Schwei: Examining the Mets' Offensive Eruption
By John Schweibacher
The Mets offense erupted for 18 runs and 21 hits in Sunday's win over the Cubs. It was the 7th time in club history that the Mets scored 18 or more runs in a game. All of the 18-plus run outbursts have come on the road and four have been at the "friendly confines" of Wrigley Field:
•23 at Chicago 8/16/87
•20 at Atlanta 8/7/71
•19 at Chicago 5/26/64
•19 at Chicago 6/12/90
•18 at Atlanta 8/14/79
•18 at Arizona 8/24/05
•18 at Chicago 9/05/10
David Wright's struggles at Turner Field were well-documented but Nationals Park has not been that much friendlier to the Mets' third baseman. Wright has hit .260 in his 23 games at the Nationals' home ballpark, a point worse than his .261 mark at Turner Field. Wright has never hit a home run in Nationals Park in its three seasons. Last month, Wright connected for his first-ever regular season homer at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Wright did however hit a home run in the 2006 All-Star Game at PNC as well as going deep 22 times in that year's Home Run Derby but those don't count.
Outside of his lone start in the two spot in the lineup, David Wright has appeared in three spots in the Mets batting order this season; 3rd, 4th and 5th. Here are some of his splits in those three positions in the lineup:
G AVG OBP SLG HR RBI
· 3rd 63 .313 .393 .514 9 40
· 4th 24 .215 .269 .419 5 15
· 5th 45 .313 .374 .558 9 35
David Wright, Josh Thole, Lucas Duda and Luis Hernandez all made their first appearances this season in the second spot in the Mets batting order during this current road trip. Wright has now hit 2nd 15 times as a Met so he and the other three newcomers have quite a long way to go before cracking this top ten list—the most starts in the 2nd spot in the Mets order in club history:
· Felix Millan 624
· Edgardo Alfonzo 530
· Wally Backman 362
· Bud Harrelson 248
· Luis Castillo 246*
· Dave Magadan 230
· Frank Taveras 210
· Ken Boswell 194
· Ron Hunt 189
· Jose Vizcaino 173
(*through games of 9/5)
The Mets dealt Jeff Francoeur to the Texas Rangers at the August 31st post-season eligibility deadline. Francoeur and Joaquin Arias, who the Mets received in return, are two of eight one-time Texas Rangers players who appeared in games for the Mets this season joining Rod Barajas, R.A. Dickey, Frank Catalanotto, Alex Cora, Gary Matthews, Jr. and Fernando Tatis. According to the Ultimate Mets Database, the Francoeur trade was the 14th deal between the Rangers and Mets since that franchise moved from Washington to Texas for the 1972 season.
Thanks to the September call-ups, 20 players have now made their Mets debuts in 2010. There were 26 Mets newcomers last season. Other than the club's first season of 1962 when all 45 Mets were technically "new", 1967 saw the Mets use 35 newcomers, the most in team history. 1988 had the least newcomers as only four players made their Mets debuts.
The Mets conclude their road trip with three games in Washington against the Nationals and return home for a weekend series with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mets have gone just 5 and 7 against the Nationals so far in 2010, splitting the six games played in Washington. The Mets are 6 and 6 vs. Philadelphia through their first 12 meetings this season, having won four of the six games played at Citi Field. All four of the Mets wins over the Phils at home have been shutouts.
Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:
Runs: 18. Mets score a season-high 18 runs in Sunday blowout win at Wrigley Field.
Hits: 21. Mets collect a season-high 21 hits in same game.
Errors: 4 below. Saturday loss in Chicago dropped Mets record to 66 and 70, a season-low four games below .500 mark.
