Schwei's Mets Notes: Oldest Home Run Hitters, Harvey's 10 K's And More
By John Schweibacher
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The Mets took sole possession of first place in the National League East for the first time this season, thanks to the pitching and hitting heroics of Bartolo Colon and Matt Harvey.
The Mets won their second straight against the Padres, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park. Harvey struck out a season-high 10 in six innings and the Mets' bullpen hung on to salvage a split of the four-game series.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Harvey became the third major league pitcher this season to earn a win while striking out at least 10 batters and collecting two hits himself. St. Louis' Jaime Garcia (April 14 vs. the Brewers) and Washington's Stephen Strasburg (April 19 vs. the Marlins) have also done it this year.
Colon stole the show Saturday night in San Diego, hitting his first major-league home run in the Mets' 6-3 win. The 42-year-old Colon became the oldest player in major league history to hit his first homer, breaking the record of 40-year-old Randy Johnson, at Milwaukee on Sept. 19, 2003.
The Elias Sports Bureau noted that the last pitcher as old as Colon to homer in a major league game was the Braves' Phil Niekro, at age 43 on Oct. 1, 1982, also at San Diego.
The only other Mets players, according to Elias, to homer after their 42nd birthdays were Willie Mays, who hit six at age 42 in 1973 and Julio Franco, who hit three at ages 47 and 48 in 2006 and 2007.
Here are the nine Mets who hit at least one home run at age 40 or older:
· Willie Mays, 14
· Moises Alou, 13
· Rickey Henderson, 12
· Gary Sheffield, 10
· Gene Woodling, 3
· Julio Franco, 3
· Rusty Staub, 2
· Bobby Abreu, 1
· Bartolo Colon, 1
Prior to Colon, Steve Trachsel, at age 35, was the oldest Mets pitcher to hit a home run, hitting one against the Reds at Shea Stadium on June 20, 2006. Shawn Gilbert was the oldest position player to hit his first major league home run as a Met. Gilbert homered at age 32 on July 3, 1997, against the Marlins.
Yoenis Cespedes' single with two outs in the seventh inning Thursday night ended Colin Rea's no-hit bid, but San Diego hung on for a 5-3 victory in the opener of the four-game series.
The Padres, who joined the National League in 1969, have never had a no-hitter in their history, but San Diego has had four one-hitters against the Mets all of which came in consecutive seasons in the early 1990s:
· 7/14/91, SD 2 at NYM 1, Greg W. Harris & Craig Lefferts (Mackey Sasser double in eighth).
· 5/18/92, NYM 0 at SD 3, Bruce Hurst (Jeff Kent single in sixth).
· 7/7/93, SD 2 at NYM 0, Andy Benes & Greg A. Harris (Jeff Kent single in second).
· 7/3/94, NYM 0 at SD 7, Andy Benes (Rico Brogna double in eighth).
The Mets bounced back from Tuesday night's shutout loss by beating the Braves, 8-0, Wednesday afternoon. According to Elias, the Mets had only one larger home shutout win over an opponent that blanked them in the previous game. On June 23, 2009, they lost to the Cardinals, 3-0, on a Joel Pineiro two-hitter, but then beat St. Louis the next night, 11-0.
Matt Wisler allowed just one hit over eight scoreless innings to lead the Braves to a 3-0 victory over the Mets last Tuesday night in the middle game of the three-game series.
The Mets, who were no-hit twice at home last season, have now been one-hit four times at Citi Field since it opened in 2009:
· 5/3/16 vs. Atl, 3-0 loss (Matt Wiser & Arodys Vizcaíno).
· 4/18/14 vs. Atl, 6-0 loss (Aaron Harang, Luis Avilan & Jordan Walden).
· 9/9/13 vs. Wash, 9-0 loss (Gio Gonzalez).
· 6/27/09 vs. NYY, 5-0 loss (A.J. Burnett, Brian Bruney & David Robertson).
The Mets beat the Braves, 4-1, last Monday night at Citi Field as David Wright, Cespedes and Lucas Duda all hit first-inning homers.
It was only the fourth time in club history the Mets hit three home runs in the first inning of a game:
· 5/2/2016: Wright, Cespedes and Duda vs. Atl (Mike Foltynewicz pitching)
· 4/13/2006: Carlos Beltran, Wright and Cliff Floyd at Wash (Livan Hernandez)
· 6/15/99: Rickey Henderson, Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza at Cin (Brett Tomko)
· 8/15/85: Tom Paciorek. Gary Carter and Ray Knight vs. Phi (Jerry Koosman).
Happy Recap: Back-to-Back. Wright and Michael Conforto hit consecutive homers in the ninth inning Saturday, the sixth time the Mets have hit consecutive home runs this season. The club record is 13 back-to-back homers set in 2000.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: Left Out. The Mets have faced just four left-handed starters this season-- Adam Conley (Mia), Brandon Finnegan (Cin), Madison Bumgarner (SF) and Drew Pomeranz (SD) -- and have scored a total of seven runs in those four games.
