EXPOS SPOIL METS HOME OPENER WITH 4-RUN 17TH
Carter's 3-Run Bomb Caps Scoring
NEW YORK, Apr. 9 (AP) - The Montreal Expos broke a 1-1 tie with a four-run top
of the 17th inning, defeating the New York Mets 5-1 at Shea Stadium in the
season opener for both clubs. After Ellis Valentine drove home Pepe
Mangual with the tie-breaking run Gary Carter iced the game with a three-run
home run for the Expos. The anticipated pitcher's duel between Steve
Rogers of Montreal and Tom Seaver of New York materialized; both pitchers
allowed a single run while working eight and nine innings respectively.
The Expos scored first, with an unearned run in the second. Barry Foote led off
the inning with a double and, one out later, moved to third when Mets shortstop
Bud Harrelson booted a routine ground ball off the bat of Pete Mackanin for an
error, leaving runners on first and third with one out. Tim Foli then
rolled into a fielder's choice, with Foote scoring to give Montreal a 1-0 lead.
The Mets picked up the equalizer in the fourth. Ed Kranepool singled to
left with one out and then advanced to second on a Rogers wild pitch.
After Dave Kingman flied to center, John Milner singled to left, scoring
Kranepool to tie the game at one.
The Expos appeared to have a good scoring opportunity in the sixth when Foote
led off with a single and Carter followed with a walk, putting runners on first
and second with none out. But Mackanin's sacrifice attempt led to a force
at third and Seaver retired Foli and Rogers to escape trouble.
Rogers completely shut the Mets down after the Milner single in the fourth,
retiring the next 12 New York batters in order before surrendering a two-out
single to Wayne Garrett in the eighth. That hit amounted to nothing as
Felix Millan grounded out to end the inning.
Scoring opportunities in extra innings were scarce for both teams, but Montreal
did have a good chance in the 13th. Facing Ken Sanders, Jerry White led
off with a double and moved to third on Carter's sacrifice. But, with the
infield in, Mackanin lined to short and Foli grounded out to end the inning.
The best chance for the Mets came in the 15th. Jerry Grote led off with a
double to left-center off Wayne Granger and was replaced by pinch runner Jon
Matlack. Bud Harrelson's sacrifice attempt was so good it went for an
infield single, putting runners on first and third with no outs. Joe Torre
then grounded to a drawn in Mackanin at second who cut down Matlack at the plate
for the first out. Garrett followed by grounding out, with the runners
advancing to second and third and Millan bounced to short to end the inning.
In the top of the 17th, Hank Webb walked Mangual to open the inning. Jose
Morales lined to left but Valentine doubled to left-center, scoring Mangual all
the way from first base to break the longstanding tie. Larry Parrish drew
a free pass and Webb was then called for a balk, moving the runners to second
and third. White struck out but Carter followed with his drive into the
left field bullpen for 5-1 Expos advantage.
Don Stanhouse, in his second inning of work, allowed a one-out single to John
Stearns in the bottom of the 17th but then retired Harrelson and Torre to end
the game, sending what remained of the sellout crowd home disappointed.
4/9/1976, Mon76-NYN76, Shea Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1976 Expos 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1976 Mets 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 14 15 16 17 R H E LOB DP 1976 Expos 0 0 0 0 4 5 11 0 14 1 1976 Mets 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 2 11 1 Expos AB R H BI AVG Mets AB R H BI AVG Mangual,P cf 7 1 1 0 .143 Garrett,W 3b 7 0 1 0 .143 Biittner lf 4 0 1 0 .250 Millan 2b 7 0 1 0 .143 Morales,Jo ph 4 0 1 0 .250 Kranepool 1b 3 1 1 0 .333 Jorgensen 1b 3 0 1 0 .333 Ayala ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Valentine,E ph 4 1 1 1 .250 Hall p 0 0 0 0 .000 Parrish 3b 7 1 0 0 .000 Lockwood p 0 0 0 0 .000 Foote c 4 1 3 0 .750 Phillips ph 1 0 0 0 .000 White,J pr 3 0 1 0 .333 Sanders p 0 0 0 0 .000 Carter rf 6 1 1 3 .167 Hodges ph 1 0 1 0 1.000 Mackanin 2b 8 0 0 0 .000 Apodaca p 0 0 0 0 .000 Foli ss 6 0 0 1 .000 Staiger ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Rogers p 3 0 1 0 .333 Webb p 0 0 0 0 .000 Dwyer ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Kingman rf 7 0 0 0 .000 Scherman p 0 0 0 0 .000 Milner lf 7 0 3 1 .429 Colbert ph 0 0 0 0 .000 Unser cf 2 0 0 0 .000 Murray,D p 0 0 0 0 .000 Boisclair ph 4 0 0 0 .000 Frias ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Grote c 6 0 1 0 .167 Granger p 0 0 0 0 .000 Matlack pr 0 0 0 0 .000 Rivera ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Stearns c 1 0 1 0 1.000 Stanhouse p 0 0 0 0 .000 Harrelson ss 6 0 1 0 .167 62 5 11 5 Seaver p 2 0 0 0 .000 Torre 1b 4 0 0 0 .000 60 1 10 1 Expos INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Rogers 8.0 4 1 1 2 5 112 65 1.13 Scherman 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 12 0.00 Murray,D 3.0 1 0 0 1 0 38 21 0.00 Granger 2.0 4 0 0 0 0 21 15 0.00 Stanhouse W 1-0 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 27 17 0.00 17.0 10 1 1 3 8 212 130 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Seaver 9.0 6 1 0 3 9 127 91 0.00 Hall 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 16 9 0.00 Lockwood 2.0 0 0 0 1 5 32 22 0.00 Sanders 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 20 16 0.00 Apodaca 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 23 15 0.00 Webb L 0-1 1.0 2 4 4 2 1 29 15 36.00 17.0 11 5 4 7 15 247 168 Mon: White,J ran for Foote in the 8th White,J moved to rf in the 8th Carter moved to c in the 8th Dwyer batted for Rogers in the 9th Morales,Jo batted for Biittner in the 10th Valentine,E batted for Jorgensen in the 10th Mangual,P moved to lf in the 10th Morales,Jo moved to 1b in the 10th Valentine,E moved to cf in the 10th Colbert batted for Scherman in the 11th Frias batted for Murray,D in the 14th Rivera batted for Granger in the 16th NYN: Ayala batted for Kranepool in the 9th Torre inserted at 1b in the 10th Boisclair batted for Unser in the 10th Boisclair moved to cf in the 11th Phillips batted for Lockwood in the 12th Hodges batted for Sanders in the 14th Matlack ran for Grote in the 15th Stearns inserted at c in the 16th Staiger batted for Apodaca in the 16th E-Garrett,W, Harrelson. 2B-Jorgensen(1), Foote(1), White,J(1), Valentine,E(1), Grote(1). HR-Carter(1). RBI-Carter 3(3), Foli(1), Valentine,E(1), Milner(1). SB-Mangual,P(1). K-Mangual,P 4, Jorgensen, Parrish 3, Carter, Mackanin 2, Foli, White,J, Dwyer, Morales,Jo, Kingman, Milner, Unser, Grote, Harrelson, Seaver 2, Staiger. BB-Mangual,P, Jorgensen, Parrish, Carter, Foli, White,J, Colbert, Unser, Harrelson, Seaver. SH-Carter. WP-Rogers. BALK-Webb. GWRBI: Valentine,E Temperature: 57, Sky: cloudy, Wind: in from center at 12 MPH. Attendance: 52,458 Game Time: 4:29