A rough outing against the St. Louis Cardinals followed on September 9, pinning Cambria with his second career defeat. But eleven days later, Cambria faced his hometown Mets in his home borough, as the starting pitcher in the second game of a doubleheader at Shea Stadium. The Mets had won the opening game to climb within 2 games of the first-place Pirates, and Cambria drew reigning Cy Young Award winning pitcher Tom Seaver as his opponent in the nightcap. But Cambria outpitched Seaver, allowing only two earned runs in 5 innings. He left the game with his team ahead 5–3, and although the Pirate bullpen allowed the Mets to tie the score at five in the seventh inning, denying Cambria the win, Pittsburgh came back to win 9–5. They eventually won the division title by five games over the second-place Cubs. Cambria did not appear in the 1970 NLCS, which the Pirates dropped in three straight games to the Cincinnati Reds.