Ultimate Mets Database: Game of July 3, 1986

THE ULTIMATE METS DATABASE IS NOT AFFILIATED IN ANY WAY WITH THE NEW YORK METS OR MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

- All-Time Roster Every Met player... EVER!
- Mug Shots The pretty ones and the ugly ones -- we have them all!
- Player Awards Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Hall of Fame, and more.
- Transactions Over a thousand player transactions -- in chronological order!
- Managers & Coaches The men who have led the Mets, and the men who helped them.
- Mets Staff Executives, General Managers, Broadcasters, and more. (And Jane Jarvis too!)
- Birth Places Perfect for planning your Mets pilgrimages!
- Oldest Living Mets See which Mets players have spent the most time walking the Earth.
- Necrology Mets players and personnel who are no longer with us.

- Game Results
  All the wins, all the losses. Includes box scores and score cards!
- Opening Day
  The first day of each season! See the starting lineups, who started at each position year-by-year, and leaders by position.
- Walkoff Wins & Losses
  Interactively search for the happiest and saddest endings to Mets games.
- Postseason Games How the Mets have fared in the games that count the most!
- No-Hitters & One-Hitters See a list of every no-hitter and one-hitter pitched by the Mets, or against them. One of these categories was frustratingly empty for over fifty years, but not anymore!
- All-Star Games Mets who have appeared in baseball's Mid-Summer Classic
- Opponents & Ballparks See the Mets won-lost record against every team, and in every ballpark in which they've played!
- Daily Standings What was the Mets' pennant outlook on any given day in past seasons?
- Yearly Finishes The heights and the depths: the Mets won-lost record at the end of each season.
- Mayor's Trophy Games A look back at the long-ago annual series between the Mets and their Bronx rivals.

- Leaderboards Career, season, and individual game leaders at your fingertips!
- Team Leaders Players who led the Mets in various categories, from season to season.
- Decade Leaders Mets history broken down into ten-year chunks!
- Post-Season Leaders Mets leaders, by category, in post-season games

- Ultimate Mets Scrapbook The history of the Mets, as it was reported when it happened!
- Forum Visit the Crane Pool Forum to discuss the Mets and just about anything else!
- Fan Memories Insightful. Poignant. Thrilling. Somber. Nutty. Our visitors have submitted thousands of thoughts and memories of the Mets and the games they've played.
- Mets Uniforms It's more than just laundry! Trace the evolution of the Mets official uniform over the years.
- Uniform Numbers In association with Mets By the Numbers, we present a full history of who wore what number, and when!/li>
- Baseball Cards Our collection of home-made baseball cards, in the style of the classic Topps cards of the 1970's.
- This Date in Mets History Births, Deaths, Transactions, Newspaper Covers

- Contact Us
- FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

Previous Game:
July 2, 1986
Mets 4, Cardinals 3 1986 Regular Season Game 74
July 3, 1986
Mets 6, Astros 5 Next Game:
July 4, 1986
Mets 2, Astros 1

Click to view scorecard

National League Standings, July 3, 1986

Box Score Game Memories Scorecard Mets Stats
Thru This Game

METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE JULY 3, 1986 GAME:

Henri Devigne
June 21, 2001
I was 19 at the time....I was pretty psyched about going to this game not only because it was fireworks night, but the were playing the NL West leading Astros too....In my mind this game was legendary in the annals of Mets history......The score was tied 4-4 and went into extra innings....In the top of the 10th, Phil Garner hit a solo HR off of Jesse Orosco to put the Astros up 5-4, but in the bottom of the 10th, Darryl Strawberry and Ray Knight hit back to back HR's to win the game 6-5...Shea went ballistic!!!....I'll never forget it....What was funny though was when during the fireworks afterward when they were showing season highlights on the Diamondvision a shot of Jesse Orosco popped up on the screen and he got a resounding boo from the crowd (for giving up the homer to Garner in the top of the tenth earlier).....It was a great night. A sign of things to come.

Joe Lanzisera
July 22, 2002
This is also on my list of memorable Mets games. Darryl and Ray going back to back in the bottom of the 10th to win it. I remember Darryl's either hit or just about hit the flag pole in dead center. Ray's went into the bleechers in left center and they were going crazy! Just another in a long line of memorable victories in '86.

flushing flash
July 22, 2002
I was watching it on TV, classic McCarver call:

This one's hit to deep left field, way back, this ball IS....OUTTA HERE, THIS BALLGAME IS OVER AND I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!

LenDog
June 19, 2004
Watched this at my best friend's house with our mouthiest Yankee fan friend.

He was really on our case in the bottom of the ninth, and then we got on his case. Lots of jumping, shouting, hugging...and the usual good- natured, Mets/Yankees bashing.

This game produced two strong visuals seared in my memory - Darryl's HR going over the CF wall and Ray Knight's over the LF wall.

Oh, not to mention Houston manager Hal Lanier trashing something in the dugout...

ItGetsByBuckner
July 8, 2005
One of THE greatest Mets games ever, and what a harbinger of things to come! I remember watching this game with fellow Mets fan Mario in our Fort Washington Ave. apartment, and how nuts we both went when first Strawberry then Knight blasted HR's for the win. Lots of involuntary jumping and yelling. And I think I was not the only Mets fan thinking back to this hot July night during the bottom of the 10th in Game 6, thinking...we've come back from two runs down before...

Joe From Jersey
November 29, 2005
I was at this game; I remember Knight's home run but the moment I'll never forget was on the PATH train ride home. I was wearing my Mets jersey (no number, though) and this preppie woman who was buzzed on something said to me, "You're a Mets fan? The Red Sox Rule." I told her, "This is the year of the Mets. Period." I get off at my stop and this father and son who had been at the game and had witnessed the chat and the father said "What was up with that?" I told him, "That girl doesn't know a groundball from a groundhog" and had a good laugh.

john t from greenpoint
August 23, 2006
I was at this game. Great come from behind win, just a taste of what we would see in October. I remember listening to Bob Murphy and him saying how the Mets just refuse to lose a ballgame. Gave me chills up my back. I remember Hal Lanier kicking the water cooler. Very funny moment!

Raphael from Oneonta (somewhere Upstate)
July 16, 2008
I was in the cheap seats just to the left of home plate. My memory didn't serve me well, as I could swear that George Foster hit one of the home runs, but it turns out it was Knight. Anyway, I remember Darryl's shot going straight out to dead center, and me throwing everything I had in my hands up in the air and going completely crazy. That was a great game.

sportsfan8690
December 23, 2009
I was at this game sitting in the Upper Reserve general admission area behind home plate. I made sure I got there early to get a general admission seat behind home plate. General Admission was in the last 8 rows. (1986 would be the last season the Mets had a general admission seating area. All seats became reserved after that.) The reason to get there early was it was a sold out game and it was fireworks night after the game. And boy there were a lot of fireworks to be seen on this night.

This was 7/3/86 the night before 4th of July and NYC being in a buzz for the Statue of Liberty 100th Anniversary Centennial. It was dubbed as Liberty Weekend and I saw many fans at the game wearing Liberty wigs. There was a huge fireworks display and celebration at the Statue of Liberty on the next night on the 4th of July but this game provided a nice appetizer.

The teams traded leads back and forth all game and 5 HR were hit in the game including 4 by the Mets. The game went into the 10th inning and the Astros took the lead on a Phil Garner HR.

The fireworks came in the bottom of the 10th as Strawberry hit a 2-run HR to tie it and then Ray Knight hit the walk-off HR to win it and the crowd and myself went crazy. What a way to come back and win the game on fireworks night! Then after the game the Mets and Garucci put on a great post game display of fireworks. This was a great way to start a historical weekend in NYC.

This would be a preview of things to come against the Astros in October. This game to me was the most exciting game of the regular season in 1986.

Hot Foot
June 17, 2013
I recorded this game on VHS, having a feeling it was going to be a good one. I haven't re-watched it in years, but some parts of this game are unforgettable, It was such a great game.

It was sunny when game started- a holiday atmosphere with the 4th of July the next day. The Astros scored two quick runs off Darling in the first. In the bottom of the 2nd, Ed Hearn, the backup catcher (who was the Mets' catcher of the future at the time) hit a long home run to make it 2-1.

Next thing I remember- bottom of the tenth inning- the Mets are down 5-3. After a walk to Dykstra, Darryl Strawberry (my favorite player) steps to the plate. This, I remember as if it were yesterday- he's up there, and at a certain point, he steps out of the batters box and seems to get lost in thought. Maybe he was clearing his head, but it looked like he was staring off into space for a moment.

In that moment, I thought, he's gonna hit a home run. I just knew it. It was a look of calm determination- extreme confidence maybe- but I could tell from that look. On the next pitch he hit the two-run homer to tie the game.

Then Knight steps to the plate with 2 outs and the score 5-5. He had been 0-4 with 4 strikeouts. He ends the game by hitting a home run into the left field bleachers.

This has to be in the top five best regular-season games from 1986, simply because it was a microcosm of what was to come in the postseason- playing against the Astros, down 5-3 in the bottom of the 10th, coming back to win 6-5 with Ray Knight being the hero. It was an amazing game. I hope I still have the VHS tape somewhere in storage.

Raymond Malcuit Jr.
April 24, 2018
What I remember about this game is that Ray Knight struck out four times, but his fifth time up, he hit the walk-off home run to win the game.

Now it's your turn! Tell us what you remember of this game:

Please note:
We're looking for your comments about this specific game. We've had people use this space to share their thoughts on how the current season is going, or on ways that the Mets can improve the team. Such comments, unless in the context of this particular game, will be considered off-topic and will be removed.

Example One
The Mets suck! They need to trade Smith and get somebody like Jones.
This comment is off-topic and will be removed. It has nothing to do with any specific game. But here's an acceptable alternative:

Example Two
The Mets suck! Smith made three errors in this game, and hit into a double play, and the Mets blew a 5-0 lead. They need to get rid of Smith and get somebody like Jones.
See the difference? Here you're getting the same point across, but it's in the proper context. We wouldn't consider this message to be off-topic, and we would let it remain.

We do appreciate anybody who takes the time to share their thoughts on our site, and we hate to remove anybody's postings. But if we didn't take steps to ensure that only on-topic messages were retained, The Ultimate Mets Database would become a confusing jumble of unrelated comments, and would thus be less enjoyable to visitors like you.

Thank you!