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Schwei's Mets Notebook: Grandy's Struggles, Ike's Legacy And Home Woes

By John Schweibacher
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The Mets salvaged the final game of their three-game series against the Braves with a 4-3, 14-inning victory Sunday.

Curtis Granderson drove home Kirk Nieuwenhuis with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 14th to win the game, after going 0-for-6 in his previous at-bats.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Met to drive in the game-winning run while going 0-for-6 or worse was Jose Reyes back in 2010.

On April 17 that season, Reyes put the Mets ahead with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 20th inning in their 2-1 marathon win against the Cardinals in St. Louis after going hitless in his first seven at-bats in that game.

The Mets traded Ike Davis to the Pittsburgh Pirates last Friday, acquiring relief pitcher Zack Thornton and a player to be named later.

Only 23 homegrown Mets played in more career games for the club than Davis, who appeared in 433 games at first base for the Mets, the fifth-most in club history. Davis' 68 career homers tied him with Lee Mazzilli for 25th on the Mets' all-time list. Davis drove in 224 runs for the Mets, three fewer than Steve Henderson and one more than Bernard Gilkey for 37th in club history.

The deal came one day shy of the fourth anniversary of Davis' Mets debut on April 19, 2010. Davus went 2-for-4 with a run batted in that night in a 6-1 win against the Cubs. David Wright, Jon Niese and Jenrry Mejia are the only current Mets who also played in that game at Citi Field.

The Mets had a successful first road trip of 2014, going 6-3 vs. the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks, but New York continues to struggle at Citi Field. The Amazin's are just 3-6 at home this season.

This continues the trend since 2011, where the Mets have posted an overall winning record on the road but a losing mark at home in Flushing:

Season                                     W/L Home                                       W/L Road

• 2014                                           3-6                                                          6-3

• 2013                                          33-48                                                   41-40

• 2012                                          36-45                                                    38-43

• 2011                                           34-47                                                   43-38

• Total                                          106-146                                             128-124

The Braves beat the Mets, 6-0, in the opener of their three-game series Friday night. Ex-Met Aaron Harang threw no-hit ball for seven innings, but was pulled after 121 pitches. Atlanta reliever Luis Avilan gave up a single to Wright for the Mets' only hit of the game.

Five other Braves starting pitchers have gone at least seven innings while allowing just one hit against the Mets in club history:

• 9/1/10: NYM 1 at Atl 4, Tommy Hanson -- 7 IP 1 hit

• 9/4/06: Atl 5 vs. NYM 0, Chuck James -- 8 IP 1 hit

• 4/11/01: NYM 0 vs. Atl 2, Greg Maddux -- 7 IP 1 hit

• 9/11/65: NYM 0 vs. Mil 9, Tony Cloninger -- 9 IP 1 hit

• 5/20/65: NYM 1 at Mil 7, Wade Blasingame -- 9IP 1 hit

The one-hitter was the sixth by the Braves against the Mets in club history. Four of the six have been combined one-hitters:

• 4/18/14: Aaron Harang, Luis Avilan and Jordan Walden (Wright single in 8th)

• 9/4/06: Chuck James and Macay McBride (Wright single in 2nd)

• 4/11/01: Greg Maddux, Mike Remlinger and John Rocker (Todd Zeile single in 2nd)

• 9/11/65: Tony Cloninger (Cleon Jones single in 5th)

• 9/10/65: Wade Blasingame, Billy O'Dell and Phil Niekro (Jim Hickman homer in 4th)

• 5/20/65: Blasingame (Ron Swoboda single in 7th)

The Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks with a 5-2 win last Wednesday afternoon in Arizona. Dillon Gee got his first win of the season, allowing three hits in seven innings while throwing just 72 pitches.

According to the Pitching Game Finder at baseball-reference.com, it was just the eighth time in club history that a Mets starter went at least seven innings and threw 75-or-fewer pitches:

• 4/16/14: Dillon Gee -- 7 IP, 72 pitches, 5-2 win at Arizona

• 6/22/01: Rick Reed -- 7 IP, 74 pitches, 10-1 win vs. Atlanta

• 7/30/97: Rick Reed -- 7 IP, 75 pitches, 5-2 win at SF

• 6/13/96: Robert Person -- 7 IP, 70 pitches, 2-1 win at St. Louis

• 6/11/95: Mike Birkbeck -- 7 IP, 75 pitches, 6-3 loss at SD

• 9/16/92: Eric Hillman -- 7 IP, 75 pitches, 10-4 loss vs. St. Louis

• 7/18/90: Frank Viola -- 7 IP, 74 pitches, 1-0 loss at Houston

• 7/10/63: Carl Willey -- 8 IP, 71 pitches, 1-0 loss vs. St. Louis

Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:

Runs: Daniel Murphy -- The Mets' second baseman has stolen 24 consecutive bases without getting caught dating back to June 9, 2013. The streak is the longest current one in the majors and the second-longest in team history. (Kevin McReynolds stole 33 straight from 1987-1989.)

Hits: Wright -- The Mets' third baseman has an 11-game hitting streak, going 19 for his last 50 (.380).

Errors: HRs Allowed -- Mets pitchers have given up 25 home runs, one fewer than the Pirates and Diamondbacks for the most allowed in the majors.

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