Schwei's Mets Notebook: Little-Known Facts, Odd Stats And Strange Records
By John Schweibacher
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The New York Mets finish out the 2014 season this week with three games against the Nationals in Washington and three against the Astros at Citi Field.
Terry Collins will complete his fourth season as manager, and although he has yet to post a winning record in any of his years at the helm, he can move into fourth place on the club's all-time wins list:
· Davey Johnson 595
· Bobby Valentine 536
· Gil Hodges 339
· Willie Randolph 302
· Terry Collins 301*
(*-through Sept. 21)
Curtis Granderson homered and doubled for the Mets in their 4-2 win over the Braves on Saturday night. Granderson hit just .197 in 19 games against the Braves this season (14 for 71), but five of the hits were home runs.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Granderson is the first Mets player to hit five or more home runs against the Braves in one season since 2008, when David Wright slugged six homers vs. Atlanta. Dave Kingman hit eight homers against the Braves in 1976, the most by any Mets player in a single season.
The Mets beat the Braves 5-0 in Atlanta last Friday night. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that tied New York's largest shutout victory over the Braves at Turner Field.
The last time the Mets defeated Atlanta by a score of 5-0 was a six-hit, eight-strikeout shutout performance by Al Leiter in the second game of a doubleheader on September 11, 2002.
The most lopsided score of a Mets' shutout win against the Braves in Atlanta is 7-0, accomplished twice at Fulton County Stadium: May 3, 1992 and July 14, 1984. David Cone threw a five-hit shutout in the 1992 win and Bruce Berenyi and Tom Gorman combined on a two-hitter in the 1984 shutout.
Lucas Duda hit his 28th home run of the season in the Mets' win Friday night. Duda now has 28 homers and 86 RBIs coming into the final week of the season. Only three other Mets first basemen have posted at least that many home runs and RBIs in a single season:
· Carlos Delgado (2008) 38, 115
· Carlos Delgado (2006) 38, 114
· Dave Kingman (1982) 37, 99
· Ike Davis (2012) 32, 90
· Lucas Duda (2014) 28, 86
Wilmer Flores hit two home runs and drove in six runs in the Mets' 9-1 win over the Marlins last Tuesday night. Flores also had a six-RBI game against the Phillies back on June 2.
Only three other Mets have had two games with six or more runs batted in during the same season:
· Wilmer Flores 6/2/14 at Phi and 9/16/14 vs. Mia
· Carlos Delgado 6/27/08 at NYY and 8/25/08 vs. Hou
· Mike Piazza 4/30/02 at Arz and 7/3/02 at Phi
· Robin Ventura 6/28/99 at Fla and 7/31/99 at Chi
Jacob deGrom tied the modern-era major league record with eight consecutive strikeouts to begin last Monday night's game against the Marlins. DeGrom tied the mark set by Houston's Jim Deshaies back on September 23, 1986 at the Astrodome.
The Mets' rookie broke the Mets record of six strikeouts to start a game set by Pete Falcone against the Phillies at Shea Stadium on May 1, 1980. Like deGrom, Falcone failed to get a win as the Phils beat the Mets lefty, 2-1.
Derek Jeter's illustrious career will come to an end this week. This season Jeter and the others who have played shortstop for the Yankees have posted eerily similar offensive numbers to the ones put up by the Mets shortstops (totals through games of Sept. 21):
· NYM SS .232 AVG, .313 OBP, .305 SLG, 7 HR, 53 RBIs
· NYY SS .236 AVG, .288 OBP, .292 SLG, 5 HR, 50 RBIs
The Mets are scheduled to face former teammate Colin McHugh and the Houston Astros this weekend in the final series of the season. McHugh has 11 wins for the Astros this season, something he shares in common with five other one-time Mets or Mets' prospects (totals through games of Sept. 22):
· Scott Kazmir Oak 14
· R.A. Dickey Tor 13
· Chris Young Sea 12
· Aaron Harang Atl 11
· Jason Vargas KC 11
· Colin McHugh Hou 11
Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:
Runs: Chopping the Braves. The Mets swept a three-game series at Turner Field for the first time since August 31-September 2, 2007. New York won 10 of 19 games this year for its first season series victory against the Braves since 2006.
Hits: Grand September. Curtis Granderson is hitting .308 with three homers and 13 RBIs this month. His 10 extra-base hits already equal his best total of any month this season.
Errors: Eight is Enough. The Mets were officially eliminated from postseason contention last Friday night. The current eight season playoff drought is now the third-longest in club history.
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