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Schwei's Mets Notes: Steven Matz Stats Galore — A Legendary Debut

By John Schweibacher
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The New York Mets may still be sputtering offensively, but thanks to their pitching, they have won four straight after ending their season-worst seven-game losing streak.

Steven Matz had a memorable major league debut for the Mets Sunday, going 7 2/3 solid innings on the mound and driving in four runs with three hits at the plate to help the Mets to a 7-2 win over the Reds at Citi Field.

No Mets position player had ever driven in four runs in his MLB debut. The only Mets player with as many as three hits and three RBIs in his major league debut with the Mets was Kaz Matsui, who went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a homer and three runs batted in on April 6, 2004 against the Braves at Turner Field.

Prior to Matz, only two pitchers had two hits for the Mets in their major league debut:

· 7/26/12: Matt Harvey at Arz -- 2-for-2, double
· 9/24/88: David West at Stl -- 2-for-2, double, run

Matz's four-RBI game was the seventh by a Mets pitcher in club history:

· 5/11/90: Dwight Gooden vs. LA -- 1-for-3, triple, 4 RBIs
· 9/21/85: Dwight Gooden vs. Pit -- 3-for-4, home run, 4 RBIs
· 8/6/83: Walt Terrell at Chi -- 2-for-3, 2 homers, 4 RBIs
· 5/21/74: George Stone vs. Chi -- 2-for-4, 4 RBIs
· 5/20/67: Jack Hamilton vs. Stl -- 1-for-1, grand slam, 4 RBIs
· 7/15/63: Carl Willey vs. Hou -- 1-for-2, grand slam, 4 RBIs

The Mets beat the Reds, 2-1, in the 13-inning suspended game Sunday. The marathon matched the fourth-longest game between the two teams at the Polo Grounds, Shea Stadium or Citi Field.

Here are the longest Reds-Mets games in terms of innings played in New York:

· 8/20/73: Reds 8 Mets 3 (16)
· 8/4/62: Reds 2 Mets 3 (14), Thomas HR
· 5/6/80: Reds 12 Mets 10 (14)
· 5/6/83: Reds 4 Mets 7 (13), Foster 3-run HR
· 9/27/11: Reds 5 Mets 4 (13)
· 6/28/15: Reds 1 Mets 2 (13), Votto error

Saturday afternoon's game was suspended after six innings, tied 1-1, due to rain and the playing conditions. According to Retrosheet.org, it was the fifth suspended game in Mets' history:

· 7/13/77 vs. Cubs: Game suspended with 1 out in the bottom of the 6th inning and the score 2-1 Chicago due to NYC blackout. Completed 9/16/77. Final: Cubs 5 Mets 2.

· 6/17/79 vs. Braves: Game suspended after 8 innings with score tied 1-1 because predetermined time had been reached due to multiple rain delays. Completed on 8/27/77. Final: Mets 2 Braves 1.

· 8/6/86 at Cubs: 2nd game of doubleheader suspended by darkness after 7 innings with Mets leading 6-4 (no lights at Wrigley Field until 1988). Completed next day. Final: Mets 7 Cubs 6.

· 5/24/13 vs. Braves. Game suspended at the end of the 8th inning because of rain with the score tied 5-5. Completed next day. Final: Braves 7 Mets 5 (10).

The Mets beat the Reds, 2-1, Friday night at Citi Field despite only getting two hits. It was the 14th time in club history the Mets won a game in which they managed two hits in a game that went at least nine innings:

· 6/26/15: Cin 1 at Mets 2 (Granderson home run, Herrera triple)
· 5/6/09: Phi 0 at Mets 1 (Murphy double, Tatis single)
· 4/7/00: LA 1 at Mets 2 (Piazza double, Reed single)
· 6/6/98: Mets 1 at Bos 0 (Alfonzo single, Olerud single)
· 4/14/88: Mtl 0 at Mets 1 (Dykstra single & home run)
· 10/1/82: Mets 1 at Phi 0 (10) (Kingman single, Rajsich single)
· 4/19/78: Mets 2 at Stl 0 (Randle single, Boisclair single)
· 6/12/76: Mets 3 at SF 1 (Milner double, Kingman single)
· 7/14/72: Mets 3 at SD 2 (Dyer single, Schneck home run)
· 4/20/68: LA 2 at Mets 3 (Harrelson single, Swoboda home run)
· 4/30/67: Mets 2 at Cin 0 (Swoboda home run, Davis single)
· 9/30/66: Hou 0 at Mets 1 (Bressoud double, Hunt single)
· 6/21/65: Mets 1 at LA 0 (Christopher single, Cowan home run)
· 6/14/65: Mets 1 at Cin 0 (11) (Lewis home run, McMillan single)

Curtis Granderson's leadoff homer and Dilson Herrera's fifth-inning triple were the Mets' only two hits of the game. It was the first time in club history the Mets had just a home run and a triple and no other hits in a game. The Mets have had two games in club history where their opponent had just two hits, with one being a triple and one being a home run.

On August 14, 2005, the Mets lost to the Dodgers, 2-1, in Los Angeles. Pedro Martinez took a no-hitter into the bottom of the eighth inning, but with one out he gave up a triple to Antonio Perez and a home run to Jayson Werth to suffer a heartbreaking defeat.

On June 18th, 1976, the Mets beat the Giants, 3-2, at Shea Stadium. Tom Seaver pitched a complete-game two-hitter for the win, allowing a Darrell Evans home run and a Derrel Thomas triple.

Jacob deGrom struck out seven over eight scoreless innings in the Mets' 2-0 victory over the Brewers on Thursday. Over his last eight starts, deGrom is 5-1 with a 1.23 ERA and 63 strikeouts. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the fifth Mets pitcher with that low of an earned run average and at least 60 strikeouts over an eight-start span in a single season, joining Jerry Koosman (1969), Tom Seaver (1971, 1973 and 1975), Dwight Gooden (1984 and 1985) and R.A. Dickey (2012).

The Mets avoided the three-game sweep in Milwaukee with deGrom's victory, but the two losses at Miller Park dropped the Mets' all-time record to 25-21 in the Brewers' 15 seasons there dating back to 2001. The Mets have posted a better all-time record at only three current National League ballparks:

· Great American Ballpark: 23-15 (.605)
· Bank One Ballpark: 35-28 (.556)
· Citizens Bank Park: 57-47 (.548)
· Miller Park: 25-21 (.543)
· Citi Field: 260-264 (.496)

The win snapped the Mets' seven-game losing streak as they avoided a winless, eight-game road trip. The Mets have had two winless road trips of eight or more games in team history:

· 0-10: August 9th-August 19, 1991 (Cubs, Cardinals and Pirates)
· 0-9: August 7-August 24, 1982 (Reds, Braves, Astros)

Happy Recap: Curtis Granderson -- Leadoff home run Saturday was his eighth since joining the Mets, tied for the second-most in club history with Tommie Agee and Lenny Dysktra, and eight behind Jose Reyes, the all-time Mets leader.

Nine Miles of Rough Road: The Mets scored four or fewer runs in each of the seven losses during their losing streak. The last time the Mets lost seven consecutive games while scoring four or fewer runs in each game was in 2003 (eight straight).

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