National League Standings, August 18, 1998
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE AUGUST 18, 1998 GAME:
David M.
February 4, 2002
I was not at this game but on vacation in Colorado at the time. I watched this game at a bar/grill/restaurant in Colorado and drove the Rockies fan insane! Great game. We also won the back end of the double header too.
Dave VW
February 14, 2024
This was the first of 7 games over a 4-day period for the Mets, as they had 3 doubleheaders scheduled over that brutal span. They got off on the right foot with this win, highlighted by tying their season high with 4 home runs. All 4 were given up by Pedro Astacio, who set a Rockies record that still stands by allowing 39 HRs in 1998. Coincidentally, the Mets also hit 4 HRs against another Pedro during this season -- Pedro Martinez in a win at Boston back in June. The 4 HRs Astacio allowed also tied the most he ever surrendered in a game, and tied the most a pitcher ever gave up in a game at Shea Stadium.
One of the Mets homers was by Todd Hundley, which was his second-to-last as a member of the team. It was a classic Hundley blast, as he turned on an inside hanging slider and pounded it way beyond the RF wall. Although, he also dropped a flyball in this game for his 5th error of the season.
On the whole, despite committing 2 errors (Edgardo Alfonzo had the other one), the Mets played some of the season's best defense in this game. Lenny Harris made a great catch while slipping and falling down on the wet outfield grass, Luis Lopez made several marvelous plays at 2B spelling Carlos Baerga, and Alfonzo retired Neifi Perez on screaming line drives 3 separate times. They needed it as Al Leiter once again put tons of runners on base. Despite eclipsing 100 pitches by the 6th inning, Leiter pitched through 8 innings as Bobby V wanted to save his bullpen bullets knowing the Mets would be playing so many games over such a short period of time. Turk Wendell then held the opposition scoreless for the 17th time in his last 18 appearances, and 27th time in his last 29 appearances, to close out the game. His emergence as a dependable lockdown reliever may be the most underappreciated story of the 1998 season.
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