What started as a potential sweep for the "Miracle Mets" ended as a seven-game march of survival. The 1969 World Series champs got just enough runs to advance to the second round.
Game One: Mets 1, Pirates 0: Tom Seaver threw a two-hitter and Art Shamsky singled home Tommie Agee in the sixth inning for the only run of the game. The key to the contest came in the top of the sixth, when Gregory Polanco tripled to open the inning. Seaver responded with two infield popups and a ground out to strand Polanco.
Game Two: Mets 4, Pirates 2: Agee homered in his first two at-bats for three RBIs to power the Mets Jerry Koosman threw the Mets' second straight complete game win. Three of the five hits the southpaw allowed came in the two run seventh.
Game Three: Mets 5, Pirates 2: Gary Gentry staggered through five innings, aided by three double plays, and left with a 5-2 lead afterllowing a two-run homer to Andrew McCutchen. Tug McGraw threw four scoreless frames to secure the win and a 3-0 advantage.
Game Four: Pirates 3, Mets 1: The first Pirate hitter walked, and McCutchen followed with a homer off Mets starter Nolan Ryan. The Mets never caught up. Chad Kuhl allowed five hits in 6.1 innings for the win.
Game Five: Pirates 4, Mets 3: Seaver took a 3-1 lead into the eighth and retired two of the first three hitters, But then the Pirates got a walk and four straight singles to take the lead and ultimately the win. Seaver had one of the Mets' RBIs.
Game Six: Pirates 4, Mets 3: Another come-from behind win for the Pirates evened the series. Koosman allowed two runs in the first inning and two more in the seventh. The Mets scored all three of their runs in the second inning, with Koosman squeezing home one and Agee singling in the other two.
Game Seven: Mets 4, Pirates 1: Ken Boswell tripled twice, scoring two runs and driving in two, while Gentry went eight-plus innings, allowing one run on five hits. After he allowed the first two Pirates in the ninth to reach, Ron Taylor entered to get a popup and a doubleplay grounder to wrap up the series.
Projected rotation: Seaver-Koosman (with penalty)-Gentry-Caldwell-(Seaver)-(Koosman)-(Gentry). The bullpen will be fully available for the opener of the second round.
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