1981 Topps #691 Dick Ruthven

Mets 9, Phillies 5
Game 53 - Sunday Afternoon, May 29th in Flushing

One Sentence Summary:  Starting pitcher Vance Worley imploded and the Mets walked away with an easy one, 9-5.

What It Means:  The Mets avoided the sweep and the Phillies dropped to 33-20.  The Marlins also lost, so the Phils still have a two game lead in the East.  They'll open a three-game series against the Nationals in D.C. tomorrow afternoon.

What Went Wrong:  Worley gave up four runs in the first and another four runs in the second.  An error by shortstop Jimmy Rollins in the first led to three of the runs being unearned.  Rollins' base running also extinguished a rally in the eighth when he was thrown out at second trying to extend a single.  The Phils had already scored three times in the inning to draw a little closer to the Mets, but the early damage was too much to overcome.

Featured Card:  Worley became only the second Phillies starter to allow eight runs to the Mets, in New York, in three innings or less.  Back on May 25, 1981, Dick Ruthven surrendered eight runs on seven hits in two innings of work in a game the Phillies would eventually lose 13-3.  Dave Kingman's grand slam in the second accounted for half of those runs.  Featured here in his 1981 Topps card, Ruthven looks pretty annoyed that I decided to revisit this particular game in his career.