April 29, 1962: Jackson Pitches Mets' First Shutout
From The Met Wiki
| Date: April 29, 1962 |
| Mets starter: Al Jackson |
| Mets: 8 |
| Phillies: 0 |
| Winning pitcher: Al Jackson |
| Key player(s): Al Jackson, Frank Thomas |
| Key play: Thomas’s home run, Mets’ seven-run 3rd inning |
The Mets and Phillies faced each other on a Sunday afternoon at the Polo Grounds. In the opening game of their first doubleheader ever, the Mets had Al Jackson on the mound. Jackson became the first Met to pitch a shutout as the team defeated Philadelphia, 8-0.
Jackson retired the side in order in the top of the first inning. Phils’ starter Art Mahaffey pitched a perfect bottom half. In the top of the second, Jackson shut down the Phillies despite a triple by Jacke Davis and a walk to Sammy White. The Mets then took a 1-0 lead on a home run by Frank Thomas before Mahaffey struck out three straight batters in the bottom of the inning.
After a scoreless third, Jackson yielded a leadoff single to Don Demeter in the top of the fourth inning. Al struck out Roy Sievers with catcher Sammy Taylor throwing out Demeter on an attempted steal of second for a double play. Jackson then fanned Davis to end the inning.
Gus Bell singled and Thomas was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom of the fourth. On Charlie Neal’s sacrifice bunt, first baseman Sievers made a wild throw that allowed Bell to score. Gil Hodges reached on an error by shortstop Ruben Amaro which brought home Thomas. An ensuing single by Felix Mantilla plated Neal with Hodges going to third base. Mantilla advanced to second on another error by Sievers. Sammy Taylor then grounded out to second baseman Tony Taylor to drive home Hodges and extend the Mets’ lead to 5-0.
With Jackson at bat, Mahaffey threw a wild pitch that scored Mantilla from third. Jackson drew a walk and Jim Hickman hit a two-run homer. Mahaffey was removed from the game and Elio Chacon singled off Phillies’ reliever Frank Sullivan. Chacon stole second and went to third on Bell’s ground out to Sievers. Thomas was then hit by a pitch for the second time in the inning and forced at second on Neal’s grounder to third baseman Demeter for the third out.
The Phils got singles from Tony Gonzalez and pinch-hitter Billy Consolo, but failed to score in the top of the fifth inning. Against Philadelphia’s Chris Short, Hodges singled and Mantilla got to second on Demeter’s error to start the bottom half. Sammy Taylor grounded out to Sievers before Short fanned Jackson and Hickman. Al then shut down the Phillies in the top of the sixth and Short pitched a perfect bottom of the inning.
Gonzalez singled to begin the top of the seventh. White hit an ensuing grounder to third baseman Mantilla for a double play. Amaro doubled and Jackson retired pinch-hitter Bobby Malkmus on an inning-ending pop-up to second baseman Neal. Phillies’ reliever Ed Keegan then made his major league debut by setting down the Mets 1-2-3 in the bottom half.
Tony Taylor got a leadoff single in the top of the eighth inning. Ted Savage followed with a force play grounder to shortstop Chacon. Demeter hit a groundball to Elio for double play to end the inning. Keegan then shut down the Mets despite Demeter’s second (and the Phils’ fifth) error of the game in the bottom half.
In the top of the ninth inning, Jackson retired Sievers on a line drive to left fielder Rod Kanehl. He followed up by getting Davis on a pop-up to Chacon. Al then struck out Gonzalez to end the game. The Mets’ first doubleheader began with Jackson pitching the team’s first shutout.
