Schwei's Mets Notes: Pesky Paul DeJong, Rough Sundays At Home, More
By John Schweibacher
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After coming out of the All-Star break with two wins over the Colorado Rockies, the Mets have now dropped two straight vs. the Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals on their current 10-game homestand.
The Mets lost the opener of their four-game series against the Cardinals, 6-3, Monday night at Citi Field. Rookie Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer to put St. Louis in front for good and has now homered in each of his first four games against the Mets, something the Elias Sports Bureau noted that no other player has ever done.
Overall, only four players have ever homered in five consecutive games against the Mets, including one who accomplished it this season:
• Yasmany Tomas, Ari, 2016-17
• Giancarlo Stantom, Mia, 2014-15
• Ryan Howard, Phi, 2006-07
• Hank Aaron, Mil, 1962-63
It was another long Sunday afternoon for the Mets, who lost 13-4 to the Rockies at Citi Field. The Mets are now 2-6 at home on Sundays in 2017 and have been outscored 59-24 in those games.
Steven Matz was roughed up by Colorado in the loss, allowing seven runs and nine hits before being pulled without retiring a batter in the second inning.
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According to the Baseball-Reference.com, it was the fifth time in club history a Mets starter retired three or fewer batters and allowed at least seven earned runs:
• 7/16/17: Col at NYM, Steven Matz, 1 IP, 7 earned runs
• 9/20/12: Phi at NYM, Jeremy Hefner, 0 IP, 7 earned runs
• 9/30/07: Fla at NYM, Tom Glavine, 1/3 IP, 7 earned runs
• 7/4/89: NYM at Hou, Bob Ojeda 2/3 IP, 8 earned runs
• 9/25/79: NYM at Chi, Mike Scott, 1/3 IP, 7 earned runs
On Saturday night, the Mets beat the Rockies, 9-3, at Citi Field. Seth Lugo's first major league home run, in the bottom of the third inning, gave the Mets an 8-0 lead.
It was the second straight night the Mets built a big early lead. On Friday, New York led 8-1 after three innings and went on to beat Colorado. According to Elias, it's the first time in club history the Mets have put up eight runs before the start of the fourth inning in two straight contests.
The Mets have now won each of the last 18 games in which one of their pitchers homered and have not lost such a game since July 24, 1996, when Jason Isringhausen hit a home run in a 7-6, 10-inning loss at Colorado.
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The last time the Mets lost a home game despite one of their pitchers hitting a home run was on May 27, 1990, when Dwight Gooden homered in an 8-4 loss to the Padres at Shea Stadium, in what turned out to be Davey Johnson's final game as Mets manager.
On Friday, the Mets came out of the All-Star break with a bang, beating the Rockies, 14–2. It was the third time this season New York scored as many as 14 runs with at least 19 hits in a game. The Mets had 20 hits in a 14-4 win over the Phillies on April 11 at Citizens Bank Park and also had 20 hits vs. the Braves in their 16-5 win at Atlanta on May 3.
It was also just the third time in club history the Mets scored as many as 14 runs with at least 19 hits in a home game. All three have occurred within the last two years.
On July 25th, 2015, the Mets had 21 hits in a 15-2 win over the Dodgers, and they banged out 22 hits in their 14-3 victory against the Cubs in Flushing on July 3 of last year.
In his first All-Star Game last Tuesday night in Miami, Michael Conforto went 1-for-2 with a single and a strikeout.
After entering the game in left field in the sixth inning, Conforto singled to center field against Blue Jays reliever Roberto Osuna in the bottom of the seventh to pick up his first hit as an All-Star.
Eight other players got hits in their first career All-Star game at-bats as members of the Mets:
• 1964: Ron Hunt single vs. Dean Chance, Shea Stadium, New York
• 1969: Cleon Jones single vs. Mel Stottlemyre, RFK Stadium, Washington
• 1970: Bud Harrelson single vs. Jim Perry, Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati
• 1979: Lee Mazzilli pinch-hit HR vs. Jim Kern, Kingdome, Seattle
• 1989: Howard Johnson single vs. Dave Stewart, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California
• 1996: Lance Johnson double vs. Charles Nagy, Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
• 2006: David Wright home run vs. Kenny Rogers, PNC Park, Pittsburgh
• 2007: Jose Reyes single vs. Dan Haren, AT&T Park, San Francisco
Happy Recap: Second Half Surge. The Mets' 27 runs scored in their first three games after the All-Star break were the most in club history.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: No Sweep Home. The Mets failed to complete the three-game sweep Sunday vs. the Rockies. The Mets and Cleveland Indians are the only teams that have not swept a home series in 2017.
