Mets 6, Polish All Stars 4

Jerry Koosman had it; Phil Niekro didn’t, and the Mets took the series four games to two.

Koosman scattered four hits over seven shutout innings, while Niekro didn’t make it out of the second. “My knuckler wasn’t knuckling,” he said. “With one exception,” said Stan Musial after the game, “the hits were all weak singles. Bloops or grounders just out of the reach of our infielders.”

A parade of relievers held the Mets to just two runs afterwards, with the help of two double plays.

The Poles rallied in the eighth, loading the bases and pushing a run across thanks to two walks, a single, and an error. With the heart of the order coming up and only one out, it looked like they could get back in the game. But on a grounder to first, Keith Hernandez smartly fired home to nail A.J. Pierzynski for the forceout. Then Stan Musial flied out to left to end the inning.

The Poles tried again in the bottom of the ninth. A single with a throwing error by Jose Reyes put leadoff batter Ted Kluszewski at second. One out later, Whitey Kurowski singled him home. A.J. Pierzynski reached on a fielder’s choice, bringing pinch-hitter Stan Lopata to the plate. He drove a 1-2 curveball into the right-field bleachers to give the Poles their third and fourth runs, and bring the top of the order to the plate. But after a quick meeting on the mound, John Franco fanned Alan Trammel on four pitches, ending the game and the series.

David Wright was named the series Most Valuable Player. He hit .333 (8 for 24), with two home runs and eight RBIs. He drove in the first run for the Mets in each of their wins.

a) Pinch hit for Mazeroski in the 8^th. b) Replaced Mazeroski on defense in the 9^th. c) Pinch hit for Kubek in the 9^th. LOB: Mets 10, Poles 6. 2B: Simmons, Carter. HR: McReynolds, Lopata. E: Kurowski, Brooks, Reyes.

Niekro faced six and Sadecki faced two batters in the 2^nd. Koosman faced three batters in the 8^th.