Although forced to call on three pitchers, the Mets were able to gain a 7-3 victory over the Phillies, who went down to their eighth straight defeat. Craig Swan started for the Mets, Nino Espinosa picked up the victory in relief and Skip Lockwood saved the game, allowing one hit in the last three innings. The Mets jumped off to a 4-0 lead before the Phillies picked up a pair in the fourth and pulled within one run when Mike Schmidt hit his 33rd homer of the season in the sixth.

The Mets came back with a run in their half on a single by John Stearns, error by Wayne Twitchell and sacrifice fly by Billy Baldwin. Dave Kingman, playing in only his seventh game after being out more than a month with a hand injury, then tied Schmidt for the league lead in homers by hitting his 33rd and his first since July 18 with a man on base in the seventh inning. [The Sporting News]



New York Mets 7, Philadelphia Phillies 3
Game Played on Saturday, September 4, 1976 (Day game) at Shea Stadium
Phillies     0  0  0    2  0  1    0  0  0  -   3  7  2
Mets         0  1  3    0  0  1    2  0  x  -   7  8  0


Phillies             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Cash 2b               3   0   0   0     1   0   .277      Boisclair cf          5   1   1   0     0   2   .276
Maddox cf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .323      Millan 2b             1   0   1   0     0   0   .277
Schmidt 3b            3   1   1   1     0   2   .269        Harrelson pr,ss     1   1   0   0     1   0   .213
Luzinski lf           4   1   1   0     0   0   .303      Milner lf             4   2   2   1     0   0   .265
Johnstone rf          4   1   2   0     0   0   .341        Brown lf            0   0   0   0     0   0   .221
Allen 1b              3   0   1   1     1   2   .290      Kingman rf            4   1   1   2     0   0   .231
Boone c               3   0   1   1     0   0   .298      Kranepool 1b          2   0   1   1     2   0   .284
Bowa ss               3   0   1   0     0   0   .249      Staiger 3b            2   1   0   1     1   0   .246
Lonborg p             1   0   0   0     0   0   .179      Stearns c             4   1   2   0     0   0   .179
  Tolan ph            0   0   0   0     1   0   .254      Phillips ss,2b        4   0   0   0     0   1   .258
  Twitchell p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Swan p                2   0   0   0     0   1   .094
  McCarver ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .258        Espinosa p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Schueler p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        B. Baldwin ph       0   0   0   1     0   0   .000
  Garber p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .333        Lockwood p          1   0   0   0     0   0   .400

Totals               29   3   7   3     3   4             Totals               30   7   8   6     4   4

Time of Game: 2:34   Attendance: 16,022
Left on Base: Phillies 4, Mets 6
DP: Phillies 0, Mets 1
Errors: Luzinski, Twitchell
Doubles: Allen (14), Stearns (2), Boisclair (11), Milner (20)
Home Runs: Schmidt (33), Kingman (33)
Stolen Bases: Cash (6)
Caught Stealing: Schmidt (8), Allen 2 (4)
Sacrifice Flies: Boone (7), Staiger (4), B. Baldwin (1)
GIDP: Cash (13)
Hit by Pitch: Schmidt (10,by Swan), Millan (6,by Lonborg)


Phillies               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Lonborg L(14-9)         4     5   4   4   1   1   0  19   3.38
Twitchell               2     1   1   0   2   2   0   9   1.97
Schueler                1     2   2   2   1   0   1   6   3.51
Garber                  1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   2.88
Totals                  8     8   7   6   4   4   1  37

Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Swan                    4     5   2   2   2   2   0  18   3.58
Espinosa W(3-3)         2     1   1   1   1   0   1   6   3.86
Lockwood SV(15)         3     1   0   0   0   2   0  10   2.72
Totals                  9     7   3   3   3   4   1  34

Hit by Pitch: Lonborg (5), Swan (5)
Wild Pitches: Schueler (2)

Umpires: HP - Harry Wendelstedt, 1B - Dick Stello, 2B - Jim Quick, 3B - Bill Williams


PHILLIES 1ST: Cash grounded out (shortstop to first); Maddox
grounded out (shortstop to first); Schmidt was hit by a pitch;
Schmidt was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 0, Mets 0.

METS 1ST: Boisclair grounded out (first unassisted); Millan
singled to shortstop; Milner flied to center; Kingman popped to
third; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Mets 0.

PHILLIES 2ND: Luzinski flied to center; Johnstone singled to
left; Allen struck out; Boone singled to center [Johnstone to
second]; Bowa popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 2 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Phillies 0, Mets 0.

METS 2ND: Kranepool popped to third; Staiger walked; Stearns
doubled to left [Staiger scored (error by Luzinski) (no RBI)];
Phillips grounded out (shortstop to first) [Stearns to third];
Swan struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Mets 1.

PHILLIES 3RD: Lonborg flied to left; Cash walked; Cash stole
second; Maddox flied to center; Schmidt struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Mets 1.

METS 3RD: Boisclair doubled to right; Millan was hit by a pitch;
HARRELSON RAN FOR MILLAN; Milner singled to center [Boisclair
scored, Harrelson to second]; Kingman popped to catcher in foul
territory; Kranepool singled to left [Harrelson scored, Milner
to third]; Staiger hit a sacrifice fly to right [Milner scored];
Stearns flied to center; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 0, Mets
4.

PHILLIES 4TH: HARRELSON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); PHILLIPS
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 2B); Luzinski singled to left;
Johnstone singled to left [Luzinski to second]; Allen doubled to
right [Luzinski scored, Johnstone to third]; Boone hit a
sacrifice fly to left [Johnstone scored, Allen to third]; Allen
was caught stealing home (catcher unassisted); Bowa flied to
right; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 2, Mets 4.

METS 4TH: Phillips flied to center; Swan grounded out (shortstop
to first); Boisclair grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 2, Mets 4.

PHILLIES 5TH: TOLAN BATTED FOR LONBORG; Tolan walked; ESPINOSA
REPLACED SWAN (PITCHING); Cash grounded into a double play
(second to second to first) [Tolan out at second]; Maddox flied
to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 2, Mets 4.

METS 5TH: TWITCHELL REPLACED TOLAN (PITCHING); Harrelson walked;
Milner grounded out (pitcher to first) [Harrelson to second];
Kingman grounded out (pitcher to first); Kranepool was walked
intentionally; Staiger flied to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Phillies 2, Mets 4.

PHILLIES 6TH: Schmidt homered; Luzinski grounded out (first
unassisted); Johnstone grounded out (second to first); Allen
walked; Allen was caught stealing second (catcher to second); 1
R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 3, Mets 4.

METS 6TH: Stearns singled to left; Stearns was picked off first
but was safe on an error by Twitchell [Stearns to third];
Phillips struck out; B. BALDWIN BATTED FOR ESPINOSA; B. Baldwin
hit a sacrifice fly to right [Stearns scored (unearned)];
Boisclair struck out; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 3,
Mets 5.

PHILLIES 7TH: LOCKWOOD REPLACED B. BALDWIN (PITCHING); Boone
flied to center; Bowa singled to center; MCCARVER BATTED FOR
TWITCHELL; McCarver grounded out (second to first) [Bowa to
second]; Cash flied to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 3,
Mets 5.

METS 7TH: SCHUELER REPLACED MCCARVER (PITCHING); Harrelson
grounded out (second to first); Milner doubled to right; Kingman
homered [Milner scored]; Kranepool walked; Staiger grounded out
(second to first) [Kranepool to second]; Schueler threw a wild
pitch [Kranepool to third]; Stearns popped to shortstop; 2 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Phillies 3, Mets 7.

PHILLIES 8TH: BROWN REPLACED MILNER (PLAYING LF); Maddox flied
to center; Schmidt struck out; Luzinski flied to right; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 3, Mets 7.

METS 8TH: GARBER REPLACED SCHUELER (PITCHING); Phillips grounded
out (pitcher to first); Lockwood popped to second; Boisclair was
called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 3, Mets 7.

PHILLIES 9TH: Johnstone grounded out (second to first); Allen
struck out; Boone popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Phillies 3, Mets 7.