DannyBoy
January 24, 2002
Great story. I was in the bleachers with my girlfriend rooting for the Mets and really getting a verbal beating from the ignorant Cubs fans. There is a tradition at Wrigley where some clown in the bleachers yells out to Sammy Sosa, "Hey Sammy, how many outs are there?" Sammy would turn around and answer by pounding on his chest and putting his hands to his lips denoting the number of outs. Cool thing to see once, but annoying when it happens every inning as in this case. Late in this extra inning affair the Cubs had the winning run on with 2 outs and Sammy at the plate. With the crowd on their feet going crazy and chanting "Sammy, Sammy, Sammy", he whiffs to end the rally. As the bleacher bums surrounding me all begin to sit down in disgust, brilliant me happily ascends from my seat and shouts out "Hey Sammy, how many outs are there?!!!" Nearly got my ass kicked. Lieter notched over 10 K's in a no decision and Mahomes got the win, ironically driving in the winning run in the 13th with a shot to left. This and the Friday game earlier were a treat to witness. Oh yeah, my girlfirend and I broke up soon afterwards largely due to my so called "attitude" displayed at this game.

Michael
May 7, 2020
One of the truly memorable games from the 99 season. Pat Mahomes gets the game winning hit in the 13th inning after the Mets blew leads in the 9th and 10th. Al Leiter also had his career high in strikeouts, with 15 in 7 innings.

Rich Lyga
January 15, 2021
My brother and I visited Wrigley on that day on a road trip from New York (Saw a game at Tiger Stadium the next day). We sat in the left field bleachers decked out in Mets gear. We got to our seats about two hours early and by the time the game ended 6 hours later in the 13th, we had crazy sunburns on our legs (probably should not have worn shorts).

Despite all our Mets gear, the "friendly confines" were mostly friendly to us, except when Henry Rodriguez tied that game with a home run that landed about 5 feet from us. Immediately after that homer we were mercilessly ribbed, given a few shoves from drunk fans, and had "we're going to kick your ass!" shouted at us by at least one person. That said, we never really felt threatened, and had the last laugh when Mahomes got the game-winning hit in the 13th. I also remember that Leiter had filthy stuff that day (at least it seemed so from hundreds of feet away). He wound up striking out 15 in 7 innings.

Dave VW
May 27, 2024
What a way to cap a crazy series at Wrigley. After the teams combined for 46 runs over the first 2 games, Leiter and Kyle Farnsworth absolutely shut down the offense at the start of this game, with the Cubs finally striking first with 2 runs in the 5th. But Farnsworth, who had just pitched in the first game of the series, was removed after 5 shutout innings, and the Mets went right to work against the bullpen, taking the lead with 3 runs in the top of the 6th.

It remained 3-2 when Benitez came in for the save in the 9th, but he allowed an opposite-field homer to the first batter he faced, Rodriguez, which marked the third straight troublesome outing for Armando. The Mets got the run back in the top of the 10th as Rickey Henderson led off with a walk, stole second, and went to third on the catcher's throwing error, then scored on an Edgardo Alfonzo sac fly. But Benitez walked the first 2 he faced in the bottom of the 10th, and the Mets then brought in Billy Taylor, who actually joined the team during the game after being acquired from Oakland the previous day. Taylor got Sosa to ground out on a nice play by John Olerud, then intentionally walked Glenallen Hill so the Mets could bring in Dennis Cook to face the lefty Rodriguez with a force at every base. Cook indeed got the groundball he was looking for, but this time Olerud booted it, allowing the tying run to score. Cook then got pinch-hitter Jose Nieves to ground into a double play to force the 11th inning.

The Mets threatened in the 11th but Mike Piazza and Alfonzo came up empty with the go-ahead run in scoring position. Chuck McElroy then made his Mets debut, tossing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. In the 13th, Roger Cedeno led off with a double, but neither Todd Pratt nor Rey Ordonez could bring him in or move him over. The Cubs intentionally walked Benny Agbayani to bring up the pitching spot occupied by Mahomes, who relieved McElroy to get Sosa for the final out of the 12th. It was a wise move by Chicago as Luis Lopez was the only position player left available for the Mets and was being saved in case he'd be needed in an emergency role if Pratt got hurt behind the plate. But the plan backfired on the Cubs, as Mahomes dunked a single just in front of a diving Rodriguez in LF to score Cedeno. Thing of it is, Mahomes was actually no slouch at the plate, as he was hitting .400 (4-for-10) at the time! Agbayani was tagged out trying to advance to third, and with the Mets out of relief pitchers, Mahomes went back out there in the bottom of the inning to close it out.

He got the first two outs and the Cubs, also out of position players, were forced to bat reliever Scott Sanders as their last hope. Running the count to 3-2, Sanders nearly channeled his inner-Rick Camp and hit one off the wall in LF for a double. If the wind isn't blowing in at Wrigley, that's probably a home run. However, Mahomes gets Jeff Reed to strike out to finally end the game, giving the Mets one of the more memorable wins of the season.

Darryl Hamilton also made his Mets debut in the game, starting in CF and uncharacteristically batting 5th -- his first time batting 5th since 1992. He went 2-for-5 with a walk and RBI, but also got caught stealing and grounded into a double play.

For Leiter, the 15 strikeouts were the most he ever had in a game for his career. It was the most by a Mets pitcher since David Cone tied Tom Seaver's franchise record with 19 Ks in the 1991 season finale, and it was the most by a Mets left-hander since Sid Fernandez had 16 in a game in 1989. For the game, the Cubs struck out 20 times, which set a franchise record. They tied that record in 2002, and broke it with 23 strikeouts during a 16-inning game vs. Houston in 2003.