National League Standings, September 7, 1998
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE SEPTEMBER 7, 1998 GAME:
john foster
April 10, 2003
I remember this was the day Mark McGuire tied Maris's record and the game was delayed by a wicked blowing rainstorm that brought Bobby Valentine out to hold down the tarp. Also it was a day game and the sky turned jet black during the delay.
Michael
April 30, 2020
Labor Day 1998. I remember watching this one on TV as in the middle innings, a huge storm came and at 3PM it basically looked like midnight. Truly a weird feeling. Also a great game, as Alfonzo hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to put the Mets ahead 8-7. Franco saved it and the Mets had an important win in the wild card race.
Dave VW
March 21, 2024
The crazy part about this win is that the Mets beat the Braves the exact same way just 2 days prior -- with a 2-run homer with 2 outs in the 8th inning. Whereas Tony Phillips played the hero in that game, it was Alfonzo in this one -- helping to make up for going 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts earlier in the game.
Future Met Bruce Chen made his Major League debut, starting in place of the ailing Denny Neagle. He struck out the first two batters he faced but the wheels quickly came off thereafter, as he gave up a 2-run homer to Luis Lopez and a solo shot to Phillips in the 2nd, and then an RBI single to Brian McRae in the 3rd before the storm hit and delayed the game for almost 2 hours.
In between the top and bottom half of the 3rd inning, it was pretty neat to see the entire stadium -- players included -- give a standing ovation when they saw the news that McGwire had hit #61. I wonder if the news received the same reception at each park that day.
With the Mets leading 6-2 in the 6th, Rigo Beltran retired the first two batters of the inning, but then 6 straight reached base for the Braves. That included Andruw Jones homering in a third consecutive game, and RBI hits by Greg Colbrunn, Gerald Williams and Tony Graffanino (all coming off Turk Wendell), giving Atlanta a 7-6 lead. The inning only came to an end after Lopez booted a grounder by Chipper Jones but tracked down the ball and threw home to nail Graffanino trying to score.
The Mets put 2 on in their half of the 6th but couldn't score, then went down quietly in the 7th. Atlanta brought in the dreaded John Rocker for the 8th, and he too looked firmly in control, getting the first two outs before losing Phillips on a 6-pitch walk. Alfonzo then came up clutch with his 2-run homer, which was one of only 2 Rocker allowed in his career against the Mets (Robin Ventura had the other one). Franco retired the side in order in the 9th, giving Rocker his only loss in 19 career appearances vs. the Mets.
Now it's your turn! Tell us what you remember of this game:
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