Savings Acounts

The longest save in Mets history (in terms of both innings pitched and batters faced) was a five inning outing by Doug Sisk on June 23, 1983. The game came in the midst of an unusual, double-header-filled, six-game series against the Cardinals, who were the reigning World Series champs. This long series was especially poignant because the champion Cards had just traded, only days before, one of their stars, Keith Hernandez, to the Mets for the Mets' promising young pitcher Neil Allen. Sisk was a rookie and was pitching really well -- he was one reason the Mets could afford to part with Allen. In this June 23 game, Ed Lynch gave up 4 early runs and was lifted for Carlos Diaz in just the third inning. But the Mets took the lead with a four run bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a Hubie Brooks three-run homer. Sisk entered in the fifth and faced 21 batters, scattering 5 hits over five innings, surrendered only one run, which was unearned. In 332 major league games, this was one only three outings of five innings in Sisk's career, and he never pitched longer than that. The new Mets' manager, Frank Howard, (George Bamberger had recently resigned) explained that he had allowed Sisk to remain in the game because the recent spate of double-headers had left his bullpen pretty much empty.

The shortest save in Mets history, in terms of batters faced, was achieved by Cal Koonce on May 30, 1968 at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh. The Pirates had 4 future Hall-of-Famers in their starting lineup: Clemente, Stargell, Mazeroski, and the starting pitcher, Jim Bunning. Nevertheless the Mets, with Jerry Koosman pitching, dominated most of the game, led by three hits each from Agee and Kranepool, and held a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning. The Bucs finally got to Koosman in the eighth, and after Roberto Clemente knocked in the second Pirate run, Ron Taylor came in and wrapped up the inning. In the bottom of the ninth, though, Taylor gave up two singles wrapped around a strikeout. In came journeyman reliever Bill Short, who proceeded to hit Manny Jimenez, loading the bases, bringing the potential tying run to the plate, and followed that up by surrendering a sac fly, which made the game 6-3, and left men on first and, at third base, Matty Alou. Koonce came in and threw a pitch that catcher J. C. Martin couldn't handle cleanly -- but Alou was thrown out on the play, ending the game and giving Koonce the save without ever having pitched a full at-bat.