Editor’s note: The 1970 Tournament games are being played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. Injuries will only be used during the game when they occur. For this tournament, the rules include a three-man pitching rotation using the best lineups available.
NEW YORK – Art Shamsky drove in four runs to help the New York Mets oust the Montreal Expos in 10-4 victory in the first round of the 1970 Strat-O-Matic Tournament.
The Mets move on to the second round to take on the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field.
A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first from Shamsky put the Mets in the lead. Another sacrifice fly gave New York at 2-0 advantage in the third as Donn Clendenon drove in the run after Montreal starter Carl Morton walked three batters.
Montreal got on the scoreboard in the fifth thanks to an error. John Bateman led off with a double of Mets starter Tom Seaver. Ron Fairly singled to left and a misplay by Cleon Jones allowed Bateman to score as Fairly wound up at second. Seaver retired the next three to end the threat.
Tommie Agee smashed a two-run homer in the Mets half of the fifth to making it 4-1.
In the sixth, the Expos tied the affair with a power surge against Seaver as Bob Bailey drilled a two-run shot and Bateman smacked a solo homer and it was 4-4.
Back-to-back doubles by Ken Boswell and Bud Harrelson in the bottom of the sixth gave the Mets a 5-4 lead.
Howie Reed took over on the mound for the Expos in the seventh as he gave up a RBI double to Shamsky, which put the Mets on top 6-4.
After Reed surrendered a homer to Jerry Grote to begin the eighth, Claude Raymond went to the mound and gave up a RBI single to Agee. Eventually, John Strohmayer took over on the bump and Shamsky greeted him with a two-run double for the final tallies of the contest.
In going the distance, Seaver (1-0) allowed six hits with three of the four runs being earned. He finished with five strikeouts and four walks. Morton (0-1) was tagged with the loss as he worked six frames giving up five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and the three walks in the third.
1970 Tournament Second Round Divisional Pairings
American League East
(4) Detroit Tigers at (1) Baltimore Orioles
(6) Washington Senators at (2) New York Yankees
National League East
(5) Philadelphia Phillies at (1) Pittsburgh Pirates
(3) New York Mets at (2) Chicago Cubs
1970 Tournament First Round Divisional Pairings and Results
American League East
(1) Baltimore Orioles (108-54), bye
(4) Detroit Tigers 7, (5) Cleveland Indians 6
(6) Washington Senators 5, (3) Boston Red Sox 2
(2) New York Yankees (93-69), bye
National League East
(1) Pittsburgh Pirates (89-73), bye
(5) Philadelphia Phillies 1, (4) St. Louis Cardinals 0
(3) New York Mets 10, (6) Montreal Expos 4
(2) Chicago Cubs (84-78), bye
National League West
(1) Cincinnati Reds (102-60), Bye
(5) Atlanta Braves (76-86) at (4) Houston Astros (73-89)
(6) San Diego Padres (63-99) at (3) San Francisco Giants (86-76)
(2) Los Angeles Dodgers (87-77), bye
American League West
(1) Minnesota Twins (98-64), bye
(5) Milwaukee Brewers (65-97) at (4) Kansas City Royals (65-97)
(6) Chicago White Sox (56-106) at (3) California Angels (86-76)
(2) Oakland Athletics (89-73), bye