Schwei's Mets Notes: Manager Ejections, Struggles Vs. Kershaw And More
By John Schweibacher
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It turned out to be a rocky road trip for the New York Mets, who went 4-7 on their western swing as they were swept this past weekend in Colorado.
The Mets hit only .215 and scored 32 runs on the 11-game road trip, including just nine in the three games at Coors Field.
MORE: Palladino: Mets Need A Citi Field Reboot When They Meet Nationals
The Rockies completed the sweep Sunday, thanks to Ryan Raburn's two-run home run in the seventh inning that turned a 3-2 Mets lead into a 4-3 deficit. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Raburn became the only player to hit a behind-to-ahead homer as a pinch hitter this season. The loss dropped the Mets' record at Coors Field to 9-18 since 2009.
The Rockies took the second game of the three-game series, 7-4, Saturday night in Denver. Tony Wolters' two-run double gave Colorado a 5-1 lead in the third inning. The hit came after Wolters got a second life after a controversial foul tip call, which got Mets manager Terry Collins ejected.
The ejection was the first of the season for Collins, who has now been ejected from games 16 times as Mets manager, the third-most in club history, according to the ejection information on RetroSheet.org:
- Joe Torre, 23
- Bobby Valentine, 17
- Terry Collins, 16
- Jerry Manuel, 13
- Davey Johnson, 13
- Dallas Green, 11
Neil Walker's fourth-inning home run Saturday night was the first Mets RBI from someone other than Kevin Plawecki or a pitcher since last Monday night in Los Angeles. Plawecki (three) and Noah Syndergaard (four) had all the Mets' RBIs over the four-game span.
Jon Gray went seven innings to earn his first major league victory, as he and the Rockies beat Matt Harvey, 5-2, last Friday night to snap an 11-game skid to the Mets. The Mets' longest current winning streak against an opponent is now 11 straight vs. the Cincinnati Reds.
Clayton Kershaw went the distance, allowing just three hits, as the Dodgers salvaged the four-game split with a 5-0 victory over the Mets on Thursday night. Kershaw, who also pitched a three-hit shutout last July at Citi Field, improved his lifetime regular season record against the Mets to 7-0.
The only other pitcher with at least 10 career starts against the Mets and who had a 7-0 record or better was the Pittsburgh Pirates' Randy Tomlin, who went 9-0 all-time vs. the Mets from 1990-93.
The last two complete-game shutouts by Dodgers pitchers against the Mets prior to Kershaw were thrown in back-to-back games on May 24-25, 1995, when Pedro Astacio and Tom Candiotti won 5-0 and 3-0 games at Shea Stadium.
Astacio was also the last Dodgers pitcher prior to Kershaw to shut out the Mets in Los Angeles, a six-hitter at Dodger Stadium on August 18, 1992.
Noah Syndergaard hit two home runs and drove in four runs in the Mets' 4-3 win over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night. Syndergaard became the second Mets pitcher to homer twice in a game, joining Walt Terrell, who hit two against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Aug. 6, 1983. John Stearns, who hit 46 home runs in his career with the Mets, hit the most homers for the club without having a multi-home run game.
Trayce Thompson hit a game-winning home run off Hansel Robles as Los Angeles defeated New York, 3-2, Tuesday night.
It was the fifth time in club history the Mets lost to the Dodgers on a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning:
- 5/10/16: NYM 2 at LA 3, Trayce Thompson vs. Hansel Robles
- 5/31/00: NYM 3 at LA 4, Kevin Elster vs. Turk Wendell
- 7/24/77: NYM 3 at LA 5, Davey Lopes vs. Bob Apodaca
- 8/19/76: NYM 5 at LA 6, Ron Cey vs. Bob Apodaca
- 7/29/67: NYM 1 at LA 2, Al Ferrara vs. Bob Hendley
Steven Matz improved his career record to 9-1 in 12 appearances, allowing two runs over six innings in the Mets' 4-2 victory at Dodger Stadium last Monday night. Matz is the first pitcher in Mets history to win nine of his first 10 major-league decisions. Jason Isringhausen won nine of his first 11 decisions for the Mets in 1995.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: R.I.P. RISP. Mets are hitting just .212 (61-for-287) with runners in scoring position, the lowest average in the National League.
Happy Recap: Pitching In. Mets pitchers hit three homers and drove in eight runs on the 11-game road trip.
