Of the three extra-inning games played on the May 15 of 30 years ago, the best of them was Mets 7, Giants 6 (11). The game started with a pair of young right-handers on the mound - the Mets sent Ron Darling, who was in the first full season of a pretty long and respectable career, while the Giants opted for Jeff Robinson, who would spend his initial season of 1984 as a full-time starter, then move to the bullpen for almost the entire remainder of his big league tenure.
This game began in rather different fashion than might be expected, given the respective starters' eventual career paths. Robinson was brilliant early, allowing only a Darryl Strawberry single through the first four innings. Darling, meanwhile, struggled mightily. The bottom of the first saw him allow a single to Al Oliver, a walk to Jack Clark, and a three-run homer to Jeffrey Leonard. After a spotless second, Darling was victimized by the same part of the order again in the third, as Oliver walked and Clark homered for a 5-0 lead. Darling would be pulled after allowing a pair of two-out singles, and Tim Leary retired Johnnie LeMaster to end the inning.
The Mets finally got on the board in the fifth inning, when Strawberry led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a two-out single by Mike Fitzgerald. Tom Gorman replaced Leary in the bottom of the fifth and threw two perfect innings; New York wasted a leadoff hit by Wally Backman in the sixth, but did better in the seventh. Strawberry started the inning by reaching on an error, and Mookie Wilson singled him to second. One out later, Fitzgerald singled Strawberry home for the second time, pulling the Mets within 5-2. Randy Lerch relieved Robinson and retired both pinch hitter Rusty Staub and Backman to end the inning.
Brent Gaff allowed an Oliver double and intentionally walked Clark, then coaxed a force from Leonard to end the bottom of the seventh. And in the top of the eighth, the Mets struck hard. Frank Williams relieved to open the inning and allowed a single to Jose Oquendo, then walked Keith Hernandez. Greg Minton replaced Williams and walked George Foster to load the bases, then served a two-run single to Strawberry. Wilson singled to reload the bases and make Minton the second consecutive Giant pitcher pulled without recording an out. Hubie Brooks greeted Renie Martin with a go-ahead two-run single; Martin recovered to retire the next three Mets without further scoring, but the four runs that had already come in were enough to give New York its first lead of the game.
It also appears to have served as a wakeup call to the Giant lineup, as Jesse Orosco relieved and was quickly set upon with singles from Joel Youngblood and Bob Brenly. Dusty Baker fouled out and LeMaster struck out, but pinch hitter Steve Nicosia singled Youngblood home to tie the score at 6, and Chili Davis walked to load the bases before pinch hitter John Rabb struck out to end the inning. Mark Davis cancelled an Oquendo single with a double play in the top of the ninth, and the Giants had another golden opportunity against Orosco in the bottom of the inning. Clark led off with a walk, and Leonard singled him to third, taking second on the throw. Youngblood was then intentionally walked to load the bases with nobody out. Orosco rallied valiantly, getting Brenly to pop up, then striking out Joe Pittman and LeMaster and sending the game to extras.
Mark Davis threw a 1-2-3 top of the tenth; Orosco somehow remained in the game in the bottom of the inning, in which he walked Chili Davis and saw him bunted to second, then intentionally walked Clark before striking out Leonard to end the inning. Fitzgerald started the eleventh with a grounder to short that LeMaster misplayed into a two-base error. Ron Gardenhire (yes, that one) grounded back to the mound, leading to Fitzgerald getting thrown out trying for third. Pinch hitter Kelvin Chapman then doubled, sending pinch runner Ross Jones to third. Oquendo was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Hernandez followed with a sac fly to take the lead. Doug Sisk relieved Orosco and allowed a walk to Brenly, but Pittman then hit into a force and was caught stealing for a game-ending delayed double play.
Despite the large distance between the two teams for most of the game, this game grades out quite favorably in WPL, thanks to the multiple eighth-inning rallies and the escape from bases loaded, nobody out in the ninth. Those two factors also contribute to a rather remarkable feat from Jesse Orosco (who even in 1984 was already 27 years old and coming off of back-to-back 100-inning seasons in relief): he pitched 3 innings, gave up 4 hits and 5 walks, which makes for a WHIP of 3.0 - and got the win. Along the way, he also singlehandedly kept the fans stapled to the edges of their seats for all three of his innings. Not bad for a guy who would later average less than an inning per game in each of his last 13 major league seasons.
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