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Game 2 Minutiae

Better late than never...

* The Mets improved to 8-5 in Game 2s with their victory on Thursday. If you were going to rate them based on levels of angst, this one would probably rank in the Top 3 among angst-free victories, alongside Game 2 of the 1969 NLCS (an 8-0 lead turned into an 11-6 win) and Game 2 of the 1986 NLCS (a 5-1 win for Bob Ojeda) and slightly ahead of Jon Matlack's 2-hit shutout in Game 2 of the 1973 NLCS (a 5-0 win, and a 2-hitter, but it was a 1-0 game going into the 9th)

* Jose Reyes had 2 RBI. It was the first RBI for a Mets starting shortstop in a postseason game since Rey Ordonez had one in Game 3 of the 1999 NLDS against Arizona. It marked the 1st time in team history that a Mets starting shortstop had 2 RBI in a postseason game.

* Tom Glavine joined Jon Matlack and Bob Ojeda as lefthanders who won their Mets postseason debut.

* Billy Wagner joined Jesse Orosco (1986 World Series) as the only Mets pitchers to save 2 games in the same postseason series.

* Julio Franco became the oldest Met with a postseason RBI, supplanting 42-year-old Willie Mays. Franco entered his at bat 0-for-9 with the bases loaded in 2006, with 4 strikeouts and 3 GIDP's

* The Mets lead a postseason series 2-0 for the 3rd time in club history (1969 NLCS vs Atlanta, 2000 NLCS vs Cardinals).

* Looking ahead, the Mets are 9-3 all-time in postseason Game 3s, with walk-off wins in the 1986 NLCS (Len Dykstra) and 2000 NLDS (Benny Agbayani). They are 8-4 in games in which they can eliminate an opponent and win a series.
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Barry Federovitch said…
'73 NLCS Game 2 was TOTALLY angst-ridden! Mets were already down 1-0 in the series and Game 2 was like a mirror image of Game 1 ...Mets grab 1-0 lead then hope to hold it. A loss and the Mets would have been DONE in the series. Every pitch was huge for Matlack and the Reds had the type of lineup that could ruin a game instantly. Until the Mets broke it open in the ninth, as you mentioned, there was MUCH angst.
3:44 AM
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