A grand-slam homer by Steve Henderson climaxed a six-run outburst in the seventh inning as the Mets won the second game of a doubleheader, 9-3, for a split with the Pirates, who posted a 3-1 victory in the first game. John Candelaria, who was forced to leave the game in the sixth inning after reinjuring his back, was the winner of the opener with help from Kent Tekulve and Rich Gossage. The Pirates jumped on Jon Matlack for two runs in the third on a walk to Duffy Dyer, single by Mario Mendoza, sacrifice by Candelaria, infield out by Phil Garner and single by Rennie Stennett. Bill Robinson homered in the fourth. Lee Mazzilli hit for the circuit off Tekulve for the Mets' run in the eighth.

In the nightcap, the Pirates tied the score at 3-3 on a homer by Jerry Hairston before the Mets exploded for their big inning. The Mets combined two walks, two singles and a double in batting against four different Pirate pitchers before Henderson hit the first grand slam of his major league career with Tekulve as the victim. Odell Jones finally retired the side as the Pirates' fifth hurler of the frame. [The Sporting News]



Pittsburgh Pirates 3, New York Mets 1 (Game 1)
Game Played on Sunday, July      17, 1977 (Day game) at Shea Stadium
Pirates      0  0  2    1  0  0    0  0  0  -   3  5  1
Mets         0  0  0    0  0  0    0  1  0  -   1  6  1


Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Garner 3b             4   0   0   1     0   0   .254      Randle 3b             4   0   1   0     0   0   .307
Stennett 2b           3   0   1   1     1   0   .328      Millan 2b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .214
Parker rf             4   0   0   0     0   2   .331      Henderson lf          3   0   0   0     1   1   .264
Robinson lf,1b        4   1   1   1     0   1   .311      Vail rf               4   0   1   0     0   2   .319
Oliver cf,lf          4   0   1   0     0   0   .294      Stearns c             3   0   1   0     1   1   .290
Fregosi 1b            2   0   0   0     0   1   .288      Valentine 1b          3   0   0   0     0   0   .156
  Moreno ph,cf        2   0   0   0     0   1   .229        Siebert p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Dyer c                3   1   0   0     1   1   .271        Kranepool ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .286
Mendoza ss            3   1   2   0     0   0   .231      Mazzilli cf           3   1   1   1     0   0   .223
Candelaria p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .167      Flynn ss              3   0   1   0     0   0   .185
  Tekulve p           1   0   0   0     0   1   .286      Matlack p             1   0   0   0     0   1   .054
  Gossage p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .214        Youngblood ph       0   0   0   0     1   0   .182
                                                            Todd p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .111
                                                            Boisclair 1b        1   0   1   0     0   0   .267

Totals               30   3   5   3     2   7             Totals               30   1   6   1     3   5

Time of Game: 2:20
Left on Base: Pirates 4, Mets 5
DP: Pirates 1, Mets 1
Errors: Fregosi, Flynn
Home Runs: Robinson (10), Mazzilli (2)
Stolen Bases: Garner (13)
Caught Stealing: Oliver (12), Vail (5), Stearns (6), Randle (14)
Sacrifice Hits: Candelaria 2 (4)
GIDP: Randle (7)


Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Candelaria W(10-3)      5     3   0   0   2   2   0  18   2.71
Tekulve                 2     3   1   1   0   1   1   9   2.82
Gossage SV(16)          2     0   0   0   1   2   0   6   1.64
Totals                  9     6   1   1   3   5   1  33

Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Matlack L(4-12)         6     5   3   3   1   4   1  23   4.27
Todd                    1.1   0   0   0   1   2   0   6   4.50
Siebert                 1.2   0   0   0   0   1   0   5   3.00
Totals                  9     5   3   3   2   7   1  34

Umpires: HP - Harry Wendelstedt, 1B - Satch Davidson, 2B - Ed Montague, 3B - Paul Pryor


PIRATES 1ST: Garner popped to third in foul territory; Stennett
grounded out (shortstop to first); Parker was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 0, Mets 0.

METS 1ST: Randle popped to first in foul territory; Millan flied
out to center; Henderson popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Pirates 0, Mets 0.

PIRATES 2ND: Robinson struck out; Oliver flied out to right;
Fregosi flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 0,
Mets 0.

METS 2ND: Vail singled to left; Vail was picked off and caught
stealing second (pitcher to first to shortstop); Stearns walked;
Stearns was caught stealing second (catcher to second);
Valentine grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Pirates 0, Mets 0.

PIRATES 3RD: Dyer walked; Mendoza singled to left [Dyer to
second]; Candelaria out on a sacrifice bunt (third to second)
[Dyer to third, Mendoza to second]; Garner grounded out
(shortstop to first) [Dyer scored, Mendoza to third]; Stennett
singled to left [Mendoza scored]; Parker flied out to right; 2
R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 2, Mets 0.

METS 3RD: Mazzilli flied out to right; Flynn flied out to right;
Matlack struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 2, Mets 0.

PIRATES 4TH: Robinson homered; Oliver singled to left; Fregosi
struck out while Oliver was caught stealing second (catcher to
second); Dyer was called out on strikes; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 3, Mets 0.

METS 4TH: Randle singled to center; Randle was picked off and
caught stealing second but was safe at third (error by Fregosi);
Millan popped to third in foul territory; Henderson lined to
second; Vail struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Mets
0.

PIRATES 5TH: Mendoza singled to left; Candelaria out on a
sacrifice bunt (third to second) [Mendoza to second]; Garner
flied out to center; Stennett flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Mets 0.

METS 5TH: On a bunt Stearns singled to third; Valentine flied
out to right; Mazzilli made an out to third; Flynn flied out to
right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Mets 0.

PIRATES 6TH: Parker popped to shortstop; Robinson popped to
first in foul territory; Oliver grounded out (first to pitcher);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 3, Mets 0.

METS 6TH: YOUNGBLOOD BATTED FOR MATLACK; Youngblood walked;
TEKULVE REPLACED CANDELARIA (PITCHING); Randle forced Youngblood
(third to second); Millan forced Randle (shortstop to second);
Henderson was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Pirates 3, Mets 0.

PIRATES 7TH: TODD REPLACED YOUNGBLOOD (PITCHING); MORENO BATTED
FOR FREGOSI; Moreno struck out; Dyer grounded out (second to
first); Mendoza flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 3, Mets 0.

METS 7TH: MORENO STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); OLIVER CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); ROBINSON CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B);
Vail grounded out (third to first); Stearns grounded out
(shortstop to first); Valentine grounded out (pitcher to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 3, Mets 0.

PIRATES 8TH: Tekulve struck out; Garner reached on an error by
Flynn [Garner to first]; Garner stole second; Stennett walked;
SIEBERT REPLACED VALENTINE (PITCHING); BOISCLAIR REPLACED TODD
(PLAYING 1B); Parker struck out; Robinson flied out to right; 0
R, 0 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 3, Mets 0.

METS 8TH: Mazzilli homered; On a bunt Flynn singled to third;
Boisclair singled to center [Flynn to second]; GOSSAGE REPLACED
TEKULVE (PITCHING); Randle grounded into a double play
(shortstop to second to first) [Flynn to third, Boisclair out at
second]; Millan grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Pirates 3, Mets 1.

PIRATES 9TH: Oliver made an out to shortstop; Moreno grounded
out (first unassisted); Dyer grounded out (second to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 3, Mets 1.

METS 9TH: Henderson walked; Vail struck out; Stearns struck out;
KRANEPOOL BATTED FOR SIEBERT; Kranepool flied out to left; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Mets 1.