A four-run uprising in the seventh inning enabled the Mets to defeat the Cardinals, 7-6, in the clubs' continuing battle to determine the worst team in the league. The score was 3-3 going into the seventh when Lee Mazzilli drew a leadoff walk and reached second safely when Redbird shortstop Garry Templeton errored on an attempted forceout at second on a bunt by Tim Foli.

Steve Henderson then walked to load the sacks and bring on Aurelio Lopez in relief of George Frazier. Willie Montanez grounded a ball into center for a two-run single. John Stearns followed with a sacrifice fly and when Dan Norman stroked a single, Lopez departed in favor of Roy Thomas. Elliott Maddox hit a sacrifice fly to complete the scoring. [The Sporting News]

New York Mets 7, St. Louis Cardinals 6

Game Played on Wednesday, September 20, 1978 (Night game) at Busch Stadium II

Mets 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 - 7 9 0 Cardinals 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 - 6 10 1 Mets AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Cardinals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Mazzilli cf 2 2 2 2 3 0 .276 Templeton ss 4 1 1 1 0 0 .279 Foli ss 5 1 0 0 0 1 .251 Morales rf 5 1 2 1 0 0 .238 S. Henderson lf 3 1 1 0 1 1 .268 Hernandez 1b 3 2 2 3 1 1 .254 Montanez 1b 4 1 2 2 1 1 .258 Simmons lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .289 Stearns c 4 0 0 1 0 1 .270 Hendrick cf 4 0 1 1 0 0 .280 Norman rf 5 0 1 0 0 1 .229 Reitz 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .246 Maddox 3b 3 1 2 1 0 0 .265 Swisher c 4 0 2 0 0 0 .276 Randle 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .237 Lentine pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 Flynn 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .239 Tyson 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .235 Kobel p 4 1 1 1 0 1 .200 O'Brien p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Koosman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .086 Scott ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .230 Frazier p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 Lopez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .154 Thomas p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Freed ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .232 Ramsey pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 Schultz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Mumphrey ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 .252 Totals 34 7 9 7 5 6 Totals 33 6 10 6 3 2 Time of Game: 2:35 Attendance: 6,030 Left on Base: Mets 8, Cardinals 5 DP: Mets 2, Cardinals 0 Errors: Templeton Doubles: Kobel (1), Montanez (30), Mazzilli (27), Morales (18) Triples: Hernandez (4) Home Runs: Mazzilli (16), Hernandez (11) Stolen Bases: Templeton (32) Caught Stealing: Mazzilli (12) Sacrifice Hits: Mumphrey (2) Sacrifice Flies: Stearns (6), Maddox (5), Templeton (3) GIDP: Simmons (18), Tyson (14) Hit by Pitch: S. Henderson (2,by O'Brien) Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Kobel W(4-5) 7.2 8 5 5 1 2 1 30 3.03 Koosman SV(1) 1.1 2 1 1 2 0 0 8 3.78 Totals 9 10 6 6 3 2 1 38 Cardinals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA O'Brien 5 6 3 3 3 4 1 24 4.91 Frazier L(0-3) 1 0 3 2 2 0 0 6 4.09 Lopez 0.1 2 1 1 0 0 0 3 4.09 Thomas 1.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 6 3.81 Schultz 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 3.72 Totals 9 9 7 5* 5 6 1 42 Hit by Pitch: O'Brien (2) Umpires: HP - Ed Montague, 1B - Lee Weyer, 2B - Dutch Rennert, 3B - Harry Wendelstedt METS 1ST: Mazzilli walked; Mazzilli was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Foli grounded out (third to first); S. Henderson singled to center; Montanez struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Cardinals 0. CARDINALS 1ST: On a bunt Templeton singled to third; Templeton stole second; Morales doubled to left [Templeton scored]; Hernandez walked; Simmons grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Morales to third, Hernandez out at second]; Hendrick grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Cardinals 1. METS 2ND: Stearns grounded out (shortstop to first); Norman lined to shortstop; Maddox singled to center; Flynn forced Maddox (shortstop unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 0, Cardinals 1. CARDINALS 2ND: Reitz grounded out (third to first); Swisher singled to center; Tyson grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Swisher out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Cardinals 1. METS 3RD: Kobel struck out; Mazzilli walked; Foli grounded out (third to first) [Mazzilli to second]; S. Henderson was hit by a pitch; Montanez walked [Mazzilli to third, S. Henderson to second]; Stearns struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Mets 0, Cardinals 1. CARDINALS 3RD: O'Brien flied out to center; Templeton grounded out (shortstop to first); Morales flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 0, Cardinals 1. METS 4TH: Norman flied out to left; Maddox singled to right; Flynn popped to shortstop; Kobel doubled to left [Maddox scored]; Mazzilli homered [Kobel scored]; Foli grounded out (third to first); 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Cardinals 1. CARDINALS 4TH: Hernandez was called out on strikes; Simmons grounded out (second to first); Hendrick grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Cardinals 1. METS 5TH: S. Henderson was called out on strikes; Montanez doubled to left; Stearns grounded out (shortstop to first) [Montanez to third]; Norman grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 3, Cardinals 1. CARDINALS 5TH: Reitz flied out to right; Swisher grounded out (shortstop to first); Tyson singled to left; SCOTT BATTED FOR O'BRIEN; Scott flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 3, Cardinals 1. METS 6TH: FRAZIER REPLACED SCOTT (PITCHING); Maddox grounded out (third to first); Flynn grounded out (third to first); Kobel grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Cardinals 1. CARDINALS 6TH: Templeton flied out to center; Morales singled to left; Hernandez homered [Morales scored]; Simmons was called out on strikes; Hendrick flied out to center; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 3, Cardinals 3. METS 7TH: Mazzilli walked; Foli reached on an error by Templeton (assist by Hernandez) [Mazzilli to second, Foli to first]; S. Henderson walked [Mazzilli to third, Foli to second]; LOPEZ REPLACED FRAZIER (PITCHING); Montanez singled to center [Mazzilli scored (unearned), Foli scored, S. Henderson to third]; Stearns hit a sacrifice fly to left [S. Henderson scored]; Norman singled to right [Montanez to third]; THOMAS REPLACED LOPEZ (PITCHING); Maddox hit a sacrifice fly to center [Montanez scored (unearned, but earned for the pitcher)]; Flynn flied out to right; 4 R (3 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Mets 7, Cardinals 3. CARDINALS 7TH: Reitz flied out to right; Swisher grounded out (second to first); Tyson grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 7, Cardinals 3. METS 8TH: Kobel flied out to center; Mazzilli doubled to right; Foli struck out; S. Henderson grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 7, Cardinals 3. CARDINALS 8TH: FREED BATTED FOR THOMAS; Freed singled to center; RAMSEY RAN FOR FREED; Templeton flied out to center; Morales flied out to left; Hernandez tripled to left [Ramsey scored]; KOOSMAN REPLACED KOBEL (PITCHING); Simmons walked; Hendrick singled to center [Hernandez scored, Simmons to third]; Reitz forced Hendrick (shortstop to second); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mets 7, Cardinals 5. METS 9TH: SCHULTZ REPLACED RAMSEY (PITCHING); Montanez grounded out (first to pitcher); Stearns flied out to left; Norman struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mets 7, Cardinals 5. CARDINALS 9TH: RANDLE REPLACED MADDOX (PLAYING 3B); Swisher singled to center; LENTINE RAN FOR SWISHER; Tyson walked [Lentine to second]; MUMPHREY BATTED FOR SCHULTZ; Mumphrey out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Lentine to third, Tyson to second]; Templeton hit a sacrifice fly to right [Lentine scored]; Morales grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mets 7, Cardinals 6.

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