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October 17, 1999
1999 NLCS | Game 5
Ventura's grand-slam single ends marathon game |
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SHEA STADIUM, QUEENS, NEW YORK -- At five hours and 46 minutes, it was the longest game in postseason history - but this Shea Stadium classic was well worth the wait. In all, it took 45 players, 15 innings, 482 pitches and a whole lot of rain for the Mets to force a Game 6 back in Atlanta.
Starters: Greg Maddux vs. Masato Yoshii
WP: Octavio Dotel LP: Kevin McGlinchy
HR: NYM: John Olerud (1st), Robin Ventura (15th)
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After the Braves won the first three games, the Mets saved face by scoring the winning run off John Rocker in the eighth inning of Game 4. Then they set about putting a serious scare into Atlanta.
In Game 5, the Mets managed two runs in the first off starter Greg Maddux, while the Braves answered in the fourth with two runs of their own off Masato Yoshii. With Yoshii in trouble, Mets manager Bobby Valentine called on Orel Hershiser, who promptly showed flashes of his glory days with the Dodgers in '88. Hershiser entered with two on, no outs and promptly threw 3 1/3 innings of shutout baseball. Neither team would score again until the 15th inning.
In the top of the 15th, Keith Lockhart - who was thrown out at home two innings earlier - knocked in shortstop Walt Weiss for the go-ahead run, giving Atlanta a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
Though Atlanta's Kevin McGlinchy promptly loaded the bases, Manager Bobby Cox allowed him to face Robin Ventura rather than call on one of the two pitchers he had left: Game 6 starter Kevin Millwood, or Game 7 starter Tom Glavine. Ventura, who was hitless thus far in the series, parked a grand slam over the right-field wall … or did he?
After Roger Cedeno scored the winning run, Ventura was mobbed by teammates before he made it around the bases. The official scorer would credit Ventura with only a single. Still, Ventura's grand single was enough to force a sixth game.
Though the Mets went on to lose the series, it could not lessen the impact of Game 5 among history's greatest games. "It will be right up there," said Hershiser at the time, "with Kirk Gibson's home run, Carlton Fisk, Bucky Dent. This one will be on that tape with them."
Copyright 1999 by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball
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| Game 1 - October 12, 1999 |
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Mets |
2 |
6 |
2 |
| Braves |
4 |
8 |
2 |
| Game 2 - October 13, 1999 |
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Mets |
3 |
5 |
1 |
| Braves |
4 |
9 |
1 |
| Game 3 - October 15, 1999 |
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Braves |
1 |
3 |
1 |
| Mets |
0 |
7 |
2 |
| Game 4 - October 16, 1999 |
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Braves |
2 |
3 |
0 |
| Mets |
3 |
5 |
0 |
| Game 5 - October 17, 1999 |
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Braves |
3 |
13 |
2 |
| Mets |
4 |
11 |
1 |
| Game 6 - October 19, 1999 |
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Mets |
9 |
15 |
2 |
| Braves |
10 |
10 |
1 |
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