GAME 2 - “That sinking feeling” – Mets 4, Reds 3

9/2 - GAME 2 - Riverfront Stadium
Dwight Gooden vs Gary Nolan
Mets 4, Reds 3
Lenny "Nails" Dykstra led the game off with a triple and scored on a sac fly that Darryl  Strawberry lifted to center.  RBI singles by Gary "Kid" Carter and Nails made it 3-0 as "Doc" proceeded to mow down the fabled "Big Red Machine" for 5 shutout innings.  After light hitting Rafael Santana singled home Knight to make it 4-0 in the 6th Cincy's bats caught fire.  Concepcion lined a clean single to left with 1 out in the bottom of the 6th only to see Griffey make the second out by lining out to left.  1975 NL MVP Joe Morgan showed why he earned that award by launching a line shot bullet over the fence in right center to make it a 4-2 ball game.  Gooden would settle back into his groove until the 9th when Cincy decided to not go quietly.  "Doggie" Perez fought off a Gooden heater with just enough strength to get it to clear the right field wall to take it 4-3.  Gooden was done after 8 1/3 innings of work where he fanned 8 and gave up 3.  Jesse "Uh-Oh" Orosco came on to get lefty Cesar Geronimo, but instead served up a line shot single through the middle.  Roger McDowell was summoned to face righty pinch hitter Merv Rettenmund.  The sinker ball specialist got Rettenmund to ground into a force play at second.  Concepcion followed with a single, then took second on an errant throw to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 out and the Reds down by a run.  Griffey needed a single, but his line on hop liner bounced right into Santana's glove and the Met shortstop tagged Concepcion who strayed off the base for the final out of the game.
Mets lead series 2-0