hit safely in all four games. . . Matthews, hitting just .250, has reached base safely in 11 of 20 plate appearances (.550 on-base percentage) with eight walks. . . Durham, who has hit safely in the four games, has two doubles, two runs and five RBI. . . Moreland also has hit in all four games with four RBI. . . Jody Davis is six-for-15 (.400) with a .471 OBP and two RBI. . . Johnson is seven-for-14 (.500) for New York with a .533 OBP, .786 slugging percentage and 1.319 OPS. Johnson has hits in all four games, two doubles, a triple and series-high seven RBI. . . Strawberry is hitting .313 with a .450 OBP and .625 SLP for a 1.075 OPS. He has two home runs and three RBI. . . Mets pinch hitters are four-for-10 (.400) with a .455 OBP, .800 SLP and 1.200 OPS with two double, a triple and four RBI.
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John Sacco
sacman18@comcast.net
@sacco_john
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