July 7, 1962: Throneberry's Homer in 9th Beats Cardinals
From The Met Wiki
| Date: July 7, 1962 |
| Mets starter: Al Jackson |
| Mets: 5 |
| Cardinals: 4 |
| Winning pitcher: Ray Daviault |
| Key player(s): Marv Throneberry |
| Key play: Mets' appeal in 8th, Throneberry's two-run homer in 9th |
The Mets and Cardinals faced each other in a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds on a Saturday afternoon. The opener featured a pair of Jacksons on the mound with Al of the Mets' pitching against Larry of St. Louis. Neither one of the Jacksons got a decision as the Mets came away with a 5-4 win on Marv Throneberry's home run in the ninth inning.
Al and Larry each pitched two scoreless innings to start the game. For the Cardinals, Julian Javier doubled in the top of the first and Bill White and Jimmie Schaffer singled in the second. Al got Julio Gotay to ground into a double play to end the second inning. Larry allowed only a single to Elio Chacon in the bottom of the second.
In the top of the third, Larry singled off Al to start the inning. Curt Flood reached base on shortstop Chacon's error. Javier's fly out advanced the runners to second and third and Bobby Gene Smith popped out to Chacon. Ken Boyer singled to score Larry and Flood for a 2-0 Cardinals lead. Al retired Charlie James to end the inning and the Mets were shut down by Larry in the bottom half.
Both Jacksons pitched scoreless ball in the fourth and fifth innings. In the top of the sixth, Boyer and James singled off Al before White hit into a force play. Schaffer hit a single to score James and extend the St. Louis lead to 3-0. The Mets responded in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run by Sammy Taylor off Larry.
Al retired the Redbirds in order in the top of the seventh inning. With one out in the bottom half, Gil Hodges singled and Chacon drew a walk. Pinch-hitting for Al, Frank Thomas singled off Larry to drive home Hodges and send Chacon to third base. Richie Ashburn followed with a sacrifice fly off reliever Lindy McDaniel to score Chacon and tie the game at 3-3. McDaniel then struck out Felix Mantilla to end the inning.
For the Mets, Ray Daviault came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning. Daviault retired the first two Cardinal batters and gave up a single to pinch-hitter Stan Musial. Batting for Gotay, Carl Sawatski drew a walk and Red Schoendienst came up to pinch-hit for McDaniel. Schoendienst hit a ball into right field on which pinch-runner Dal Maxvill came home from second. On an appeal, Maxvill was called out for having missed third base to deny St. Louis a run. The tie remained intact and reliever Curt Simmons set down the Mets with a perfect bottom of the inning.
Flood homered to put the Cardinals ahead by a run in the top of the ninth. Daviault struck out the next three batters and Joe Christopher singled to start the bottom half of the inning. In relief of Simmons, Ernie Broglio retired Hodges on a fly ball to left fielder Smith. Throneberry then came up to the plate as a pinch-hitter for Chacon.
Representing the winning run, Throneberry hit a two-run homer to end the game. The Mets had a dramatic victory over the Redbirds. For Daviault, the win was the only one of his major league career.
