Click here to see the boxscore. One key play was when Met CFer Tommie Agee threw out Lou Brock at home on a hit by Curt Flood in the third inning. Seems like Brock tried to score from first on a single. All data from Baseball Reference and Stathead.
Of the 6 games that year that Carlton had 10+ Ks, that was the only one when he gave up any HRs.
Click here to see all of Carlton's 10+ strikeout games of 1969.
Swoboda's HRs came in the 4th and 8th innings. He was 6 for 46 in his career vs. Carlton and those were his only 2 HRs.
Click here to see how Swoboda did in his career against different pitchers, including Carlton.
Pitchers with 18 or 19 Ks in a 9 IP game are 13-3 all-time.
Click here to see all the 9 IP games with 18 or 19 strikeouts.
Click here to read a story about the game by Richard Cuicchi. Part of the SABR games project.
If all of this seems improbable, just three days earlier on Sept. 12, the Mets won both ends of a doubleheader against the Pirates by a score of 1-0. In both games the only run was driven in by the Mets starting pitcher. In one of those games it was Jerry Koosman and it was his only RBI of the year. He batted .048 in 1969.
Click here to see the game one boxscore.
Click here to see the game two boxscore.
The Mets were the only team to win back-to-back 1-0 games in 1969. See the search Longest streak of consecutive games, in 1969, in the regular season, requiring Wins = 1 and Team Run Differential = 1 and Team Runs Scored = 1, sorted by most games matching criteria.
It looks like this is the only case of a team winning back to back 1-0 games in the Stathead database when a pitcher drove in the run in each game (covering the years 1901-24). See Longest streak of consecutive games, from 1901 to 2024, in the regular season, requiring Wins = 1 and Team Runs Scored = 1 and Team Run Differential = 1, sorted by most games matching criteria.
I looked at the box score of the first game in the streak to see if a pitcher drove in the run. If not, I went to the next case. If yes, I checked the 2nd game. There were 5-6 cases when a pitcher drove in the run in the first game. But then the run was driven in by a non-pitcher in the second game.
Also see September 12, 1969: Mets pitchers drive in all the runs in doubleheader sweep by Bob Wood. Part of the SABR games project.
This was also the only time the Pirates were shut out in back-to-back games in 1969. See 1969 Pittsburgh Pirates Schedule.
One more incredible thing. From August 30 thru the first game of doubleheader on September 19, the Mets went 23 games in a row without allowing a HR. That is the longest streak since 1946. Then there are three steaks of 17 and then three streaks of 15.
