Schwei's Mets Notes: Recapping The Streak And Subway Series
By John Schweibacher
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After dropping two of three to the Yankees, the Mets will make a quick trip to Miami to face the Marlins before returning to Citi Field this weekend to take on the Nationals.
The Mets lost the rubber game of a three-game series with the Yankees, 6-4, Sunday night. Alex Rodriguez homered off of Jonathon Niese in the first inning, the 659th long ball of his career.
Rodriguez is now one home run behind Willie Mays on the all-time list. Mays hit his 659th career homer on August 3, 1973, a three-run shot in the bottom of the seventh inning off Diego Segui, in a 7-3 Mets win against the Cardinals at Shea Stadium.
Mays' 660th and final home run came two weeks later against Don Gullett and the Reds on August 17, 1973, in a 2-1 Mets loss to Cincinnati at Shea.
The Mets defeated the Yankees, 8-2, Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Lucas Duda, Kevin Plawecki and Eric Campbell each hit home runs in the win. It was the eighth time the Mets hit three or more homers in a game against the Yanks in the Bronx:
-- 4/25/15 Lucas Duda, Kevin Plawecki and Eric Campbell
-- 5/12/14 Eric Young, Travis d'Arnaud, Curtis Granderson and Chris Young
-- 6/27/08 Carlos Delgado (2) and Carlos Beltran
-- 6/25/05 Cliff Floyd (2) and David Wright
-- 6/27/04 Richard Hidalgo (2) Mike Cameron and Eric Valent
-- 6/29/02 Mike Piazza, Vance Wilson and Mo Vaughn
-- 6/28/02 Roger Cedeno, Timo Perez and Mo Vaughn
-- 6/9/00 Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza and Derek Bell
Plawecki became the first player to hit his first major league home run during a Mets-Yankees Subway Series game.
Five other Mets catchers have homered against the Yankees in the regular season since they first played against each other in 1997:
-- Mike Piazza 6
-- Ramon Castro 2
-- Vance Wilson 1
-- Omir Santos 1
-- Travis d'Arnaud 1
-- Kevin Plawecki 1
The Mets' 11-game winning streak came to an end last Friday night at Yankee Stadium. Mark Teixeira homered twice in the Yanks' 6-1 win. It was the ninth multi-homer game by a Yankees hitter against the Mets:
-- 4/24/15 at NYY Mark Teixeira
-- 6/10/12 at NYY Russell Martin
-- 6/8/12 at NYY Robinson Cano
-- 7/2/06 at NYY Alex Rodriguez
-- 7/3/04 at NYM Tony Clark
-- 6/27/04 at NYY Derek Jeter
-- 6/28/02 at NYY Jorge Posada
-- 7/10/99 at NYM Paul O'Neill
-- 7/10/99 at NYM Jorge Posada
The Mets tied a team record with their 11th consecutive win last Thursday afternoon against the Braves. Here are the Mets' five 11-game streaks in club history:
-- April 12-24, 2015 (1 at Atl, 3 vs. Phi, 4 vs. Mia, 3 vs. Atl)
-- June 17-29, 1990 (1 at Pit, 2 vs. Stl, 3 vs. Phi, 3 at Stl, 2 vs. Cin)
-- April 18-30, 1986 (3 vs. Phi, 2 vs. Pit, 4 at Stl, 2 at Atl)
-- May 12-21, 1972 (3 vs. SF, 4 vs. Mon, 4 at Phi)
-- May 28-June 10, 1969 (1 vs. SD, 3 vs. SF, 3 vs. LA, 3 vs. SD, 1 at SF)
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Mets became the seventh team in the modern era (since 1900) to sweep a homestand of 10 or more games, and the first to do so since the 1991 Twins (10).
Elias also noted that the Mets also tied the longest April winning streak for a major league team representing New York or Brooklyn. The other Big Apple clubs to accomplish the feat were the 1987 Yankees (10 straight wins), 1986 Mets (11) and the 1955 Dodgers (10).
Bartolo Colon won his fourth consecutive start Thursday to become the fourth 40-something pitcher to win his first four starts of a season over the last 80 years. The others to do that in that time frame were Phil Niekro (1984), Nolan Ryan (1990) and Roger Clemens (2004).
The Mets won their 10th consecutive game last Wednesday night, beating the Braves, 3-2. According to Elias, with his save that night, Jeurys Familia become the first pitcher in Mets history to record seven saves in a span of 10 team games in one season. (Familia would add his eighth save in 11 games the following afternoon.)
Six Mets relievers shared the previous mark with six saves over 10 games:
-- Tug McGraw (9/5/73 through 9/15/73)
-- Roger McDowell (8/17/86 through 8/25/86)
-- John Franco (9/5/98 through 9/14/98)
-- Armando Benitez (8/18/01 through 8/26/01)
-- Billy Wagner (7/11/08 through 7/24/08)
-- Francisco Rodriguez (5/10/11 through 5/20/11)
Curtis Granderson drove in four runs in the Mets' 7-1 win over the Braves Tuesday night, his first four RBIs of the season. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that Granderson did not drive in his first run until his 56th plate appearance of the season, the longest such streak to start a season for a Mets position player since Endy Chavez drove in his first run of the 2008 season in his 75th plate appearance. That Chavez run batted in came on his pinch-hit solo home run in the bottom of the ninth in an eventual, 7-6, 12-inning win over the Marlins on May 28, 2008 at Shea Stadium.
Plawecki went 2-for-4 and scored two runs in his major league debut in Tuesday night's win. He is the sixth player in franchise history to pick up both two hits and two runs in his major league debut:
-- Kevin Plawecki 4/21/15 vs. Atl 2-for-4, 2 runs scored
-- Carlos Gomez 5/13/07 vs. Mil 2-for-4, 2 runs scored
-- Jose Reyes 6/10/03 at Tex 2-for-4, 2 runs scored
-- Jason Hardtke 9/8/96 at Atl 2-for-5, 2 runs scored
-- Lenny Dykstra 5/3/85 at Cin, 2-for-5, 2 runs scored
-- Kelvin Chapman 4/5/79 at Chi 2-for-5, 2 runs scored
Four other catchers before Plawecki had two hits in their major league debut for the Mets: Juan Centeno (9/18/13), Josh Thole (9/3/09), Ed Hearn (5/17/86) and Greg Goosen (9/3/65).
Happy Recap: The 2015 Mets are the fourth major league team from New York or Brooklyn to record a 10-game (or longer) winning streak in April. The other Big Apple clubs to do that are the 1987 Yankees (10 straight wins), 1986 Mets (11) and the 1955 Dodgers (10).
Nine Miles of Rough Road: The Mets have given up at least one home run in each of their last 15 road games against the Yankees, dating back to June 19, 2010.
