Schwei: Mets' Highs And Woes After All-Star Break
By John Schweibacher
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Ike Davis hit a pair of solo home runs, including the game-winning one in the ninth inning, that gave the Mets a 2-1 victory over the Astros Sunday at Citi Field.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Davis became the fourth player in Mets history to have a multiple-homer game while accounting for all the team's runs with solo shots in a victory. Ed Charles did the same in a 2-1 win over the Pirates on May 20, 1968 (including a game-ending homer), as did Ed Kranepool in a 2-0 win at Montreal on April 29, 1969 and Cliff Floyd in a 2-0 victory against the Cardinals on May 13, 2005.
Despite that win, the Mets' post All-Star break struggles continue. After their 2-5 home stand, the Mets' second-half record is 13-29. The Mets are on pace for one of their worst post-All-Star break records in club history:
1962: 17-61 .218
1965: 21-56 .273
1963: 32-56 .282
2012: 13-29 .310
1979: 25-50 .333
1982: 25-50 .333
For the second year in a row, the Colorado Rockies swept a four-game series against the Mets at Citi Field. The eight straight wins in Flushing by the Rockies match the fifth-most by any opponent on the road against the Mets. Colorado is the first opposing team to have a winning streak of that length at Citi Field.
Seven of the previous 10 streaks of eight or more road wins against the Mets were compiled by teams who played in the World Series during the same season(s) of the streaks:
10: Atlanta 6/12/91 - 9/1/92 Shea
9: St. Louis 7/2/67 - 7/30/68 Shea
9: St. Louis 8/7/79 - 6/4/80 Shea
9: St. Louis 8/9/82 - 8/20/83 Shea
8: Pittsburgh 4/13/62 - 8/21/62 Polo
8: Los Angeles 7/10/63 - 8/18/63 Polo
8: Los Angeles 9/5/64 - 8/23/65 Shea
8: Philadelphia 4/22/67 - 8/23/67 Shea
8: Cincinnati 6/7/72 - 8/17/73 Shea
8: Philadelphia 5/1/80 - 6/14/80 Shea
8: Colorado 4/11/11 - 8/23/12 Citi
David Wright hit his 200th career home run in the Mets' 3-1 loss to the Astros this past Friday night. Wright joined Darryl Strawberry and Mike Piazza as the third player to hit 200 home runs for the club:
•Strawberry 200th Mets HR - 6/9/89 4-3 L (10) at Pittsburgh/Doug Drabek.
•Piazza 200th Mets HR - 9/13/04 9-7 W vs. Atlanta/Jaret Wright.
•Wright 200th Mets HR- 8/24/12 3-1 L vs. Houston/Jordan Lyles.
Johan Santana's season came to and as he was placed on the disabled list with back inflammation last week.
Back in 2008 in his first season with the Mets, Santana went 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in September, including his memorable three-hit shutout against the Marlins at Shea Stadium in the next-to-last game of the season.
Santana has made only one September start since, going five innings for a 4-2 win in Atlanta back on September 2nd, 2010 after which it was learned that Santana would need surgery to repair his left shoulder.
R.A. Dickey ended the Mets' six-game losing streak both on the mound and at the plate Saturday, allowing only one run in seven innings and contributing an RBI single that broke a scoreless tie in the 3-1 victory over the Astros to improve his record this year to 16-4.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Dickey is the first Mets pitcher in almost a quarter of a century to win at least 16 of his first 20 decisions in a season. The only other pitchers in franchise history to do that were David Cone in 1988 (17-3), Bob Ojeda in 1986 (16-4) and Dwight Gooden in 1985 (17-3).
Elias also notes that Tom Seaver's best start through 20 decisions for the Mets was 15-5, which he did in both 1969 (when he finished 25-7) and 1970 (on his way to an 18-12 final record).
The Mets take on the Phillies and Marlins on the road this week. In their two previous visits to Philadelphia this season, the Mets have won five of six games, clinching the club's first winning road season series against the Phils since going six and three at Citizens Bank Park back in 2008.
The Mets lost two of three in their first and only series so far at Marlins Park in 2012 back in early May. The Mets will return to Miami to close out the season October 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:
Runs: Three. The Mets scored three times in the win on Saturday, ending a seven-game streak of scoring two runs or fewer, the club's longest stretch since September of 1982.
Hits: Series Win. By winning two of three against Houston, the Mets captured just their second series win since the all-star break (three of four at San Francisco, July 30th-August 2nd) and first series victory at Citi Field since July 3rd-5th vs. Philadelphia.
Errors: Four. Even with their two wins against the Astros, the Mets have just four wins at Citi Field since the all-star break, equaling the Rockies total as well as being just one more than either the Dodgers or Nationals have won in Flushing since mid-July.
How will the Mets fare this week? Let us know in the comments below!
