National League Standings, June 4, 1996
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE JUNE 4, 1996 GAME:
Dave VW
July 31, 2023
The Mets offense finally breaks out of its slump in doubling up the defending champion Braves, 12-6. The Mets had averaged just 2.5 runs per game over their last 15 (going 6-9 over that span), so this was a long time coming. They took advantage of a young Jason Schmidt, who was making his first start with Atlanta since being sent to the minors back in April. Though he apparently threw a 1-hitter in his last start in the minors, he still looked like a lost cause during his return, giving up a long 3-run homer to Todd Hundley in the 1st and ultimately allowing 7 runs over just 3.2 innings.
On the other side, Paul Wilson wasn't great but was good enough to get the win. It looked like he was in line for a quick hook, too, as after the Mets took a 6-2 lead in the top of the 3rd, Wilson promptly walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom half of the inning, with Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff and Ryan Klesko up next. That normally spelled disaster, but Wilson buckled down and struck out Chipper, Klesko and Javy Lopez, with a McGriff RBI single sandwiched in. Still, he only gave up 1 run before escaping the jam, which was quite the accomplishment. For some reason, even after Wilson had reached 98 pitches over 6 innings and the Mets up comfortably, 12-4, Dallas Green still let his pitcher hit to lead off the 7th, and then let him go another 6 batters before finally taking him out. Maybe that didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but in retrospect this would be Wilson's last start for over a month as he'd land on the DL with shoulder tendinitis, so the extra unnecessary workload certainly couldn't have helped.
The 12 runs the Mets scored were the most they had vs. Atlanta since a 13-4 win back in April of 1988. These types of lopsided wins over the Braves were quite uncommon during this era, for sure.
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The Mets suck! Smith made three errors in this game, and hit into a
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