Mets jumped into first place for the first time in franchise history. On September 24, the New York Mets clinched the NL East with a 6-0 victory over Steve Carlton and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets won 38 of their last 50 games, and finished the season with 100 wins against 62 losses, eight games over the second place Cubs. For his part, Harrelson batted .248 with no home runs, 24 runs batted in and 42 runs scored. He had a .969 fielding percentage in 119 games at shortstop. 1969 postseason Harrelson had only two hits in the 1969 National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves. However, they were a go-ahead triple in the fourth inning of the first game, and an RBI double in game two of the Mets' three game sweep. Fight with Pete Rose Harrelson's light hitting became the subject of controversy during the 1973 National League Championship Series. Mets starter Jon Matlack held the Cincinnati Reds to two hits in his 5-0 complete game victory in Game Two of the series at Riverfront Stadium. Following the game, Harrelson commented, "He made the Big Red Machine look like me hitting today." Inadvertently providing the Reds with bulletin board material, Harrelson was confronted by Reds second baseman Joe Morgan during pregame warm-ups for Game Three. During this confrontation, he received the warning that batting champion Pete Rose was unhappy with the quote. In the fifth inning, Morgan hit a double play ball to Mets first baseman John Milner with Rose on first. Whether Rose slid hard into second attempting to break up the double play or if Harrelson was overly sensitive due to the warning he received is a matter of debate. Regardless, a fight between the two erupted, resulting in a bench-clearing brawl. The game was nearly called off when, after the Reds took the field, the Shea Stadium crowd threw objects from the stands at Rose, causing Reds manager Sparky Anderson to pull his team off the field until order was restored. Mets manager Yogi Berra and players Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, Cleon Jones, and Rusty Staub were actually summoned by National League President Chub Feeney out to left field to calm the fans. When order was restored, the Mets went on to defeat the Reds handily in Game Three by a score of 9-2. Although the Reds forced a deciding game five when