A Darling of a Start

After a lost opening series that included an extra-inning defeat and two rain outs, nearly 27,000 fans were ready for the first Friday night Mets game of the 1986 season at Shea Stadium. The game against the Philadelphia Phillies didn’t start great for New York as Ron Darling allowed two solo home runs in the 1st inning. New York rallied against Hall of Famer Steve Carlton with three runs of their own in the opening inning. Darling settled down and pitched six scoreless innings as the Mets ultimately won, 5-2. It was the first of 15 wins for Darling who posted a career-best 2.81 ERA and 184 strikeouts in the 1986 season.