Schwei's Mets Notes: Amazins' Say Good Riddance To House Of Horrors
By John Schweibacher
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With three weeks left in the regular season, the Mets are back in a wild card spot after sweeping the Reds and taking two of three from the Braves.
The Mets said goodbye to Turner Field with a 10-3 win Sunday afternoon. Yoenis Cespedes drove in five runs, four coming courtesy of his second grand slam of the season.
The Braves are playing their final season in their old stadium before moving into new SunTrust Park next season. Including the playoffs, the Mets went a forgettable 67-109 at Turner Field.
Cespedes' slam was the fifth all-time for the Mets in a game played in Atlanta and the third at Turner Field:
· 9/11/16: Yoenis Cespedes vs. Williams Perez (10-3 win)
· 7/30/06: Carlos Beltran vs. Chuck James (10-6 win)
· 5/23/03: Jeromy Burnitz vs. Russ Ortiz (6-5 win)
· 4/26/88: Keith Hernandez vs. Charlie Puleo (13-4 win)
· 8/7/71: Ken Boswell vs. Mike McQueen (20-6 win)
Adonis Garcia's 10th-inning single drove in the winning run as the Braves snapped the Mets' six-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory Saturday night. Including the postseason, the Mets lost seven extra-inning games at Turner Field:
· 7/5/99: Braves 3, Mets 2 (11) -- Weiss sac fly
· 10/19/99: Braves 10, Mets 9 (11) -- Jones bases-loaded walk
· 6/28/01: Braves 6, Mets 2 (10) -- Lopez grand slam
· 4/7/03: Braves 5, Mets 2 (14) -- Giles three-run home run
· 9/7/05: Braves 4, Mets 3 (10) -- Langerhans two-run single
· 6/16/11: Braves 9, Mets 8 (10) -- Carrasco balk
· 9/10/16: Braves 4, Mets 3 (10) -- Garcia single
The Mets came from behind to beat the Braves, 6-4, on Friday night. Curtis Granderson hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning and added another RBI during a four-run eighth. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Mets had been 2-67 in games they trailed by at least four runs in the sixth inning or later since the start of the 2015 season. The two victories in that span featured the Mets rallying to beat the Marlins, 8-6, on July 4, 2016, and the Nationals, 8-7, on Sept. 8, 2015. In the latter game, the Mets trailed 7-1 in the seventh.
The Mets beat the Reds, 6-3, on Wednesday afternoon to complete a three-game sweep as well as a six-game season sweep of Cincinnati. The Mets now have 14 consecutive victories over the Reds going back to 2014, the second-longest winning streak against any opponent in club history. The Mets won 15 consecutive games against the Pirates during 1986 and '87 seasons.
Jose Reyes hit a leadoff home run in Wednesday's win and stole a base in the third after homering and stealing a base the previous night. The Elias Sports Bureau noted that Reyes became the first Met with at least one home run and stolen base in two straight games since Melvin Mora back on June 25-26, 2000.
Reyes' 25 career games for the Mets with at least one homer and steal are the third most in club history:
· Darryl Strawberry, 35
· Howard Johnson, 28
· Jose Reyes, 25
· David Wright, 20
· Carlos Beltran, 13
· Mookie Wilson, 13
· Kevin McReynolds, 12
· Tommie Agee, 10
Cespedes' two-run home run in the seventh inning gave the Mets the lead for good in their win over the Reds last Tuesday night. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Cespedes has hit six go-ahead home runs in the seventh inning or later since last September, the most of any player in MLB in that span:
· 9/6/16: at Cincinnati (two-run HR in 7th)
· 8/29/16: vs. Mia (game-winning solo HR in 10th)
· 8/21/16: at SF (two-run HR in 7th)
· 4/26/16: vs. Cin (three-run HR in 7th)
· 9/9/15: at Was (solo HR in 8th)
· 9/4/15: at Mia (two-run HR in 7th)
Happy Recap: Seth Lugo. With his victory Sunday, the rookie right-hander became the fourth Mets pitcher to earn four wins in his first five major league starts. The others are Terry Leach (4-0), Jason Jacome (4-1), and Steven Matz (4-0).
Nine Miles of Rough Road: Good Riddance. The Mets' .387 winning percentage over 20 years at Turner Field ranks second only to the Houston Astrodome (.386) as the worst all-time in an opponents' ballpark they played in for at least that many years.
