June 26, 1963: Harkness Slams Cubs in 14th
From The Met Wiki
| Date: June 26, 1963 |
| Mets starter: Al Jackson |
| Mets: 8 |
| Cubs: 6 |
| Winning pitcher: Galen Cisco |
| Key player(s): Tim Harkness, Frank Thomas |
| Key play: Thomas's single in 8th, Harkness's grand slam |
The Mets faced the Cubs on a Wednesday afternoon at the Polo Grounds. The game went into extra innings and lasted more than 4 hours. The Mets came away with an 8-6 win on Tim Harkness's grand slam in the bottom of the 14th.
Over the first five innings, the Cubs built a 4-0 lead against Mets' starter Al Jackson. An error by Charlie Neal allowed Billy Williams to score in the first and Ellis Burton homered in the second. Two more Chicago runs came home on singles by Leo Burke and Dick Bertell in the fifth. Meanwhile, Chicago starter Bob Buhl limited the Mets to two singles.
Jackson pitched a scoreless top of the sixth inning for the Mets. In the bottom half, Ron Hunt singled with two out and came around to score on Duke Snider's double. Frank Thomas followed with a home run to cut the Cubs' lead to 4-3. Mets' reliever Larry Bearnarth then pitched perfect ball in the seventh and eighth innings.
Pinch-hitter Choo Choo Coleman led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk. Coleman went to second base on a balk by Chicago reliever Don Elston, who then recorded two outs. Snider drew a walk from Lindy McDaniel and a single by Thomas brought home Coleman with the tying run. The Mets then got singles from Chico Fernandez and Rod Kanehl in the ninth, but did not score.
Carl Willey held the Cubs hitless in the tenth and eleventh innings. Galen Cisco followed up with two perfect innings, striking out all three batters in the 13th. Meanwhile, the Mets were held scoreless by Chicago's Jack Warner, despite loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the 13th.
Cisco issued a one-out walk to Don Landrum in the top of the 14th inning. With two out, Williams hit an inside-the-park home run to give the Cubs a 6-4 lead. Galen then struck out Ron Santo to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 14th, the Mets had runners on first and second base with two out. Chicago's Jim Brewer walked Sammy Taylor to load the bases. Harkness hit a grand slam to end the ball game. The Mets had an amazing come-from-behind victory.
