The Dodgers pushed across an early run on a two-out RBI single from Mike Marshall in the first inning, but following that, both teams' offenses were held in check.

He advanced to second on a ground out, and the Mets broke through against Hershiser when Darryl Strawberry lined a double into the gap in right-center field to score Jefferies.

Kevin McReynolds drew a walk, and following a Howard Johnson strikeout, Gary Carter hit a two-strike pitch in front of a diving John Shelby.

Shelby's throw to the plate was a little off target, and McReynolds scored the winning run by bowling over catcher Mike Scioscia as the ball sailed past him.

Seeing Howell and his curveball reminded us of a high school pitcher.David Cone, the Mets' starting pitcher for Game 2, wrote the above in an article for the New York Daily News.

Saturday, October 8, 1988, at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York Fantastic plays and controversy would mark the afternoon, as the Mets rebounded from deficits twice to earn an 8–4 victory in Game 3.

With two outs and the bases empty in the top of the eighth inning, Scioscia hit a one-hop comebacker back to Mets pitcher Roger McDowell.

Suddenly, Mets Manager Davey Johnson came out of the dugout, and asked Umpire Harry Wendelstedt to inspect Howell's glove for an illegal substance.

David Cone would shake off his rocky outing from Game 2, and pitched a scoreless ninth inning to close out the Dodgers and give the Mets a two to one Series lead.

Sunday, October 9, 1988, at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York It was the Dodgers who did the coming back in Game 4, and they did so in stunning fashion against the Mets ace.

With no outs and Keith Hernandez on first base in the fourth inning, Darryl Strawberry launched a long home run to right off Tudor to tie the score.

The game continued tied into the 12th inning, when Kirk Gibson, mired in a 1-for-16 slump in the series, hit a two-out home run off Roger McDowell to give the Dodgers the lead.

[12] With two runners on base and one out in the bottom half of the twelfth inning, the leftie Jesse Orosco came in to pitch to Hernandez and Strawberry, both left-handed hitters.

After Orosco threw another ball on his first pitch to Strawberry, Lasorda went out to the mound to deliver a message, which started with "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

With Jay Howell having been suspended and Tim Belcher, the starter for the next game, resting in his hotel room, Hershiser was the only pitcher left in the bullpen for the Dodgers.

[13] Monday, October 10, 1988, at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York After a late-night affair in which the Dodgers were within three outs of going behind three games to one (and having used all available pitchers to survive extra innings), Los Angeles defeated the Mets 7–4 in the quick-turnaround, early afternoon matchup.

In the fourth, Fernandez allowed a one-out single to Mike Marshall and a walk to John Shelby before catcher Rick Dempsey, making his first start of the series, doubled them both in.

The next inning, Kirk Gibson crushed a three-run homer to right, bringing in Steve Sax and Mickey Hatcher who singled in front of him, and chasing Fernandez from the game.

After a couple more scoreless frames from both sides, Dykstra led off the bottom of the 8th with a double, and Gregg Jeffries followed by singling him home to make the score 6–4 and finally chasing Belcher to get into the Dodgers' depleted bullpen.

Ricky Horton entered and struck out Keith Hernandez but allowed a soft line-drive single to Darryl Strawberry.

With runners at first and second and one out, Brian Holton entered for the Dodgers to face Kevin McReynolds, who hit a very slow grounder to the left side.

Had the rookie Jeffries successfully evaded the batted ball, it would have been very unlikely that Griffin would have been able to record either a force out at third or at first due to the very slow pace at which it was hit.

On the TV broadcast, analyst Tim McCarver remarked that "the only play for the Dodgers worked: the ball hit Gregg Jeffries...that's the only thing that could get an out in that situation."

Jay Howell was available to pitch for the Dodgers because the National League president Bart Giamatti had cut a game off his suspension following an appeal hearing.

Steve Sax hit a two-run single to knock out Mets starter Ron Darling, and a Wally Backman error led to two more runs in a five-run Dodgers rally.

Davey Johnson's warning that excessive use of Orel Hershiser would undo the Dodgers would not come true as Hershiser capped off his magical season by winning the World Series MVP, to go along with an NLCS MVP, Cy Young Award, and passing Don Drysdale's consecutive scoreless inning record.

The 1990 Mets rebounded later in the season and even come within a half a game of leading the NL East in mid-September, but would ultimately not reach the postseason.

[20] George Steinbrenner would take a chance on Gooden the following season and he would help win a World Series for the 1996 Yankees, alongside his 1988 Mets' teammates David Cone and Darryl Strawberry.

John Harper, a longtime New York baseball columnist, called Mike Scioscia's home run off of Dwight Gooden in the 9th inning of Game 4 the most devastating moment in Mets history.