The second half of Wagner's baseball season was not nearly as successful. He converted 13 out of 17 save chances, and his ERA was 3.90. Wagner's pitching performance declined during the final two months of the season. On August 30, Wagner failed to save the crucial fourth game of a four-game series between the Phillies and Mets. The final result was four-game sweep by the Phillies. This sweep turned out to be the difference in the season: the Mets finished one game behind the Phillies at the end of the regular season. One more win against the Phillies would have allowed the Mets to win the division that year.