Blasting off for five runs in the first inning, the Cardinals went on to defeat the Mets, 9-6. In the opening frame, Garry Templeton singled, Lou Brock walked and Keith Hernandez cracked a homer for a 3-0 lead before a batter was retired.

Later in that frame, the Cards picked up two more runs, one on a round-tripper by George Hendrick, who also had three singles in the game. Brock hit two singles to raise his league-leading batting average to .381. [The Sporting News]



St. Louis Cardinals 9, New York Mets 6
Game Played on Thursday, May       31, 1979 (Day game) at Busch Stadium II
Mets         0  0  0    0  2  0    0  4  0  -   6 13  1
Cardinals    5  0  1    1  0  2    0  0  x  -   9 17  0


Mets                 AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Youngblood rf,3b      4   1   1   2     0   0   .305      Templeton ss          5   1   1   0     0   0   .291
  Murray p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Phillips ss         0   0   0   0     0   0   .303
  Kranepool ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .172      Brock lf              2   1   2   1     1   0   .381
  Lockwood p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Mumphrey pr,lf      2   1   1   0     0   0   .256
Taveras ss            3   0   2   0     0   0   .224      Hernandez 1b          5   2   3   4     0   0   .301
  Allen p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Simmons c             3   1   1   0     1   1   .293
  Trevino 3b          2   1   1   0     0   0   .379        Swisher c           1   0   0   0     0   1   .071
Mazzilli cf           2   0   1   0     1   0   .351      Hendrick rf           4   1   4   2     0   0   .322
  Boisclair rf        2   1   1   0     0   1   .286      Scott cf              3   1   2   1     0   1   .287
Hebner 3b             3   0   0   0     0   0   .299      Reitz 3b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .253
  Ferrer ss           1   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Oberkfell 2b          3   1   3   1     1   0   .328
  Maddox ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .222      Sykes p               4   0   0   0     0   2   .063
Stearns c             4   1   1   1     0   0   .212        McEnaney p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Montanez 1b           4   1   2   1     0   2   .227        Bruno p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Henderson lf          4   0   2   1     0   0   .272        Knowles p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Flynn 2b              4   1   2   1     0   0   .208
Scott p               0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Twitchell p         1   0   0   0     0   1   .333
  Flores ph,rf,cf     3   0   0   0     0   1   .238

Totals               39   6  13   6     1   5             Totals               36   9  17   9     3   5

Time of Game: 2:41   Attendance: 15,110
Left on Base: Mets 7, Cardinals 7
DP: Mets 3, Cardinals 1
Errors: Taveras
Doubles: Montanez (10), Flynn (3), Taveras (6), Oberkfell (4)
Triples: Hernandez (4)
Home Runs: Youngblood (8), Hernandez (5), Hendrick (4)
Stolen Bases: Taveras 2 (15), Templeton (8), Scott (16), Hendrick (2)
Sacrifice Flies: Scott (1)
GIDP: Hebner (1), Reitz 2 (7), Templeton (3)


Mets                   IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Scott L(1-1)            0.1   3   4   4   1   0   2   5   4.79
Twitchell               3.2   8   3   2   0   2   0  17   6.87
Allen                   2.1   6   2   2   2   2   0  14   7.06
Murray                  0.2   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   3.70
Lockwood                1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   1.53
Totals                  8    17   9   8   3   5   2  40

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Sykes W(4-2)            7.1  10   5   5   1   4   1  32   5.03
McEnaney                0     2   1   1   0   0   0   2   3.00
Bruno                   0.1   1   0   0   0   0   0   2   3.13
Knowles SV(5)           1.1   0   0   0   0   1   0   4   3.07
Totals                  9    13   6   6   1   5   1  40

Umpires: HP - Doug Harvey, 1B - Lanny Harris, 2B - Andy Olsen, 3B - Frank Pulli


METS 1ST: Youngblood grounded out (second to first); Taveras
singled to right; Taveras stole second; Taveras stole third;
Mazzilli walked; Hebner grounded into a double play (shortstop
to second to first) [Mazzilli out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Templeton singled to left; Templeton stole
second; Brock walked; Hernandez homered [Templeton scored, Brock
scored]; Simmons lined to center; Hendrick homered; TWITCHELL
REPLACED SCOTT (PITCHING); Scott singled to right; Scott stole
second; Reitz grounded out (third to first); Oberkfell singled
to center [Scott scored]; Sykes was called out on strikes; 5 R,
5 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 5.

METS 2ND: Stearns lined to shortstop; Montanez was called out on
strikes; Henderson singled to right; Flynn grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 5.

CARDINALS 2ND: Templeton grounded out (second to first); Brock
singled to right; Brock was picked off first (catcher to first);
Hernandez popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0,
Cardinals 5.

METS 3RD: Twitchell was called out on strikes; Youngblood flied
out to center; Taveras flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 5.

CARDINALS 3RD: Simmons singled to right; Hendrick singled to
shortstop [Simmons to third (error by Taveras)]; Scott hit a
sacrifice fly to left [Simmons scored (unearned)]; Reitz
grounded into a double play (pitcher to second to first)
[Hendrick out at second]; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0,
Cardinals 6.

METS 4TH: Mazzilli singled to center; Hebner flied out to left;
Stearns flied out to left; Montanez doubled to right [Mazzilli
to third]; Henderson flied out to center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Mets 0, Cardinals 6.

CARDINALS 4TH: Oberkfell doubled to left; Sykes flied out to
center; Templeton grounded out (second to first) [Oberkfell to
third]; Brock singled to center [Oberkfell scored]; MUMPHREY RAN
FOR BROCK; Hernandez singled to right [Mumphrey to second];
Simmons struck out; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 0, Cardinals 7.

METS 5TH: MUMPHREY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Flynn doubled to
left; FLORES BATTED FOR TWITCHELL; Flores grounded out
(shortstop to first) [Flynn to third]; Youngblood homered [Flynn
scored]; Taveras doubled to left; Mazzilli grounded out (pitcher
to shortstop to first); Hebner flied out to right; 2 R, 3 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Mets 2, Cardinals 7.

CARDINALS 5TH: FLORES STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); YOUNGBLOOD
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 3B); ALLEN REPLACED TAVERAS
(PITCHING); FERRER REPLACED HEBNER (PLAYING SS); Hendrick
singled to left; Scott singled to right [Hendrick to second];
Reitz grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first)
[Hendrick stayed at second, Scott out at second]; Tony Scott
called for interference at 2B; Hendrick stole third;
Oberkfell was walked intentionally; Sykes forced Oberkfell
(third to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 2, Cardinals 7.

METS 6TH: Stearns grounded out (shortstop to first); Montanez
struck out; Henderson flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Mets 2, Cardinals 7.

CARDINALS 6TH: Templeton grounded out (first to pitcher);
Mumphrey singled to center; Hernandez tripled to right [Mumphrey
scored]; Simmons was walked intentionally; Hendrick singled to
center [Hernandez scored, Simmons to second]; Scott struck out;
Reitz forced Hendrick (third to second); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Mets 2, Cardinals 9.

METS 7TH: SWISHER REPLACED SIMMONS (PLAYING C ); Flynn flied out
to center; Flores struck out; Youngblood grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2, Cardinals 9.

CARDINALS 7TH: BOISCLAIR REPLACED MAZZILLI (PLAYING RF); FLORES
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING CF); Oberkfell singled to center;
Sykes was called out on strikes; MURRAY REPLACED YOUNGBLOOD
(PITCHING); TREVINO REPLACED ALLEN (PLAYING 3B); Templeton
grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first)
[Oberkfell out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 2,
Cardinals 9.

METS 8TH: PHILLIPS REPLACED TEMPLETON (PLAYING SS); Trevino
singled to left; Boisclair singled to center [Trevino to
second]; Ferrer popped to shortstop; Stearns singled to center
[Trevino scored, Boisclair to third]; MCENANEY REPLACED SYKES
(PITCHING); Montanez singled to right [Boisclair scored, Stearns
to second]; Henderson singled to center [Stearns scored,
Montanez to second]; BRUNO REPLACED MCENANEY (PITCHING); Flynn
singled to center [Montanez scored, Henderson to third]; Flores
popped to shortstop; KRANEPOOL BATTED FOR MURRAY; KNOWLES
REPLACED BRUNO (PITCHING); Kranepool grounded out (second to
first); 4 R, 6 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 6, Cardinals 9.

CARDINALS 8TH: LOCKWOOD REPLACED KRANEPOOL (PITCHING); Mumphrey
flied out to center; Hernandez flied out to left; Swisher struck
out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 6, Cardinals 9.

METS 9TH: Trevino grounded out (third to first); Boisclair
struck out; MADDOX BATTED FOR FERRER; Maddox flied out to right;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 6, Cardinals 9.