MLB: 1986 Postseason Retrospective Filled with Triumph and Tragedy
1986 National League Championship Series
As expected, Mike Scott came out and dominated Game 1 of the 1986 NLCS. He pitched the team to a 1-0 victory and had 14 strikeouts, outpitching young Dwight Gooden. The only run of the game came on a Glenn Davis home run. The Mets evened the series up with a 5-1 victory in Game 2, as Bobby Ojeda pitched all nine innings, scattering 10 hits and walking two, but allowing just the single run. Nolan Ryan started the game for the Astros and lasted just five innings. Lenny Dykstra, Wally Backman, and Keith Hernandez combined for six hits and two walks out of the top three spots in the batting order.
The Astros took an early 4-0 lead in Game 3 but starting pitcher Bob Knepper couldn’t hold it. The Mets exploded for four runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Astros battled back with a single run in the top of the seventh and looked to take a lead in the series if Dave Smith could hold the lead in the bottom of the ninth. He couldn’t. Lenny Dykstra hit a two-run jack off Smith to win the game for the Mets.
Mike Scott was back on the mound for Game Four and he once again shut down the Mets. He tossed his second complete game and allowed just a single run. The Astros scored their runs on a two-run homer by Alan Ashby and a solo shot from Dickie Thon. The series was tied at two games apiece.
Game Five was a matchup of 39-year-old Nolan Ryan and 21-year-old Dwight Gooden. With these two flamethrowers on the bump, offense was scarce. They each allowed just a single run. Ryan pitched nine innings and struck out 12 batters. Gooden lasted 10 innings before turning it over to Jesse Orosco in the eleventh inning. The game stayed tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the 12th. In that frame, Charlie Kerfeld gave up an RBI single to Gary Carter, sending the Shea Stadium faithful home happy.
With Mike Scott looming, the Mets knew how important Game 6 would be. Mookie Wilson made it clear, saying, “I think of all the things we feared the most was facing Scott in Game 7. We knew what was at stake. We knew that if we lost Game 6, Game 7 was pretty much a write-off. Mentally, most of the guys on the team didn’t think that we could beat Scott.”
The Astros came out strong in Game 6 by scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. With that lead in hand, starting pitcher Bob Knepper started tossing zeroes. He made it through eight scoreless innings but ran into trouble in the ninth. Astros manager Hal Lanier let Knepper start the inning, but Big Bob ran into trouble immediately, allowing a pinch-hit triple to Lenny Dykstra and an RBI-single to Mookie Wilson. He got Kevin Mitchell to ground out, but then allowed an RBI-double to Keith Hernandez and the score was 3-2, Astros.
That was it for Knepper. Dave Smith came in to try to shut the door. The Astros still needed two outs to force a Game 7. Unfortunately, Smith was not on his game. He walked Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry to load the bases, then gave up a game-tying sacrifice fly to Ray Knight. After an intentional walk to Wally Backman, Smith was able to get pinch-hitter Danny Heep to end the inning.
Neither team could score over the next four innings. The Mets got on the board in the top of the 14th on an RBI-single by Wally Backman. The Astros weren’t done, though. They came right back with a solo homer by Billy Hatcher to tie the game, as the Astrodome sounded as loud as it ever had. About that home run, Hatcher said, “That’s probably the closest thing I’ll ever do to get to heaven. Everything was in slow motion. I remember running round the bases and if you can imagine this, I couldn’t hear myself think. Probably one of the greatest moments of my life.”
Neither team scored in the 15th, but the Mets got it going again in the top of the 16th when they rallied for three runs. It seemed to put the nail in the coffin of the Astros. Then, like a horror movie monster rising from the dead, the Astros came back to life. With the ageless Jesse Orosco on the mound, pinch-hitter Davey Lopes walked. Bill Doran and Billy Hatcher singled and the score was 7-5. Denny Walling grounded into a force out, but Glenn Davis followed with a single to make it 7-6, with two outs and runners on first-and-second. Up stepped Kevin Bass, looking for the game-winning hit. Alas, it was not to be. Bass struck out swinging and the Mets had won the NLCS.
Scott didn’t get his chance to pitch Game 7, but did walk away with the MVP Award for the 1986 NLCS. The pitcher who lost the 3-0 lead in the ninth inning of Game 6, Bob Knepper, went from 17-12 with a 3.14 ERA in 1986 to 8-17 with a 5.27 ERA in 1987. It may have been the crushing loss of this playoff series that affected him the next year. The Astros blew leads in three of their four losses, including losing games in the bottom of the ninth, the bottom of the 12th and the top of the 16th. Keith Hernandez said at the time that it was “the greatest game I ever played in.” Little did he know what would happen 10 days later.