Subway World Series Game 6: 1986 Mets vs. the 1998 Yankees

The good folks at WhatIfSports, who run SimLeague Baseball and Hardball Dynasty, have created a best-of-seven scenario for us- a Subway World Series, if you will – between the 1986 Mets and the 1998 Yankees. And we’re featuring the entire series at Subway Squawkers.  Here’s a look back  at Game 1, Game 2Game 3Game 4, and Game 5.

So far, the 1998 Yankees have looked like the team to beat in our Subway World Series matchup. After all, they were up three games to one at one point, although they did lose Game 5. So what will they do in Game 6, the matchup delayed by the excitement of the 2010 Yankees-Red Sox Opening Day series?

Dwight Gooden faces off against David Cone in the battle of future no-hitter pitchers. The first two innings are a pitchers’ duel, but the Mets, led by Ray Knight and Lenny Dykstra, mount a third-inning rally to put the Mets up, 2-0 against the Yankees. The Yanks answer that with a run of their own at the bottom of that inning.

The score stays 2-1 until the fifth inning, when the Yankees’ Bernie Williams drives in Chuck Knoblauch with a single to tie the game. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Bomber star Tino Martinez breaks the 2-2 stalemate with “a solo homer to LCF that barely clears the wall,” according to WhatIfSports.

David Cone leaves the game for the Yankees after the sixth with a 3-2 lead, leaving the game to the Yankee bullpen. Three innings left – will the Mets mount a comeback against Graeme Lloyd, Mike Stanton, and Mariano Rivera? The answer is no.

In the ninth inning, the Mets do mount a rally against Mo, with Wally Backman at second, Darryl Strawberry at first, and only one out, but Kevin Mitchell grounds into a double play to end the game, and cause bedlam in the Bronx.

As John Sterling would say, “Ballgame over, World Series over, Yankees win. THEEEEEEEEE YANKEES WIN!

Check out the box score and game summary. Many thanks to WhatIfSports for running this matchup for us!

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