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Schwei: Ike's Walk-Off Slam, Valverde's 1st Save And More Mets Notes

By John Schweibacher
» More Columns

The New York Mets bounced back after being swept by the Washington Nationals to take two of three from the Cincinnati Reds on their first homestand of the season.

Ike Davis came off the bench to hit a bases-loaded, ninth-inning home run off J.J. Hoover, giving the Mets a 6-3 win over the Reds at Citi Field Saturday afternoon.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Davis is the first player in the majors to hit a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam since the Astros' Brian Bogusevic hit one off the Cubs' Carlos Marmol on August 16, 2011.

The only other Mets player to accomplish this feat was Tim Teufel, against the Phillies' Tom Hume at Shea Stadium on June 10, 1986.

Here is the list of all the Mets' game-ending grand slams:

· 6/26/1963: NYM 8 vs. Chi 6 (14), Tim Harkness

· 8/9/1963: NYM 7 vs. Chi 3, Jim Hickman

· 6/11/1980: NYM 6 vs. LA 2 (10), Mike Jorgensen

· 6/10/1986: NYM 8 vs. Phi 4 (11), Tim Teufel

· 6/25/1991: NYM 8 vs. Mtl 5, Kevin McReynolds

· 4/24/2013: NYM 7 vs. LA 3 (10), Jordany Valdespin

· 4/5/2014: NYM 6 vs. Cin 3, Ike Davis

Jose Valverde became the 160th pitcher in Mets history to record at least one save, closing out their first win of 2014, 4-3, against the Reds Friday night at Citi Field.

Valverde joined this odd collection of Mets who recorded some of the club's first saves of a season dating back to 1969, when the save became an official MLB statistic:

· 2011: Blaine Boyer

· 2010: Mike Pelfrey

· 2004: Orber Moreno

· 1999: Allen Watson

· 1993 & 94: Mike Maddux

· 1989: Don Aase

· 1978: Mardie Cornejo

· 1969: Nolan Ryan

Valverde's last save came on June 11, 2013 with Detroit. 119 of his 287 career saves came with the Tigers. Only four other pitchers have recorded at least one career save for both Detroit and the New York Mets:

Pitcher                                 Saves With Detroit                        Saves With New York

· Jose Valverde                               119                                                                 1

· Tim Byrdak                                     1                                                                    1

· Bob "Righty" Miller                     1                                                                    2

· Bob "Lefty" Miller                        1                                                                    1

· Dennis Ribant                                1                                                                     7

The Mets lost their season opener, 9-7, in 10 innings against the Nationals last Monday. It was the seventh Mets opener to go extra innings. New York is now 5-2 in extra-inning season openers:

· 2014: Lost 9-7 (11 innings) vs. Washington

· 2001: Won 6-4 (10 innings) at Atlanta

· 1998: Won 1-0 (14 innings) vs. Philadelphia

· 1995: Lost 11-9 (14 innings) at Colorado

· 1992: Won 4-2 (10 innings) at St. Louis

· 1985: Won 6-5 (10 innings) vs. St. Louis

· 1970: Won 5-3 (11 innings) at Pittsburgh

The Opening Day loss was the fifth in Mets history in which they took a lead into the ninth inning but failed to come away with the win:

· 2014: 9-7 (10) vs. Washington (led 5-4)

· 2005: 7-6 at Cincinnati (led 6-4)

· 1974: 5-4 at Philadelphia (led 4-3)

· 1968: 5-4 at San Francisco (led 4-2)

· 1966: 3-2 vs. Atlanta (led 2-1)

The Mets' first road trip of 2014 begins in Atlanta Tuesday night, where the Braves will mark the 40th anniversary of Hank Aaron hitting his 715th career home run, passing Babe Ruth on the all-time list.

Two former Mets, Buzz Capra and Leo Foster, appeared in that game back on April 8, 1974 for Atlanta. Foster replaced future Mets manager Davey Johnson at second base for the Braves, while Capra pitched in relief.

Mike Marshall, who would pitch for the Mets in 1981, relieved Al Downing, who had allowed Aaron's record-breaking homer. And future Mets pitching coach Charlie Hough, who relieved Marshall later in the game, appeared that night for the Dodgers.

Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:

Runs: Lucas Duda -- Hit two, two-run home runs Friday night, matching his total home runs with men on base in 2013. (13 of his 15 home runs last year were solo blasts.)

Hits: Juan Lagares -- Hit .350 (7-for-20) on Mets' season-opening six-game homestand.

Errors: Travis d'Arnaud -- Went 0-for-15 in five games played on the homestand.

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