Remembering Mets History (1986) Tim Teufel's Walk Off Grand Slam

Tuesday June 10th, 1986: A solid Tuesday night crowd of 27,472 came to Shea Stadium to see Davey Johnson's first place Mets (38-16) take on John Felske's third place Philadelphia Phillies (26-28).

The Phillies had won the series opener the night before. Prior to that the Mets had won five of six games & were now leading the NL East by eight games.

Tonight's starters were Bobby Ojeda for the Mets, who came in at 7-2 with a 2.29 ERA against Philadelphia's Charlie Hudson (4-3).

In the top of the 1st, Ojeda escaped trouble after a walk, a single & a Mets error loaded the dases with one out. He got Von Hayes to pop up & then struck out John Russell to end the inning. 

In the top of the 3rd, the Phillies would score first, as Jeff Stone & Ron Roenicke led off with base hits.
Juan Samuel grounded out to second bringing in Stone with the first run.

In the top of the 4th, Steve Jeltz drew a leadoff walk. Bobby Ojeda then struck out Jeff Stone but walked Ron Roenicke & gave up an RBI single to Juan Samuel, making it 2-0 Phils.

In the Mets 4th, with one out Darryl Strawberry doubled to right field. Gary Carter then drove in Straw with a single to left, narrowing the Phillies lead to 2-1.

In the 6th inning, Strawberry led off with a walk from Charlie Hudson. "The Kid" Gary Carter then connected with a two run HR, putting New York ahead 3-2. It was Carter's tenth HR of the year.

The Phillies battled back, in the 7th inning, Juan Samuel & Glenn Wilson led off with base hits. Samuel advanced to third & then scored on Von Hayes' sac fly. 

In the top of the 8th, Ojeda was still on the hill, as he walked Steve Jeltz to start the inning. Darren Daulton sacrificed him over & Ron Roenicke's base hit brought in Jeltz to put the Phillies ahead 4-3. Doug Sisk came on to relieve Ojeda who pitched 7.2 innings giving up four runs on seven hits with six walks. He also struck out five.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Steve Bedrosian was now pitching for the Phillies. 

Trivia: Steve Bedrosian would save 29 games in 1986 & lead the NL with 40 the following season. 

Gary Carter greeted Bedrosian with his second HR of the night, a solo shot, tying up the game. It was Carter's eleventh HR of the year giving him 38 RBIs on the season. On the night Carter went 3-4 with two HRs & four RBIs, scoring two runs as well.

In the top of the 9th, with two outs Kevin Mitchell made an error at short. Doug Sisk then hit Rick Schu with a pitch putting two men on with two outs. Mets manager Davey Johnson, then went to Jesse Orosco as he got slugger Mike Schmidt to fly out to centerfield. 

The game went tied into extra innings. Roger McDowell came on & pitched two scoreless innings, getting the Mets to the 11th. Randy Lerch came on for Philadelphia & retired the Mets in order in the 10th.

In the home 11th, Ray Knight led off with a base hit. After Rafael Santana grounded out, pinch hitter, Barry Lyons was walked intentionally. Randy Lerch then walked Len Dykstra to load the bases.

Tom Hume was brought into pitch for Philadelphia. Mets skipper, Davey Johnson called upon Tim Teufel to pinch hit for Wally Backman, liking the matchup.

In classic Teufel style, he came to bat & waved his hips in a circular motion as he stood in the batter's box. His little move was known as "the Teufel Shuffle".

Tim Teufel certainly made his manager proud, delivering a walk off Grand Slam HR, exciting the Shea Stadium crowd to another dramatic 1986 victory. It was Teufel's second HR of the year.

Trivia: The walk off grand slam HR was the fourth in Mets history. The last Met to do it had been Mike Jorgensen in 1980. Since then, four other Mets have done it.