Kevin Kobel pitched a two-hitter and also batted in the Mets' final run in a 4-1 victory over the Pirates, who fell four games behind the first-place Phillies in the East division. With the score tied, 1-1, after Willie Stargell homered for the Pirates, the Mets broke away in the eighth inning when John Stearns walked, Dan Norman singled, Doug Flynn tripled and Kobel capped the scoring with a single. [The Sporting News]

New York Mets 4, Pittsburgh Pirates 1

Game Played on Saturday, September 9, 1978 (Night game) at Shea Stadium

Pirates 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 1 2 2 Mets 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 x - 4 7 0 Pirates AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Mets AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Taveras ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .275 Flores cf 5 0 1 0 0 0 .167 Moreno cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .233 Maddox 3b 0 0 0 0 3 0 .265 Brye ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .234 S. Henderson lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .276 Parker rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .313 Montanez 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .257 B. Robinson lf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .243 Stearns c 3 1 0 0 1 0 .263 Stargell 1b 3 1 1 1 0 0 .293 Norman rf 4 1 1 0 0 2 .167 Garner 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .268 Youngblood 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .249 Berra 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .181 Kranepool ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .187 Ott c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .275 Foli ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .255 Rooker p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .170 Flynn ss,2b 3 2 3 2 1 0 .239 Tekulve p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .105 Kobel p 2 0 1 1 0 0 .188 Stennett ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .246 Totals 29 1 2 1 0 5 Totals 28 4 7 3 6 3 Time of Game: 2:19 Attendance: 8,881 Left on Base: Pirates 1, Mets 9 DP: Pirates 2, Mets 0 Errors: Berra, Ott Doubles: B. Robinson (31), Flynn (11) Triples: Youngblood (8), Flynn (7) Home Runs: Stargell (23) Stolen Bases: Flynn (3) Caught Stealing: Maddox (11) Sacrifice Hits: Kobel 2 (4) GIDP: S. Henderson 2 (20) Hit by Pitch: Maddox (2,by Rooker) Pirates IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Rooker L(8-10) 7.1 5 3 2 6 3 0 33 4.31 Tekulve 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 0 4 1.81 Totals 8 7 4 3 6 3 0 37 Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Kobel W(3-5) 9 2 1 1 0 5 1 29 2.42 Totals 9 2 1 1 0 5 1 29 Hit by Pitch: Rooker (3) Umpires: HP - Jerry Crawford, 1B - Doug Harvey, 2B - Andy Olsen, 3B - Jim Quick PIRATES 1ST: Taveras grounded out (first to pitcher); Moreno struck out; Parker grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 0. METS 1ST: Flores singled to center; Maddox was hit by a pitch [Flores to second]; S. Henderson grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Flores to third, Maddox out at second]; Montanez grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 0. PIRATES 2ND: B. Robinson doubled to left; Stargell popped to third in foul territory; Garner grounded out (pitcher to first); Berra grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 0. METS 2ND: Stearns grounded out (third to first); Norman struck out; Youngblood flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 0. PIRATES 3RD: Ott popped to first; Rooker struck out; Taveras grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 0. METS 3RD: Flynn doubled to left; Kobel reached on a fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt [Flynn to third]; Flores reached on a fielder's choice [Flynn out at home (third to catcher to third to catcher to third to pitcher), Kobel to third, Flores to second]; Maddox walked; S. Henderson grounded into a double play (pitcher to catcher to first) [Kobel out at home]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 0. PIRATES 4TH: Moreno flied out to right; Parker was called out on strikes; B. Robinson flied to left in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 0. METS 4TH: Montanez was called out on strikes; Stearns flied out to left; Norman struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 0. PIRATES 5TH: Stargell flied out to right; Garner flied out to left; Berra grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 0. METS 5TH: Youngblood grounded out (second to first); Flynn singled to pitcher; Kobel reached on an error by Ott on a sacrifice bunt [Flynn to second, Kobel to first]; Flores forced Kobel (shortstop to second) [Flynn to third]; Maddox walked [Flores to second]; Flynn stole home [Flores to third (error by Berra)]; S. Henderson walked [Maddox to second]; Montanez grounded out (second to first); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 2 E, 3 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 1. PIRATES 6TH: Ott grounded out (pitcher to first); Rooker struck out; Taveras popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 1. METS 6TH: Stearns grounded out (third to first); Norman flied out to center; Youngblood tripled to center; Flynn was walked intentionally; Kobel flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 1. PIRATES 7TH: Moreno grounded out (second to first); Parker popped to third; B. Robinson grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 1. METS 7TH: Flores grounded out (third to first); Maddox walked; Maddox was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); S. Henderson grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 0, Mets 1. PIRATES 8TH: Stargell homered; Garner grounded out (shortstop to first); Berra flied out to center; Ott grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 1, Mets 1. METS 8TH: Montanez grounded out (first unassisted); Stearns walked; Norman singled to center [Stearns to second]; TEKULVE REPLACED ROOKER (PITCHING); KRANEPOOL BATTED FOR YOUNGBLOOD; Kranepool grounded out (second to first) [Stearns to third, Norman to second]; Flynn tripled to right [Stearns scored, Norman scored]; Kobel singled to left [Flynn scored]; Flores flied out to left; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Pirates 1, Mets 4. PIRATES 9TH: FOLI REPLACED KRANEPOOL (PLAYING SS); FLYNN CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 2B); STENNETT BATTED FOR TEKULVE; Stennett flied out to right; Taveras grounded out (second to first); BRYE BATTED FOR MORENO; Brye struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 1, Mets 4.

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet.
Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at "www.retrosheet.org".