Schwei's Mets Notes: Sunday Loss To Nationals Was Historically Ugly
By John Schweibacher
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After putting an end to their six-game losing streak with two straight wins in Washington, the last-place Mets took a shellacking from the first-place Nationals on Sunday afternoon, allowing 23 hits in a 23-5 loss.
The only other time in club history the Mets gave up 20 or more runs and hits in a single game was on June 11, 1985, in a 26-7 thumping by the Phillies at Veterans Stadium. The 26 runs and 27 hits allowed that night remain the most ever given up by Mets pitching.
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Meanwhile, the seven home runs allowed Sunday in Washington matched a Mets record. New York has given up seven homers in a game two other times: June 11, 1967, in an 18-10 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and on Sept. 8, 1998, in a 16-4 defeat in Philadelphia.
The Mets used a position player as a pitcher for the ninth time in club history Sunday when catcher Kevin Plawecki took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning of the blowout loss to the Nationals.
Here is how position players have fared in their pitching appearances for the Mets:
DATE/OPP PLAYER IP H R ER BB K HR Result 9/26/92 at PIT Bill Pecota 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 L 19-2 7/2/99 vs ATL Matt Franco 1/3 2 1 1 0 1 1 L 16-0 8/8/99 vs LA Matt Franco 1 1 1 1 3 0 0 L 14-3 8/22/00 at SD Derek Bell 1 3 5 4 3 0 0 L 16-1 5/17/01 vs SD Desi Relaford 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 L 15-3 7/26/04 at MTL Todd Zeile 1 4 5 5 2 0 0 L 19-10 5/18/12 at TOR Rob Johnson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 L 14-5 6/30/13 vs WAS Anthony Recker 1 1 2 2 1 0 1 L 13-2 4/30/17 at WAS Kevin Plawecki 2 4 4 4 0 0 4 L 23-5
On Saturday, the Mets made it two straight wins against the Nationals with a 5-3 victory. Michael Conforto, batting in the leadoff spot, had his first regular season two-homer game in the win. Conforto also homered twice in Game 4 of the 2015 World Series against the Royals.
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Conforto's second home run Saturday was off of Nats reliever Enny Romero. It was his first regular season career home run against a left-hander (one of his two World Series homers came against Kansas City southpaw Danny Duffy).
The only left-handed hitter in club history to hit more career home runs as a Met than Conforto (27) and have just one against a left-handed pitcher was Art Shamsky, who hit 42 homers in his four seasons with the Mets, but had just one versus a lefty: Joe Gibbon of the Pirates in 1969.
On Friday night, the Mets ended their six-game losing streak, hanging on for a 7-5 win over the Nationals.
Josh Edgin replaced closer Jeurys Familia with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and got Bryce Harper to hit a comebacker into a game-ending double play.
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According to the Baseball-Reference.com, it was the fifth time a Mets reliever earned a save while facing just one batter and getting him to ground into a game-ending double play in a road contest:
• 4/28/17: Mets 7 at Was 5, Josh Edgin (Harper 1-2-3)
• 8/4/12: Mets 6 at SD 2, Frank Francisco (Baker 6-6-3)
• 6/3/06: Mets 9 at SF 6, Billy Wagner (Rowand 6-6-3)
• 4/26/86: Mets 4 at Stl 3, Jesse Orosco (Pendleton 4-6-3)
• 6/10/62: Mets 2 at Chi 1, Ken Mackenzie (McKnight 6-4-3)
Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud hit two home runs off Washington pitcher Max Scherzer, a two-run shot in the second inning and a three-run homer in the fourth, in the Friday night win.
Baseball-Reference.com tells us that it was the 12th time overall a Mets catcher hit at least two home runs and drove in five runs or more in a single game:
• Todd Hundley, 5
• Mike Piazza, 3
• Gary Carter, 2
• Paul Lo Duca, 1
• Travis d'Arnaud, 1
On Thursday, the Mets ended a terrible 1-6 homestand by losing to the Braves and Julio Teheran, 7-5. Teheran allowed just two runs over 6 1/3 innings in the Braves' win and has now given up just five runs over his last seven starts against the Mets, dating back to June 21, 2015.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, in the divisional era (since 1969), the only other pitcher to allow five or fewer runs against the Mets over a seven-start span was Mike Hampton, before and after his stint with the Mets from Aug. 2, 1997, with Houston, to May 9, 2001, with Colorado, a total of five runs allowed.
Happy Recap: Reyes of Hope: Jose Reyes has gone 9-for-23 (.391) with a double, triple and two home runs over his last six games.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: Rough Homestand. The Mets never led their opponents in any of the last six games at Citi Field: the loss to the Phillies, all three losses against the Nationals and the two vs. the Braves.
