June 19, 1971: Mets Beat Phillies in 15 Innings
From The Met Wiki
| Date: June 19, 1971 |
| Mets starter: Tom Seaver |
| Mets: 6 |
| Phillies: 5 |
| Winning pitcher: Danny Frisella |
| Key player(s): Ken Singleton, Donn Clendenon |
| Key play: Singleton’s homer in 14th, Clendenon’s homer in 15th |
There was a crowd of 52,171 at Shea Stadium on Helmet Day to see the Mets take on the Phillies. The Saturday afternoon game lasted four hours and forty minutes. The end result was a 6-5 win for the Mets in 15 innings.
Tom Seaver was not at his best on this day. Tom gave up twelve hits in five and two-thirds innings pitched. He allowed a two-run homer to Deron Johnson in the second inning and a run-scoring single to Ron Stone in the third, putting the Phillies up by three runs. After Bud Harrelson’s double to score Tim Foli in the bottom of the fifth, Larry Bowa’s sixth inning single brought home Rick Wise from second to make it a 4-1 Phils’ lead. Ron Taylor was then brought in to relieve Seaver.
Ed Kranepool’s double and Ken Singleton’s single off Wise started the sixth inning for the Mets. Ken Boswell then got another single to score Kranepool and Singleton came home on an error by second baseman Denny Doyle to reduce the deficit to one run. After Bucky Brandon took over for Wise, Boswell scored on Stone’s error of Foli’s fly ball to tie the game.
The bullpens took over from there, holding the teams scoreless for the next seven innings. Tug McGraw and the Phils’ Joe Hoerner each pitched five innings of two-hit shutout relief. Tug retired the last ten batters he faced while Hoerner got out nine straight hitters before escaping a bases loaded situation in the twelfth.
The Phillies took a 5-4 lead when Bowa scored on the front end of a double steal in the top of the fourteenth. Singleton hit a home run off reliever Bill Wilson in the bottom half of the inning to retie the game. The Mets got two more singles before Danny Frisella popped up to second for the final out.
Frisella retired the Phils in the fifteenth. Wilson then set down the first two Mets’ hitters in the bottom half before Donn Clendenon came to bat. Clendenon connected for a home run off Wilson to give the Mets a thrilling victory, ending a long but happy day for the fans at Shea.
