Pulling within 18 of Babe Ruth's record, Hank Aaron hit the 695th and 696th homers of his career, driving in three runs, to power the Braves to a 4-2 victory over the Mets. This was the 60th time that Aaron had hit two round-trippers in one game.

After Dusty Baker homered for the Braves in the second inning, Aaron hit a solo shot in the fourth and followed with another drive after a walk to Darrell Evans in the sixth. Both smashes came off George Stone, who formerly was Aaron's teammate. [The Sporting News]



Atlanta Braves 4, New York Mets 2
Game Played on Sunday, July      8, 1973 (Day game) at Shea Stadium
Braves       0  1  0    1  0  2    0  0  0  -   4  9  1
Mets         0  0  0    0  1  0    1  0  0  -   2  8  0


Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Garr rf               4   0   2   0     0   0   .277      Mays cf               4   0   2   0     0   1   .202
Perez ss              4   0   0   0     0   0   .228      Millan 2b             4   0   0   0     0   1   .285
Evans 3b              3   1   0   0     1   1   .271      Milner 1b             4   0   1   0     0   1   .218
Aaron lf              3   2   2   3     1   0   .240      Staub rf              2   0   0   0     2   0   .275
  Jackson pr,lf       0   0   0   0     0   0   .222      Jones lf              4   0   0   0     0   0   .264
Baker cf              4   1   2   1     0   0   .292      Garrett ss            4   2   2   0     0   0   .232
Johnson 2b            3   0   1   0     1   0   .267      Boswell 3b            4   0   1   0     0   0   .224
Dietz 1b              2   0   1   0     1   0   .314      Hodges c              4   0   1   0     0   0   .288
  Tepedino pr,1b      1   0   0   0     0   0   .295      Stone p               2   0   1   1     0   1   .381
Oates c               4   0   0   0     0   1   .240        Kranepool ph        0   0   0   0     1   0   .261
P. Niekro p           4   0   1   0     0   0   .167        Seaver pr           0   0   0   0     0   0   .163
                                                            McAndrew p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .143
                                                            Beauchamp ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .273

Totals               32   4   9   4     4   2             Totals               33   2   8   1     3   4

Time of Game: 2:16   Attendance: 33,017
Left on Base: Braves 5, Mets 7
DP: Braves 2, Mets 3
Errors: Johnson
Doubles: P. Niekro (3)
Home Runs: Baker (7), Aaron 2 (23)
Caught Stealing: Garr (4)
GIDP: Dietz (3), Millan (7), Hodges (6)


Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
P. Niekro W(9-4)        9     8   2   2   3   4   0  36   2.89
Totals                  9     8   2   2   3   4   0  36

Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Stone L(4-3)            7     8   4   4   3   2   3  29   2.80
McAndrew                2     1   0   0   1   0   0   7   5.64
Totals                  9     9   4   4   4   2   3  36

Umpires: HP - Ed Vargo, 1B - Paul Pryor, 2B - Bruce Froemming, 3B - Terry Tata


BRAVES 1ST: On a bunt Garr singled; Garr was caught stealing
second (catcher to second); Perez grounded out (third to first);
Evans popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Braves 0, Mets 0.

METS 1ST: Mays singled to center; Millan grounded into a double
play (pitcher to shortstop to first) [Mays out at second];
Milner was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves
0, Mets 0.

BRAVES 2ND: Aaron flied to left; Baker homered; Johnson walked;
Dietz grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first)
[Johnson out at second]; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 1, Mets 0.

METS 2ND: Staub walked; Jones flied to left; Garrett forced
Staub (second to shortstop); Boswell popped to third in foul
territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 1, Mets 0.

BRAVES 3RD: Oates grounded out (second to first); P. Niekro
doubled to left; Garr grounded out (second to first) [P. Niekro
to third]; Perez grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Braves 1, Mets 0.

METS 3RD: Hodges popped to third; Stone struck out; Mays
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves
1, Mets 0.

BRAVES 4TH: Evans was called out on strikes; Aaron homered;
Baker singled to left; Johnson forced Baker (shortstop to
second); Dietz singled to center [Johnson to third]; Oates
grounded out (first to pitcher); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Braves
2, Mets 0.

METS 4TH: Millan lined to left; Milner flied to left; Staub
walked; Jones grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Braves 2, Mets 0.

BRAVES 5TH: P. Niekro grounded out (pitcher to shortstop to
first); Garr flied to left; Perez grounded out (third to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 2, Mets 0.

METS 5TH: Garrett singled to right; Boswell grounded out (first
unassisted) [Garrett to second]; Hodges reached on an error by
Johnson [Garrett to third]; Stone singled to right [Hodges out
at third (right to third), Garrett scored]; Mays singled to left
[Stone to second]; Millan flied to right; 1 R, 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.
Braves 2, Mets 1.

BRAVES 6TH: Evans walked; Aaron homered [Evans scored]; Baker
flied to center; Johnson popped to shortstop; Dietz walked;
TEPEDINO RAN FOR DIETZ; Oates struck out; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Braves 4, Mets 1.

METS 6TH: TEPEDINO STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Milner popped to
third in foul territory; Staub grounded out (shortstop to
first); Jones grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Braves 4, Mets 1.

BRAVES 7TH: P. Niekro flied to center; On a bunt Garr singled;
Perez lined into a double play (second to first) [Garr out at
first]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 4, Mets 1.

METS 7TH: Garrett singled to left; Boswell singled to right
[Garrett to third]; Hodges grounded into a double play
(shortstop to first) [Garrett scored (no RBI), Boswell out at
second]; KRANEPOOL BATTED FOR STONE; Kranepool walked; SEAVER
RAN FOR KRANEPOOL; Mays struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Braves 4, Mets 2.

BRAVES 8TH: MCANDREW REPLACED SEAVER (PITCHING); Evans flied to
center; Aaron walked; JACKSON RAN FOR AARON; Baker lined into a
double play (second to first) [Jackson out at first]; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Braves 4, Mets 2.

METS 8TH: JACKSON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Millan struck
out; Milner singled; Staub forced Milner (first to shortstop);
Jones forced Staub (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Braves 4, Mets 2.

BRAVES 9TH: Johnson singled to center; Tepedino flied to left;
Oates flied to left; P. Niekro forced Johnson (third to second);
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 4, Mets 2.

METS 9TH: Garrett grounded out (second to first); Boswell
grounded out (second to pitcher); Hodges singled to center;
BEAUCHAMP BATTED FOR MCANDREW; Beauchamp flied to right; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Braves 4, Mets 2.