Mets 4, Polish All Stars 3:

Another nail-biter; another Mets win. “Ya gotta believe!” laughed Jose Reyes, who scored a go-ahead run for the Mets in the eighth, and drove in the winning run with two out in the ninth. Moe Drabowsky was responsible for both; giving him the loss. Jesse Orosco got the win, thanks to his getting Alan Trammel to ground into a double play in the top of the ninth.

The Mets got an early lead off Joe Niekro, with solo home runs from David Wright in the first and Keith Hernandez in the second, but he shut them down for the next five innings. Thanks to another home run from Ted Kluszewski, the Poles tied the score in the fourth.

The score stayed at two all until the bottom of the eighth. Reyes led off with a single, stole second, and scored on a double by Carlos Beltran. Drabowsky got out of the inning without further trouble.

In the top of the ninth, Kluszewski led off with a single and moved to third on a double by Whitey Kurowski. Troy Tulowitzki pinch hit for Richie Zisk and popped to third, to bring up A.J. Pierzynski. After a meeting on the mound, it was decided to walk Pierzynski to load the bases, knowing that the Poles didn’t have many options to bat for Tony Kubek. Pinch-hitter Ryan Klesko worked his way on with a walk, tying the game and sending John Franco to the showers, Jesse Orosco to the hill, and Alan Trammel to the plate. On a 1-1 count, Trammel smacked a fastball right to Edgardo Alfonzo at second, who turned it into a quick 4-6-3 double play, ending the Poles rally.

With the Mets sending the lower half of the order to bat in the bottom of the ninth, the Poles decided to keep Drabowsky in the game. It looked like the game would be going to extras when Keith Hernandez and Howard Johnson both went down quickly, but Edgardo Alfonzo smacked a double up the gap in left center, and Kevin McReynolds moved him to third with a bloop single into right. That set the stage for Reyes’ single, a hard smash up the middle just outside the reach of a diving Alan Trammel….

The Mets are up 3-1 in the series. Game Five will see a rematch of Game 1, with Tom Seaver going against Stan Coveleski.

Tulowitzki pinch hit for Zisk in the 9^th; Klesko pinch hit for Kubek in the 9^th. LOB: Poles 7, Mets 7. 2B: Beltran, Alfonzo (3), Kurowski. HR: Wright, Hernandez, Kluszewski RBI: Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Kluszewski (2), Klesko SB: Reyes. (a) Mazeroski replaced Kubek at 2b for defense in the 9^th.

Franco pitched to a total of five batters in the 9^th. There were two out when the winning run scored.