Schwei's Mets Notes: Colon Makes More History, Niese Likes Philly And More
By John Schweibacher
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The New York Mets head to Chicago this week to take on the Cubs after taking two of three from the Phillies this past weekend.
Bartolo Colon allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings to improve to 6-1 this season as the Mets won in Philadelphia, 7-4, Sunday.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, at age 41, Colon is the third 40-something pitcher in major league history to win at least six of his first seven starts of a season. The others were Houston's Roger Clemens in 2004 (7-0) and Pittsburgh's Babe Adams in 1923 (6-1).
Jonathon Niese allowed five hits and a pair of unearned runs over seven innings in the Mets' 3-2 win over the Phillies Saturday night. The victory was Niese's 10th career win against Philadelphia, his most against any other opponent.
Niese is the sixth Mets pitcher in club history to defeat the Phillies at least 10 times:
· Tom Seaver: 22
· Jerry Koosman: 15
· Sid Fernandez: 15
· Dwight Gooden: 15
· Ron Darling: 11
· Jon Niese: 10
Ex-Met Aaron Harang, pitching on his 37th birthday, took the loss for the Phillies Saturday night. According to the player game finder at baseball-reference.com, Harang was the eighth pitcher to start and lose a game to the Mets on his birthday and the second former Met to suffer the loss for the Phillies:
· 5/9/15: Aaron Harang, Mets 3 at Phillies 2
· 8/24/14: Kevin Correia, Mets 11 at Dodgers 3
· 5/19/88: Ed Whitson, Mets 9 at Padres 4
· 5/19/87: Eric Show, Padres 4 at Mets 5
· 8/15/81: Nino Espinosa, Phillies 1 Mets 3
· 4/25/74: Bill Greif, Mets 5 at Padres 2
· 7/23/67: Don Drysdale, Dodgers 1 at Mets 4
· 5/18/63: Jack Sanford, Mets 4 at Giants 0
The Mets completed the two-game sweep of Baltimore with a 5-1 win Wednesday night. Jacob deGrom allowed one run in seven innings against the Orioles and improved to 8-4 with a 1.62 earned run average in 14 career starts at Citi Field. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, deGrom's ERA is the second-lowest home ERA in the major leagues over the last two seasons (minimum: 75 innings), behind only Andrew Cashner's 1.51 at Petco Park.
Colon allowed one run over 7 2/3 innings as the Mets defeated the Orioles, 3-2, last Tuesday night at Citi Field. With the win, Colon became the first pitcher in major league history to record wins against one team for seven different clubs. Colon has won games versus the Orioles for the Indians (five times), Angels (twice), Red Sox (twice), White Sox (once), Yankees (once), Athletics (once) and Mets (once). He's also won for six different teams against the Mariners.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, six other pitchers have beaten one team with six clubs: Sad Sam Jones (vs. Tigers), Burleigh Grimes (vs. Phillies), Bobo Newsom (vs. White Sox and Indians), David Wells (vs. Indians and Royals), Livan Hernandez (vs. Astros and Expos/Nationals) and Dan Haren (vs. Braves).
The Mets are 21-9 all time against Baltimore during the regular season. The .700 winning percentage is the second best vs. any American League club in team history since Interleague play began in 1997.
Best Records vs AL Opponents:
· Mets vs. Toronto: 15-6 (.714)
· Mets vs. Orioles: 21-9 (.700)
· Mets vs. Rangers: 8-4 (.667)
· Mets vs. Indians: 8-4 (.667)
· Mets vs. A's 8-5 .615
Worst Records vs AL opponents:
· Mets vs. Mariners: 4-8 (.333)
· Mets vs. Yankees: 43-58 (.426)
· Mets vs. White Sox: 3-4 (.429)
· Mets vs. Royals: 4-5 (.444)
· Mets vs. Tigers: 8-10 (.444)
Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to make his major league debut Tuesday night in Chicago. According to the player game finder at baseball-reference.com, six pitchers in Mets history have made their major league debut for the club at Wrigley Field, but just two (Jason Isringhausen in 1995 and Tim Leary in 1981) did so as starters:
· Jason Isringhausen (7/17/95): NYM 7 at CHI 2
Started (ND) 7.0 IP, 2H, 2R, 2BB, 6K
· Terry Leach (8/12/81): NYM 7 at CHI 4 (10)
Relief (ND) 1.0 IP, 3H, 2R, 1BB, 1K
· Tim Leary (4/12/81) NYM 2 at CHI 1
Started (ND) 2.0 IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 3K (left game with elbow strain)
· Jesse Orosco (4/5/79) NYM 10 at CHI 6
Relief (ND) 0.1 IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
· Tommy Moore (9/15/72) NYM 3 at CHI 9
Relief (ND) 3 IP, 3H, 3R, 0BB, 2K
· Charlie Williams (4/23/71) NYM 7 at CHI 6 (12)
Relief (ND) 2.2 IP, 4H, 4R, 2ER, 1BB, 0K
Happy Recap: The Mets have now won nine of their last 10 series at Philadelphia since 2012, posting a 23-8 record in that time. They are now 57-47 all time at Citizens Bank Park, the best record for any visiting NL team.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: Matt Harvey lost his first game of 2015, 3-1, to the Phillies Friday night. Harvey had been 10-0 in his 16 career starts in April and May and 5-0 in six career starts vs. Philadelphia.
