Amazin's take 2 of 3 from Houston

9/23 - Colt's Stadium - Houston, TX
GAME 1 - Mets 4, Colt 45's 3 (11 inn)
Diminutive left Al Jackson battled Jim Golden. Both starters gave up 3 runs in 7 innings of work. Neither figured into the decision. In the 11th inning the Metsies managed to score a run off of reliever Jim Umbricht when Joe Pignatano singled home Jim Hickman with the bases loaded. Umbricht battled pinch hitter Gene Woodling and was rewarded with a line out DP that doubled up Felix Mantilla. When Richie Ashburn grounded out to short the Colt 45's looked to have some momentum going into the home half of the inning down by 1. The Mets called upon lefty Ken MacKenzie to save victory. Pinch hitter Jim Pendleton lined to Frank Thomas in left for the first out. Al Spangler grounded out to second and Bob Moorhead came on to get the final out in a righty vs right matchup against Bob Aspromonte.

9/24
GAME 2 - Mets 3, Colt 45's 1
Houston broke the ice with a solo run in the bottom of the 2nd when Bob Aspromonte hit a solo shot. As fate would have it that would be the only run the Colt 45's would score off of the putrid Met pitching staff. After the 4th a huge downpour hit Colt Stadium for about 45 minutes. When play resumed Met starter Bob Moorhead was gone. Houston tried to stretch their starter, Hal Woodeshick, and it just didn't work. Between Woodeshick and reliever Tiefenauer the Mets were able to cash in to the tune of 3 runs. Felix Mantilla and Frank Thomas both doubled home runs and Charlie Neal ended the scoring by singling home veteran Gil Hodges. Craig Anderson came on for the Mets and tossed 3 scoreless innings before being lifted in the 8th. The Mets manager played mix and match the rest of the way balancing righty vs lefty substitutions to corral the Colts. Bob Miller got the final 2 outs for the save.

9/25 - Polo Grounds - New York, NY
GAME 3 - Colt 45's 9, Mets 5
The Amazin's carried a 3-2 lead into the 6th when Jay Hook got torched for 4 runs. The following inning the Colts racked Vinegar Bend Mizell for 3 more runs. New York batted back and eventually chased Houston's starter Turk Farrell (6-2, 3.30) from the hill. With the score 8-4 in the 8th and the bases loaded Jim Umbricht was brought on to face slugger Frank Thomas with the bases loaded. Thomas walked and a run scored, but his team needed the long ball, which Jim Hickman could not provide as Richie Ashburn got nailed at the plate trying to tag up on Hickman's medium fly to Carl Warwick in center. Houston added an insurance run in the 9th when Roman Mejias led off with his second homer in a row and his 7th of the season. Warwick also stroked two homers as the porous Met pitching finally caught up to them.