Schwei: Struggles Against Washington, Young Pitching And More Mets Notes
By John Schweibacher
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After splitting their four games against the crosstown rival Yankees, the Mets dropped two of three this past weekend against the division-rival Nationals.
The Mets defeated the Nationals, 5-2, Saturday afternoon, ending a nine-game losing streak against Washington. The streak was the Mets' second-longest against the Expos/Nationals franchise.
The Mets dropped 10 in a row against Montreal from August 10, 1979 through April 15, 1980. The Mets' Ray Burris defeated the Expos' Bill Lee, 3-2, at Shea Stadium on April 16, 1980 to end the skid.
Other than these two streaks, the Mets have never lost more than five straight games against either the Montreal Expos or Washington Nationals.
The Mets split their four games against the Yankees last week, winning both games in the Bronx before losing both at Citi Field.
Rafael Montero and Jacob deGrom both made their major-league debuts last week, starting the two Mets home games. They are the first two players in Mets history to make their first major-league appearances against the Yankees since Interleague Play began in 1997.
Five players, including Chase Whitley -- who made the start Thursday night -- have made their major-league debut for the Yankees against the Mets. Four of them are/were pitchers.
· 5/15/14: Chase Whitley
· 6/29/08: David Robertson
· 5/20/07: Tyler Clippard
· 6/26/05: Kevin Reese
· 6/28/03: Brandon Claussen
The Yankees shut out the Mets in both games at Citi Field, 4-0 and 1-0. The Mets have now been shut out nine times by the Yanks in Interleague Play, but only two have been complete-game shutouts.
· 5/15/14: Yankees 1 Mets 0 (Whitley, Betances, Warren & Robertson)
· 5/14/14: Yankees 4 Mets 0 (Tanaka)
· 6/20/10: Mets 0 Yankees 4 (Sabathia & Rivera)
· 6/27/09: Yankees 5 Mets 0 (Burnett, Bruney & Robertson)
· 6/14/09: Mets 0 Yankees 15 (Burnett, Robertson & Hughes)
· 6/27/08: Yankees 9 Mets 0 (Ponson, Farnsworth, Veras & Igawa)
· 6/30/06 Mets 0 Yankees 2 (Mussina, Villone, Proctor, Farnsworth & Rivera)
· 6/20/03: Yankees 5 Mets 0 (Pettitte, Hammond, Anderson & Rivera)
· 6/30 /02: Mets 0 Yankees 8 (Pettitte)
Dellin Betances struck out six Mets in 2 1/3 innings of relief last Thursday night. Only three other relievers have fanned that many Mets in an appearance of less than three innings.
· 5/15/14 vs. NYY, Dellin Betances: 2.1 ip 6 K's
· 7/4/08 at Phi, Chad Durbin: 2.1 ip 6 K's
· 3/31/03 vs. Chi, Juan Cruz: 2 ip 6 K's
· 7/3/83 at Phi, Willie Hernandez: 2 ip 6 K's
Only three Mets pitchers have struck out six batters in less than three innings of relief in club history.
· 9/25/78 vs. Stl , Jerry Koosman: 2.2 ip 6 K's
· 5/28/89 at L.A., Rick Aguilera: 2.1 ip 6 K's
· 6/30/91 vs. Phi, Alejandro Pena: 2 ip 6 K's
The Mets won the two games at Yankee Stadium, 9-7 and 12-7. The last time the Mets won consecutive games despite allowing seven-or-more runs was back on September 9 and 10, 2008, when they defeated the Nationals, 10-8 and 13-10, at Shea Stadium. The Mets led the NL East by three-and-a-half games after those two wins, their largest division lead that season. New York would go 7-10 the rest of the way and miss the postseason.
The Mets trailed the Yankees by three runs at two points of last Monday night's game: 4-1, and after the Mets tied the game, again at 7-4. But the Mets scored twice in the seventh inning and three times in the eighth to win, 9-7.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Mets have won only two other road games after trailing by three runs at two different points, in Houston in 1988 and in Atlanta in 1984.
On July 12, 1984, at Fulton-County Stadium in the first game after the All-Star break, the Mets trailed the Braves, 3-0, after four innings. They tied the game with solo home runs in the 6th, 7th and 8th. Atlanta took a 6-3 lead with three runs in the bottom of the eighth but the Mets rallied again, scoring five times in the top of the 9th on a two-run single by Keith Hernandez, a George Foster RBI single and a two-run double by Mike Fitzgerald to come away with the 8-6 win.
On May 11, 1988, at the Astrodome, New York erased 5-2 and 8-5 Houston leads, thanks to a three-run fifth and a bases-loaded double from Tim Teufel in the top of the ninth. Kevin McReynolds' RBI single in the tenth put the Mets ahead for good in the 9-8 win.
Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:
Runs: Eric Campbell -- The rookie has three RBIs in his first five major-league games. Only four players in Mets history have more than three runs after their first five major-league games: Mike Jacobs (9), Wilmer Flores (8), Wally Backman (4) and Ken Singleton (4).
Hits: Jacob deGrom -- The rookie ended the Mets pitching staff's 0-for-64 hitless drought with a single in his major-league debut against the Yankees.
Errors: Zack Wheeler -- After winning seven of his first 14 starts as a rookie, Wheeler has just one victory in his last 12 outings dating back to last September.
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