July 8, 1989: Mets Pound Reds
From The Met Wiki
| Date: July 8, 1989 |
| Mets starter: David Cone |
| Mets: 8 |
| Reds: 3 |
| Winning pitcher: David Cone |
| Key player(s): Darryl Strawberry, Juan Samuel, Tim Teufel |
| Key play: Teufel's single in 1st, Strawberry's homer in 3rd, hit-by-pitch in 8th |
The Mets faced the Reds at Shea Stadium on a Saturday afternoon. The game included a bench-clearing brawl in the bottom of the eighth inning. After order was restored, the Mets came away with an 8-3 win on David Cone's complete game.
The Mets got a run on Tim Teufel's first inning single that brought home Juan Samuel. In the third, Samuel led off with a double and went to third base on another Teufel single. Juan scored on Howard Johnson's sacrifice fly before Darryl Strawberry homered off Cincinnati's Tom Browning for a 4-0 Met lead.
Teufel got his third single of the game with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Tim later scored on a single by Strawberry. Samuel added a single off Reds' reliever Norm Charlton to bring home Phil Lombardi with the Mets' sixth run in the sixth. Teufel then got his fourth single to begin the bottom of the seventh, but the Mets didn't score.
In the eighth, Cone doubled with two out off Cincinnati's Rob Dibble. David came home to score on Samuel's single to make the score 7-0. Teufel, 4-for-4 in the game, was then hit in the back by a Dibble pitch. Tim charged the mound and a fight that emptied the team benches ensued. Teufel and Dibble were ejected from the game, as were Samuel and Charlton. When play resumed, Johnson doubled off reliever Tim Birtsas to score pinch-runner Mark Carreon.
Following eight innings of four-hit scoreless ball, Cone gave up three runs in the ninth. Home runs by Eric Davis and Lenny Harris ended David's shutout bid. Still, Cone finished the game for a well-earned victory.
