Schwei: Scott Rice's Amazing Durability And More Mets Notes
By John Schweibacher
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The Mets' next-to-last road trip of 2013 continues this week with a series in Atlanta and another in Cleveland.
The Mets' 34 road wins are tied for the third-most in the National League, but their 28 home victories rank next-to-last, just one ahead of the Cubs' 27.
Eric Young, Jr. stole his 26th base (and fifth in five games) since joining the Mets in Sunday night's 6-5 loss at Washington. Only eight players in Mets' history have swiped 25 or more bases in their first season with the club after being acquired in a trade or signed as a free agent:
· Roger Cedeno* 1999 66
· Lance Johnson 1996 50
· Frank Taveras 1979* 42
· Vince Coleman 1991 37
· Rickey Henderson 1999 37
· Lenny Randle 1977* 33
· Juan Samuel 1989* 31
· Eric Young 2013* 26
· Roger Cedeno* 2002 25
(*-acquired during season)
(*-Cedeno had two stints with Mets)
Scott Rice begins the week having appeared in 72 games, the most in the major leagues. Rice is the 7th left-handed pitcher in Mets' history to appear in 70 or more games in a season, including his current teammates Pedro Feliciano, who has done it four times, and Tim Byrdak, who was the last Mets lefty to do so two seasons ago:
· Pedro Feliciano 92 2010
· Pedro Feliciano 88 2009
· Pedro Feliciano 86 2008
· Mike Stanton 83 2004
· Pedro Feliciano 78 2007
· Dennis Cook 73 1998
· Scott Schoeneweis 73 2008
· Tim Byrdak 72 2011
· Scott Rice 72 2013
· Billy Wagner 70 2006
· Scott Schoeneweis 70 2007
Anthony Recker celebrated his 30th birthday with a two-run homer in the Mets' 11-3 win over the Phillies last Thursday at Citi Field. Recker became the 13th different player in club history to hit a home run on his birthday:
· Anthony Recker 8/29/13
· Calros Beltran 4/24/08
· Jeromy Burnitz 4/15/03
· Mike Piazza (3x) 9/4/98, 9/4/00 & 9/4/02.
· Todd Hundley 5/27/94
· Charlie O'Brien 5/1/92
· Kevin Elster 8/3/89
· Gary Carter 4/8/88
· Wally Backman 9/22/86
· Jim Beauchamp 8/21/72
· Tommie Agee 8/9/69
· Cleon Jones 8/4/68
· Jim Hickman (2x) 5/10/63 & 5/10/66.
Jonathon Niese threw a three-hit shutout and drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double in the sixth inning in the Mets' 5-0 win over the Phillies last Tuesday night.
It was the 18th time in club history that a Mets starting pitcher drove in three runs or more in a game:
· Jon Niese 8/27/13 vs. Phi
· Al Leiter 8/12/99 vs. SD
· Frank Tanana 8/18/93 at Cin
· Dwight Gooden 7/6/93 vs. SD
· Dwight Gooden 5/22/93 vs. Atl
· Dwight Gooden 5/11/90 at LA (4)
· Sid Fernandez 4/28/90 at Hou
· Ron Darling 6/30/89 at Cin
· Dwight Gooden 9/21/85 vs. Pit (4)
· Walt Terrell 8/23/83 at SD
· Walt Terrell 8/6/83 at Chi (4)
· Pete Falcone 9/29/81 at Phi
· George Stone 5/21/74 vs. Chi (4)
· Tom Seaver 4/12/70 at Stl
· Don Cardwell 5/6/69 vs. Cin
· Jack Hamilton 5/20/67 vs. Stl (4)
· Gerry Arrigo 7/17/66 vs. Hou
· Carl Willey 7/15/63 vs. Hou (4)
Happy Recap: Zack Wheeler. The rookie improved to 5 and 0 with a 2.19 ERA on the road with a victory Saturday night at Washington.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: Ike Davis. Disappointing season appears over after the first baseman suffered a strained right oblique muscle in win over Nationals.
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