Ultimate Mets Database: Game of July 30, 1995

Dave VW
May 31, 2023
To piggyback off of what Michael wrote, not only was it Isringhausen's first start at Shea but it was also his first big-league win. He took advantage of a pretty bad Pirates lineup, as well as a horrible base-running blunder by Pittsburgh 1B Mark Johnson in the 4th inning. With 1 out, Johnson on second and already a run on the board, Nelson Liriano roped a single to CF. Brett Butler threw home and Johnson had the throw beat, but for some reason he prioritized colliding with catcher Alberto Castillo -- who was a few feet in front of the plate to field the ball -- instead of touching home, and thus went out of his way to get tagged when he could have easily slid past Castillo to score. If Johnson isn't a dope, this game is tied at 2-2 and Isringhausen has to wait for his first win.

Izzy had already reached 100 pitches and had the lead when he came up to bat with 2 out and 2 on in the 7th. In a move that clearly stated what Dallas Green thought of his relief pitching, he opted to let Jason hit instead of turning the final 2 innings over to his bullpen. Izzy popped out to end the inning but tossed a 1-2-3 8th before relenting to John Franco in the 9th. John had pitched in each of the first 2 games of the series and blew a lead in both, so it was quite gutsy for Green to turn to him here. But Franco finally did his job, retiring the side in order -- including striking out Liriano, who had RBI hits vs. Franco in each of the previous 2 games. This would start a streak of 11 consecutive scoreless appearances for Franco, a span during which he'd pick up 9 saves.

The Mets were still in the grips of the hangover from the Bobby Bonilla trade from 2 days earlier, as they sported a lineup that featured 4 players batting under .200 at the time -- 3 of which under .100! (Carl Everett .190, Damon Buford .081, Alberto Castillo .050, and Isringhausen .000) No surprise then that Paul Wagner had a perfect game going until Rico Brogna walked with 1 out in the 4th. Wagner lost the no-hitter 2 batters later when Jose Vizcaino singled. All 6 hits for the Mets were singles, and both runs scored on outs (RBI groundout by Everett in the 6th, and an RBI sac fly by Joe Orsulak in the 7th). Bret Saberhagen would be traded the following day, so rebuilding mode was back in full effect in Flushing.

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