[hvs1717]

The Mets started out the month strong with a 2-0 win over the Phillies at Shea Stadium and winning 4 of their first 8. Again it wasn't a pace that we would be able to sustain, winning only 5 more games the rest of the month finishing with 9 wins and 19 losses in May.

May 1, 1980 - New York (N) 2, Philadelphia 0
Pete Falcone threw his second complete game shutout on the season.Through 5 starts, Falcone is 2-3 with a 3.00 era over 36 innings while striking out 32 batters.

The Mets dropped the first two games of a four game series with the Padres, 6-4 on the 2nd and 4-2 on the 3rd. They tied up the series with a double header sweep on Sunday the 4th.

May 4, 1980 - New York (N) 6, San Diego 4 - Game 1
The Mets were down 4-1 after 5 innings before scoring the final 5 runs of the game to cap the comeback win. Frank Taveras, Lee Mazzilli, Joel Youngblood and Elliott Maddox each had two hits keying the win.

May 4, 1980 - New York (N) 4, San Diego 3 - Game 2
The Mets outlasted the Padres, finally overcoming them, 4-3, in 10 innings on John Stearns game winning single. It was a back and forth affair all day with the lead changing 6 times. Pat Zachry threw 6 innings of 1 run ball. Frank Taveras, John Stearns, Steve Henderson, Joel Youngblood and Alex Trevino had two hits a piece in their second comeback win of the day.

May 16, 1980 - New York (N) 6, Atlanta 1
Pete Falcone helped the Mets stop a 6 game losing streak with 8 strong innings against the Braves, giving up 1 run and 3 hits. Falcone raised his record to 3-5 and lowered his ERA to 2.89 on the season. Joel Youngblood and Mike Jorgensen each had two hits and drove in two runs each. Lee Mazzilli had two hits also, a double and a home run.

The win on the 16th started a streak of 4 wins over 6 games, winning series on the road over the Braves and at home over the Astros. Unfortunately, again we end the month on a really bad streak winning only one of our last 9 games in May.

May 18, 1980 - New York (N) 10, Atlanta 7
After a 5-1 loss to Atlanta on the 17th the Mets and Braves combined for 11 runs in the 9th inning, with the Mets scoring 6 in the top half of the inning and Altanta 5 in the bottom half. Mark Bomback threw 8 strong innings only giving up 2 runs. Up 10-2 going into the bottom of the 9th inning, Kevin Kobel did his best to give it all back, giving up 5 runs in 1/3 of an inning pitched. Jeff Reardon had to come in to stop the bleeding and record the final two outs.

May 24, 1980 - Atlanta 2, New York (N) 0
Juan Berenguer, Roy Lee Jackson, Jeff Reardon and Ray Burris combined to hold the Braves to 2 runs but it wasn't enough as Atlanta got a complete game shutout from ace Phil Niekro. Niekro improved to 6-1 on the season and lowered his era to 1.28. Berenguer left in the 5th with a forearm strain. He should miss about two weeks.