4/7/84: The Doctor's first house call

It wasn't Shea Stadium, but the Astrodome had to do and besides, it's not every day you see a "Doctor" make his first house call. Welcome to the big leagues, Dwight Gooden.

Gooden's first batter: Bill Doran, lined to 2nd.

Gooden's first strikeout: Jose Cruz, top of the 2nd.

Gooden's first hit allowed: Denny Walling, singled in 3rd.

The 4th inning was full of firsts for Gooden, Terry Puhl led off with a single but was promptly caught stealing. After a strikeout of Dickie Thon, Jose Cruz then doubled, moved to 3rd on a single by Jerry Mumphrey, then came the next first:

Gooden's first walk: Ray Knight, 4th inning, to load the bases.

Gooden's first earned run: Walling, 4th inning, on a bases-loaded walk, scoring Cruz.

Which brings us to another 1st, Gooden's 1st lead. After he led off the top of the 6th with a grounder to 2nd and a Ron Gardenhire grounder to short, Jose Oquendo singled. Then came Keith Hernadez, who turned a Bob Knepper pitch into a rare sight at the Astrodome, a home run. Mets 2, Astros 1 after 5-1/2. But the Doc wasn't ready to put away the scrubs yet.

Jose Cruz led off the bottom of the 6th with a single, then stole 2nd. Mumphrey struck out, then Ray Knight walked, giving Gooden nemesis Denny Walling a chance to strike again. Walling hit into a 4-6-3 double play, ending the threat.

Gooden poured it on from the 7th inning on, recording 6 of his 10 strikeouts to protect the slender 2-1 lead. In the Astros 9th, Ray Knight grounded to 3rd, Walling struck out, Alan Ashby singled to keep the Astros alive. Craig Reynolds ran for Ashby and Harry Spilman PH for Bob Knepper. Spilman struck out, #10 for Gooden, win #1 for the "Doctor." 

The Rookie of the Year talk has begun.

NYM 2-7-0 HOU 1-6-0 WP-Gooden LP-Knepper HR-Hernandez (2) GWRBI-Hernandez (1) NYM 3-1 HOU 1-3

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