Schwei's Mets Notebook: Little-Known Facts, Odd Stats And Strange Records
By John Schweibacher
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The New York Mets will continue their best-ever first homestand this week after beginning their home schedule with seven straight wins for the first time in club history. The Mets best home start prior to this season was back in 1985, when they won their first six games at Shea Stadium.
The Mets held on to defeat the Marlins, 7-6, Sunday. Matt Harvey got the win, improving to 3-0 this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Harvey is only the second veteran (non-rookie) pitcher in the last 15 years to win his first three (or more) appearances of a season after not pitching in the major leagues the previous year. Ben Sheets won the first three games (all starts) of his final big-league season for the Braves in 2012 after missing the entire 2011 season.
Jacob deGrom tossed seven scoreless innings -- running his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 18 1/3 -- as the Mets defeated the Marlins, 5-4, Saturday night at Citi Field. In the 25th start of his major league career, deGrom lowered his career ERA to 2.48. The Elias Sports Bureau noted that only two other pitchers who reached the majors with the Mets posted an ERA below 2.50 over the span of their first 25 big-league starts: Jerry Koosman (2.21 over 1967 and 1968) and Harvey (2.37 over 2012 and 2013).
KALLET: SCORCHING METS HAVE OVERCOME ADVERSITY, BUT MORE IS ON THE WAY
Bartolo Colon improved to 3-0 in the Mets' 4-1 victory over the Marlins Friday night. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Colon -- who will turn 42 next month -- is the fifth pitcher in the last 60 years to win each of his first three starts at age 41 or older.
The other four to accomplish that feat in that span were Kenny Rogers in 2007 (3-0 at age 42), Roger Clemens in 2004 (7-0 at age 41), Nolan Ryan in 1990 (4-0 at age 43)and Phil Niekro in 1984 (4-0 at age 45).
Jon Niese got the win as the Mets completed the sweep of the Phillies last Wednesday night at Citi Field. It was Niese's 150th career start, the 13th-most overall in Mets history and seventh-most by a homegrown Mets pitcher.
Most Career Starts for Mets by Homegrown Pitchers:
· Tom Seaver: 395
· Jerry Koosman: 346
· Dwight Gooden: 303
· Jon Matlack: 199
· Bobby Jones: 190
· Craig Swan: 184
· Jon Niese: 150
· Mike Pelfrey: 149
· Gary Gentry: 121
· Jim McAndrew: 105
· Dillon Gee: 105
The Mets beat the Phillies, 6-5, in the middle game of their three-game series last Tuesday night. Ex-Met Jeff Francoeur homered in the top of the ninth for Philadelphia to cut the Mets' lead to one. Francoeur became the 10th player to homer both for and against the Mets at Citi Field since it opened in 2009:
· Jeff Francoeur Citi Field HRs: Mets 9, Phillies 1
· Justin Turner Citi Field HRs: Mets 5, Dodgers 1
· Angel Pagan Citi Field HRs: Mets 15, Giants 2
· Brian Schneider Citi Field HRs: Mets 3, Phillies 1
· Jose Reyes Citi Field HRs: Mets 13, Marlins 1
· Rod Barajas Citi Field HRs: Mets 5, Dodgers 1, Pirates 1
· Scott Hairston Citi Field HRs: Mets 13, Nationals 1
· John Buck Citi Field HRs: Mets 6, Marlins 1
· Marlon Byrd Citi Field HRs: Mets 7, Phillies 1
· Curtis Granderson Citi Field HRs: Mets 7, Yankees 1
Anthony Recker made his first career appearance at third base in Tuesday night's win, after David Wright left the game with a pulled hamstring in the eighth inning. Before his inning at the hot corner, Recker had appeared in 91 games in the field for the Mets, all of them behind the plate.
Here is a list of the players who only played catcher during their Mets stints:
· Ron Hodges: 446
· Josh Thole: 279
· Ramon Castro: 256
· Paul Lo Duca: 231
· Charlie O'Brien: 224
· Brian Schneider: 166
· Jesse Gonder: 161
· Travis d'Arnaud: 146
· Kelly Stinnett: 118
· Mike Fitzgerald: 115
· Junior Ortiz: 99
· John Buck: 97
The Mets beat the Phillies, 2-0, in their home opener last Monday afternoon at Citi Field. It was the 10th home-opener shutout in club history, all of which have come since 1968. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no other major-league team has more than seven shutouts in home openers over the last 48 seasons.
Here is the list of the Mets' 10 shutouts in home openers:
· 4/13/15: Phillies 0 Mets 2 | deGrom, C.Torres, Blevins & Familia
· 5/4/12: Braves 0 Mets 1 | Santana, Ramirez, Byrdak, Rauch & Francisco
· 3/31/98: Phillies 0 Mets 1 (14) | Jones, McMichael, Cook, Franco, Rojas & Wendell
· 4/5/93: Rockies 0 Mets 3 | Gooden
· 4/12/88: Expos 0 Mets 3 | Darling
· 4/5/83: Phillies 0 Mets 2 | Seaver & Sisk
· 4/12/77: Cardinals 0 Mets 4 | Seaver
· 4/6/73: Phillies 0 Mets 3 | Seaver & McGraw
· 4/15/72: Pirates 0 Mets 4 | Seaver & McGraw
· 4/17/68: Giants 0 Mets 3 | Koosman
Happy Recap: The Mets have won their first seven games at home to start the season. Their previous best to start a season was six straight in 1985.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: After losing Wright to the disabled list with a right hamstring strain earlier in the week, the Mets lost both Jerry Blevins (fractured left forearm) and Travis d'Arnaud (broken right hand) to the DL in Sunday's win.
