'59 Braves win NL Flag in 6 games over '85 Amazins

Game 1: El Sid looked good until the 7th, when he ran out of gas and the Mets ran out of answers for the balanced Brave attack. Lou Burdette was steady enough to complete the game and nab the win. the 5 run 7th did the Mets in and erased their 3-2 lead. Joe Adcock hit 3 homers in a row and helped chase the big man from Hawaii off the hill.

Game 2: Doc started this one for the Mets and was great for 7 innings with 8k's. His counterpart Juan Pizarro was even better, giving up 2 runs over 10 innings and fanning 12. Neither starter figured into the decision as Milwaukee won it in 11 to take a 2 games to 0 lead. Roger McDowell was the loser. Billy Bruton led off the 11th with a sharp double down the left field line. Johnny Logan bunted him over to third and the Mets were in big trouble. Aaron and Mathews both received intentional passes, which setup Joe Adcock's sac fly to George Foster to score Bruton.

Game 3: The great Warren Spahn took the hill and in a true professional effort scattered 10 hits and 2 runs over 9 innings as the Braves took a laugher over the Amazin's. Ron Darling, NY's starter, tried to gut it out but gave up 6 runs in 7 innings. Reliever Doug "risk" Sisk was no better yielding 4 in 2 innings. The Braves shocked the Shea faithful and took a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Game 4: Popular conception is that when a team has a 3-0 lead they are apt to take the pedal off the metal and kind of glide home. This is not the case in professional sports. Thinking like that can be dangerous, when playing against a team in the post season. Milwaukee was poised to close out the Mets in a 4 game sweep, but the Mets were not having any of that. Ed Lynch tossed a complete game gem allowing only 2 runs and tossing only 78 pitches in the process. The Mets tagged Brave starter Bob Buhl for 4 runs early on and never looked back. Strawberry hit a towering solo shot that hit the huge scoreboard in right and the Mets had a pulse.

Game 5: El Sid recovered from his game 1 melt down and went 8 strong innings to get the win. Lew Burdette went the distance as well but could not hold the NY offense down. With the score 3-1 in the 7th NY broke out for 3 big runs to put the game away. George "money bags" Foster hit a 3 run shot into the picnic are to put the Mets right back in the series at 3-2.

Game 6: The series headed back to Wisconsin and the pressure was now solely on the Braves shoulders having had 2 opportunities to close it all out and having failed in both. With Doc Gooden on the hill and dealin' the Amazins seemed poised for the ultimate comeback. Down 4-2 in the 8th the Braves bats woke up and posted a big crooked number on the scoreboard. Three runs off of Gooden in a game is a miracle. 3 in one inning is of biblical proportions. The 8th inning started with pinch hitter Lee Maye, taking time out of his singing career, who grounded weekly to first. Billy "the catalyst" Bruton sliced a double down the left field line and Johnny Logan followed with an infield single to make it 1st and 3rd. Still the Mets had a 2 run lead. Gooden challenge Henry Aaron, who should never be challenged. Aaron singled back through the originator to cut the lead to 1. Eddie Mathews was pitched to cautiously and the bases were soon loaded with only 1 out. Wes Covington, who had been a big disappointment all year, fought off Gooden's "lord Charles and blooped a single over the outstretched arms of Wally Backman to score Logan to tie it. One batter later Adcock grounded out weekly, but Aaron came across to score and just like that a 2 run lead was now a 1 run deficit. The top of the 9th saw the shell shocked Mets go down in order to closer Don McMahon and the Braves clinched the NL Pennant. The Mets battled back hard in this series, but when you are down 3-0 you have no margin for error. Gooden threw 146 pitches and obviously ran out of gas in the 8th. Bob Rush notched the win as he pitched 2 1/2 innings in relief of starter Juan Pizarro.

Game 6: 59 Milwaukee Over 85 New York NL 5-4
Game 5: 85 New York NL Beats 59 Milwaukee 6-1
Game 4: 85 New York NL Beats 59 Milwaukee 4-2
Game 3: 59 Milwaukee Beats 85 New York NL 10-2
Game 2: 59 Milwaukee Edges 85 New York NL 3-2 in 11, Pizarro Ks 12
Game 1: 59 Milwaukee Over 85 New York NL 8-4, 3 HRs For Adcock