National League Standings, September 5, 1998
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE SEPTEMBER 5, 1998 GAME:
John K
April 9, 2004
A beautiful late summer day. Tony Phillip's high point as a Met. He hit a late inning homer to lead the Mets to victory. If Tony Phillips can hit a homer off a tough lefty (O. Perez?) to win a game, then justice can prevail.
Dave VW
March 17, 2024
To correct John, Phillips' home run was actually hit off a tough righty in Rudy Seanez, but I do agree that justice prevailed on this day. Seanez only allowed 2 HRs over 34 appearances for the Braves in 1998 (the other by future Met Shawn Green), so it was really quite the surprise that Phillips hit one out against him.
In that 8th inning, Seanez needed just 3 pitches to get the first 2 outs, but then he walked Matt Franco, which seemed innocent until Phillips smoked one over the wall in right-center field. The Mets came pouring out of the dugout to congratulate Tony in what must have been his biggest hit during his short tenure on the team. His longball also gave Seanez his only loss of the season.
That clutch homer was particularly nice to see after the Mets loaded the bases in both the 4th and 6th innings but failed to score both times. Though Mike Piazza only went 1-for-4 with a harmless single in the game, he deserves huge credit for breaking up a double play that would have ended the 7th inning. Instead, John Olerud was able to score on the play, which put the Mets within distance to take the lead on Phillips' eventual home run. It's those little things that it seemed like the Braves always did to win games during this era, so it was nice to see the Mets give them some of their own medicine.
On a final note, I watched this game back on a FOX telecast, and I was so annoyed they decided to completely leave the game and go to the Cardinals/Reds game every time Mark McGwire had an at-bat. That did allow the audience to see Big Mac hit his 60th home run, but I would have much preferred them split screen the at-bats so we can still see what's going on in the Mets game. As it was, they wound up completely missing a Willie Mays-esque catch by Brian McRae that saved a run in the 5th inning, all to see McGwire strike out on 3 pitches.
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