Schwei: Harvey's Historic Second-Half Start And More Mets Notes
By John Schweibacher
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Matt Harvey pitched seven shutout innings to earn his eighth win of the season on Sunday, 5-0, over the Phillies.
In picking up the victory, Harvey did something that the two previous Mets All-Star Game starting pitchers, Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden, were not able to do -- win their first outing after starting a mid-summer classic.
• Seaver, 7/14/70 at L.A: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K, No-Decision in 1-0, 10-inning loss.
• Gooden, 7/19/86 at HOU: 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 K, No-Decision in 5-4 loss.
• Gooden, 7/16/88 at ATL: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K, No-Decision in 3-2 win.
• Harvey, 7/21/13 vs PHI: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K, Won, 5-0.
David Wright hit his 219th career home run in Sunday's win, moving him one behind Mike Piazza for second place on the Mets' all-time list. Here are the top 10 home run leaders in club history:
• Darryl Strawberry: 252
• Mike Piazza: 220
• David Wright: 219
• Howard Johnson: 192
• Dave Kingman: 154
• Carlos Beltran: 149
• Todd Hundley: 124
• Kevin McReynolds: 122
• Edgardo Alfonzo: 120
• Ed Kranepool: 118
Gonzalez Germen picked up his first major league win on Saturday in the Mets' 5-4 victory over the Phillies. With the win, Germen, who lost his major league debut for the Mets in Pittsburgh back on July 12, evened his record at 1-1. Germen could have plenty of decisions ahead of him, but 10 pitchers in club history have finished their Met careers with a won-loss mark of exactly 1-1:
• Rigo Beltran: 1998-99
• Dennis Bennett: 1967
• Willie Blair: 1998
• Taylor Buchholz: 2011
• Jamie Cerda: 2002-03
• Kane Davis: 2002
• Mike Draper: 1993
• Eric Gunderson: 1994-95
• Carlos Muniz: 2007-08
• Grover Powell: 1963
Here are the Mets pitchers with .500 career records for the club with at least 10 decisions:
• Jesse Orosco: 47-47
• Jon Niese: 38-38
• Oliver Perez: 29-29
• Ron Taylor: 21-21
• David Weathers: 12-12
• Charlie Puleo: 9-9
• Brian Bohanon: 8-8
• Robert Person: 5-5
• Billy Wagner: 5-5
Marlon Byrd continues to stay hot in July, hitting .338 with five homers and 16 RBIs so far this month. On the Mets' road trip prior to the All-Star break, Byrd hit a grand slam in a 10-6 win over the Giants. It was only the seventh grand slam by a Mets hitter in San Francisco, and the club's first ever slam at AT&T Park.
Here are the Mets who have gone deep with the bases loaded, and the opposing pitcher they faced at the Giants' former park, Candlestick Park, and now at the Giants' current home:
• Marlon Byrd: 7/09/13 (vs. Jake Dunning)
• Robin Ventura: 8/15/99 (vs. Livan Hernandez)
• Dave Gallagher: 7/18/93 (vs. Mike Jackson)
• Gary Carter: 8/30/87 (vs. Rick Reuschel)
• George Foster: 8/20/83 (vs. Mark Calvert)
• Dave Kingman: 8/24/75 (vs. Jim Barr)
• Dave Marshall: 4/28/70 (vs. Gaylord Perry)
The Mets host the Braves this week before heading to Washington this weekend to face the Nationals.
The Mets have split their 10 games against Atlanta in 2013. Their win over the Braves back on May 26 ended Atlanta's five-game winning streak at Citi Field, but the Braves are 24-15 vs. the Mets since the ballpark opened in 2009.
The Mets and Nationals have split their eight meetings so far this season. The Mets are 23-24 all-time at Nationals Park, which opened in 2008.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: Jeremy Hefner vs. the Phillies was tough to watch. The all-time career ERA for Mets starter's against the Phils rose to 13.75 with eight runs allowed in the 13-8 loss last Friday.
Happy Recap: Juan Lagares, the rookie center fielder, is hitting .412 (14-for-34) with nine RBIs in 11 July games.
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