Schwei's Mets Notes: Complete Baseball Player Bartolo Colon Is In Good Company
By John Schweibacher
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The New York Mets are on the road this week, facing a pair of NL West clubs -- San Diego and Arizona -- after taking four of six at home against NL East rivals Philadelphia and Miami.
The Mets salvaged the final game of their three-game series with the Marlins with a 4-3 win Sunday. Bartolo Colon (8-3) became the National League's first eight-game winner with the victory.
Only five Mets pitchers have recorded eight wins in a season before June 1:
· Bobby Jones: 1997, 9-2
· Bartolo Colon: 2015, 8-3
· Tom Glavine: 2006, 8-2
· Dwight Gooden: 1988, 8-1
· Jerry Koosman: 1968, 8-2
Giancarlo Stanton hit two home runs in the Marlins' 9-5 win over the Mets Saturday. It was Stanton's third career multi-homer game at Citi Field. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the third highest total by any player.
Multiple Home-Run Games at Citi Field:
· Lucas Duda: 6 (4/7/12 vs. Atl, 5/30/12 vs. Phi, 4/19/13 vs. Was, 4/4/14 vs. Cin, 5/21/15 vs. Stl and 5/27/15 vs. Phi)
· Ike Davis: 4 (5/7/10 vs. SF, 8/26/12 vs. Hou, 9/24/12 vs. Pit and 4/19/13 vs. Was)
· Giancarlo Stanton: 3 (8/8/12, 9/13/13 and 5/30/15 vs. NYM)
· David Wright: 2 (7/30/10 vs. Arz and 4/24/11 vs. Arz)
· Rod Barajas: 2 (4/9/10 vs. Was and 5/7/10 vs. SF)
· Chase Utley: 2 (6/10/09 and 4/14/15 vs. NYM)
Jon Niese allowed five runs (four earned) in a season-low four innings in Saturday's loss to the Marlins at Citi Field. Niese has a 9.00 ERA over his past four starts, allowing at least four runs in each of them.
The worst stretch of starts like this in a single season in Mets history belongs to Craig Anderson, who allowed at least four runs in nine straight starts in 1962. Anderson went 0-8, with one no-decision and a 7.11 ERA during that stretch.
According to the Play Index at baseball-reference.com, 20 Mets pitchers have had at least five straight starts where they allowed four or more earned runs. The last was Johan Santana over his final five starts for the Mets, from July 6 through August 17 of 2012.
Matt Harvey struck out a season-high 11 over eight innings but allowed four runs -- three of which came on Justin Bour's homer in the fourth inning -- in a 4-3 loss to the Marlins Friday night.
Bour became just the second player to hit a three-run home run against Harvey, who has not allowed a grand slam in his major league career. The only other three-run homer allowed by Harvey was to Cody Ross, who erased a 2-0 Mets lead with a three-run, sixth-inning shot in an eventual 5-3 win by the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field on July 3, 2013.
Noah Syndergaard did not allow a run over 7 1/3 innings on the mound and went 3-for-3 with a home run at the plate in the Mets' 7-0 victory over the Phillies last Wednesday afternoon.
Syndergaard became the third Mets pitcher to hit a home run in a game at Citi Field, and all three pitchers who homered also won their games:
· 5/27/15: Noah Syndergaard vs. Phi (Sean O'Sullivan) -- 7-0 Mets win
· 5/29/12: Jeremy Hefner vs. Phi (Joe Blanton) -- 6-3 Mets win
· 7/6/10: Johan Santana vs. Cin (Matt Maloney) -- 3-0 Mets win
Syndergaard also became the fourth different Mets pitcher and fifth overall to have three hits, including a home run, in a single game:
· 5/27/15 vs. Phi: Noah Syndergaard (3-for-3, HR, RBI)
· 5/22/93 vs. Atl: Dwight Gooden (3-for-3, HR, 3 RBIs)
· 9/21/89 at Stl: Sid Fernandez (3-for-4, HR, RBI)
· 9/21/85 vs. Pit: Dwight Gooden (3-for-4, HR, 4 RBIs)
· 8/23/83 at SD: Walt Terrell (3-for-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBIs)
Wilmer Flores singled home the winning run with two outs in the tenth inning to give the Mets a 5-4 victory over the Phillies last Tuesday night. According to ultimatemets.com, Flores became the fourth Mets shortstop to drive home the game-winner in a walk-off win against Philadelphia:
· 4/28/84: Ross Jones -- RBI double in ninth
· 6/18/88: Keith Miller -- RBI single in fourteenth
· 5/11/14: Ruben Tejada -- RBI single in eleventh
· 5/26/15: Wilmer Flores - RBI single in tenth
Happy Recap: The Mets' four wins against the Phillies and Marlins on this last homestand improved their record against NL East opponents to 21-11.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: The Mets are just 7-12 against teams outside of their division and 14-18 overall vs. teams other than the Phillies and Marlins.
