The Pirates clinched a tie for the East division title by defeating the Mets, 4-3. The victory moved the Pirates 4½ games ahead of the Mets and Cubs, who were tied for second. Richie Hebner homered off Tom Seaver to start the Pirates' scoring in the second inning. A single by Matty Alou, an error, hit batsman and single by Willie Stargell added a run in the third. Seaver tied the score with a two-run triple in the fourth, but the Mets' ace was lifted in the fifth after the Pirates regained the lead with doubles by Stargell and Bob Robertson.

The Mets tied the score in the seventh when Tommie Agee tripled and Wayne Garrett hit a sacrifice fly. However, in the Pirates' half, an error by Agee proved costly. With one out, Robertson singled to center and when Agee let the ball skip past him on an attempted shoe-string catch, Robertson wound up at third. Johnny Jeter, running for Robertson, was forced to hold up when Manny Sanguillen bounced to Ken Boswell, although Sanguillen was safe when Donn Clendenon dropped the throw to first. Jose Pagan then batted for Hebner and hit a sacrifice fly to center, Jeter sliding home to beat Agee's throw to the plate. [The Sporting News]



Pittsburgh Pirates 4, New York Mets 3
Game Played on Saturday, September 26, 1970 (Day game) at Three Rivers Stadium
Mets         0  0  0    2  0  0    1  0  0  -   3 13  4
Pirates      0  1  1    0  1  0    1  0  x  -   4  9  0


Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Agee cf               5   1   3   0     0   0   .285      Alou cf               5   1   1   0     0   0   .296
Garrett 3b            4   0   0   1     0   1   .250      Cash 2b               4   0   1   0     1   1   .312
Jones lf              5   0   1   0     0   1   .279      Oliver rf,1b          4   0   0   0     0   0   .267
Shamsky rf            5   0   1   0     0   0   .295      Stargell lf           4   1   2   1     0   0   .266
Clendenon 1b          4   0   2   0     0   1   .290      Robertson 1b          4   0   2   1     0   1   .286
Boswell 2b            4   0   0   0     0   1   .255        Jeter pr,rf         0   1   0   0     0   0   .227
Grote c               4   1   3   0     0   0   .257      Sanguillen c          4   0   0   0     0   1   .326
Harrelson ss          3   1   1   0     1   0   .242      Hebner 3b             3   1   1   1     0   0   .281
Seaver p              1   0   1   2     1   0   .179        Pagan ph,3b         0   0   0   1     0   0   .265
  Sadecki p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .205      Alley ss              3   0   2   0     1   0   .245
  Marshall ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .253      Blass p               3   0   0   0     0   2   .116
  Herbel p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Grant p             1   0   0   0     0   0   .182
  McGraw p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .308
  Kranepool ph        1   0   1   0     0   0   .178
  Weis pr             0   0   0   0     0   0   .207
  Frisella p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .308

Totals               37   3  13   3     2   5             Totals               35   4   9   4     2   5

Time of Game: 2:37   Attendance: 34,311
Left on Base: Mets 10, Pirates 11
DP: Mets 0, Pirates 2
Errors: Agee, Garrett, Clendenon, Seaver
Doubles: Harrelson (18), Alley (15), Stargell (18), Robertson (18)
Triples: Seaver (1), Agee (7)
Home Runs: Hebner (10)
Sacrifice Flies: Garrett (2), Pagan (2)
GIDP: Harrelson (9), Boswell (12)
Hit by Pitch: Oliver (14,by Seaver)


Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Seaver                  4.1   8   3   2   1   3   1  24   2.82
Sadecki                 0.2   0   0   0   1   1   0   3   3.89
Herbel L(9-7)           1.1   1   1   0   0   1   0   6   4.62
McGraw                  0.2   0   0   0   0   0   0   2   3.43
Frisella                1     0   0   0   0   0   0   4   3.21
Totals                  8     9   4   2   2   5   1  39

Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blass                   6.2  12   3   3   2   5   0  32   3.39
Grant W(2-0)            2.1   1   0   0   0   0   0   8   1.73
Totals                  9    13   3   3   2   5   0  40

Hit by Pitch: Seaver (4)

Umpires: HP - Augie Donatelli, 1B - Ed Sudol, 2B - Ed Vargo, 3B - Al Barlick


METS 1ST: Agee singled to center; Garrett forced Agee (second to
shortstop); Jones singled to left [Garrett to second]; Shamsky
flied to left; Clendenon struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets
0, Pirates 0.

PIRATES 1ST: Alou flied to right; Cash walked; Oliver flied to
center; Stargell grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Mets 0, Pirates 0.

METS 2ND: Boswell flied to center; Grote singled to right;
Harrelson grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to
first) [Grote out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0,
Pirates 0.

PIRATES 2ND: Robertson popped to shortstop; Sanguillen popped to
first; Hebner homered; Alley doubled to left; Blass struck out;
1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Pirates 1.

METS 3RD: Seaver walked; Agee singled to right [Seaver to
second]; Garrett forced Seaver (pitcher to third) [Agee to
second]; Jones grounded out (third to first) [Garrett to second,
Agee to third]; Shamsky grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 0, Pirates 1.

PIRATES 3RD: Alou singled to right; Cash reached on a fielder's
choice [Alou to second]; Cash was picked off first but was safe
on an error by Seaver [Cash to second, Alou to third]; Oliver
was hit by a pitch; Stargell singled to right [Oliver to second,
Cash to third, Alou scored (unearned)]; Robertson struck out;
Sanguillen was called out on strikes; Hebner flied to center; 1
R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 3 LOB.  Mets 0, Pirates 2.

METS 4TH: Clendenon singled to left; Boswell grounded into a
double play (second to shortstop to first) [Clendenon out at
second]; Grote singled; Harrelson walked [Grote to second];
Seaver tripled to left [Harrelson scored, Grote scored]; Agee
flied to right; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 2.

PIRATES 4TH: Alley singled to right; Blass forced Alley (second
to shortstop); Alou popped to first in foul territory; Cash
singled to left [Blass to second]; Oliver flied to center; 0 R,
2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 2.

METS 5TH: Garrett struck out; Jones struck out; Shamsky grounded
out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 2.

PIRATES 5TH: Stargell doubled to right; Robertson doubled to
right [Stargell scored]; Sanguillen grounded out (pitcher to
first); SADECKI REPLACED SEAVER (PITCHING); Hebner flied to
center; Alley was walked intentionally; Blass struck out; 1 R, 2
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 3.

METS 6TH: Clendenon flied to right; Boswell struck out; Grote
singled to right; Harrelson doubled to right [Grote to third];
MARSHALL BATTED FOR SADECKI; Marshall struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 3.

PIRATES 6TH: HERBEL REPLACED MARSHALL (PITCHING); Alou grounded
out (shortstop to first); Cash struck out; Oliver grounded out
(first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2, Pirates 3.

METS 7TH: Agee tripled to center; Garrett hit a sacrifice fly to
center [Agee scored]; Jones grounded out (shortstop to first);
Shamsky singled to center; Clendenon singled to left [Shamsky to
second]; GRANT REPLACED BLASS (PITCHING); Boswell grounded out
(first to pitcher); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 3, Pirates 3.

PIRATES 7TH: Stargell grounded out (second to first); Robertson
singled to center [Robertson to third (error by Agee)]; JETER
RAN FOR ROBERTSON; Sanguillen reached on an error by Clendenon;
MCGRAW REPLACED HERBEL (PITCHING); PAGAN BATTED FOR HEBNER;
Pagan hit a sacrifice fly to center [Jeter scored (unearned),
Sanguillen to second]; Alley grounded out (second to first); 1 R
(0 ER), 1 H, 2 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 3, Pirates 4.

METS 8TH: PAGAN STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); JETER STAYED IN
GAME (PLAYING RF); OLIVER CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); Grote
grounded out (third to first); Harrelson grounded out (first
unassisted); KRANEPOOL BATTED FOR MCGRAW; Kranepool singled;
WEIS RAN FOR KRANEPOOL; Agee popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Mets 3, Pirates 4.

PIRATES 8TH: FRISELLA REPLACED WEIS (PITCHING); Grant grounded
out (shortstop to first); Alou popped to third in foul
territory; Cash reached on an error by Garrett; Oliver grounded
out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 3, Pirates 4.

METS 9TH: Garrett popped to shortstop; Jones flied to right;
Shamsky flied to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 3, Pirates 4.