Mets Face Phillies/Braves On Road Trip
By John Schweibacher
The Mets venture out on the road this week to face their National League East rivals the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.
The road has not been kind to the Mets in 2010, especially against N.L. East opponents. The Mets have gone just 6 and 12 away from Citi Field vs. their division rivals:
at Braves: 1-1
at Phillies: 1-2
at Marlins: 1-6
at Nationals: 3-3
Prior to their four-game split with the Nationals in Washington last month, the Mets had dropped 12 of their prior 13 road series against National League East teams. The Mets last won a road series vs. an N.L. East team last September when they took two of three from the Marlins in Florida on the final road trip of 2009.
Here is how the Mets hitters have fared on the road so far in 2010:
•Jose Reyes .241 48/199 3 HR's
•Luis Castillo .248 25/101 0 HR's
•Angel Pagan .253 53/187 4 HR's
•David Wright .283 60/212 11 HR's
•Ike Davis .211 38/180 8 HR's
•Jason Bay .243 46/189 3 HR's
•Jeff Francoeur .253 39/154 4 HR's
•Rod Barajas .238 30/126 7 HR's
•Alex Cora .202 17/84 0 HR's
•Henry Blanco .245 13/53 0 HR's
•Carlos Beltran .166 6/36 0 HR's
•Chris Carter .233 14/60 2 HR's
•Josh Thole .471 9/20 1 HR
As for the pitching on the road, the Mets current starters have done a respectable job away from Citi Field:
•Johan Santana 2-2 2.77
•Mike Pelfrey 4-3 5.05
•Jon Niese 3-2 3.91
•R.A. Dickey 3-3 2.81
•Hisanori Takahashi 3-3 5.03
However, the other Mets to start on the road (John Maine. Oliver Perez and Fernando Nieve) are a combined 0 and 4, while Mets relievers are just 5 and 16 for a total of 5 wins and 20 losses away from Citi Field so far in 2010.
The Mets have lost 12 times in walk-off fashion so far this season, the club's most since suffering 13 walk-off losses in 1989. The 1999 Mets were beaten just once in walk-off style in the regular season (the least such losses in club history) before being eliminated by the Braves on a walk-ff bases-loaded walk in Game 6 on that year's NLCS. Here are the seasons in Mets history with most and fewest walk-off defeats:
Most Walk-Off Losses
•14 1974
•14 1978
•13 1967
•13 1989
•12 1962
•12 1975
•12 2010
Fewest Walk-Off Losses:
•1 1999
•3 1981*
•3 2002
•4 1969
•4 1990
•4 1991
•4 2007
•strike shortened season
On the positive side, this past Saturday's walk-off win over the Diamondbacks was the Mets 4th of 2010, matching the club total from last season. Here are the seasons with the most and least Mets walk-off wins:
Most Walk-Off Wins:
•14 1971
•12 1983
•11 1963
•11 1969
•11 1995*
•11 2006
Fewest Walk-Off Wins:
•3 1968
•3 1974
•3 1981*
•3 1994*
•4 1979
•4 2003
•4 2009
•strike shortened seasons
{thanks to the Ultimate Mets Database for its help in compiling these walk-off lists}
Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:
Runs: David Wright's Days Off. Mets third baseman has missed just two starts all season (5/13 & 7/29) but has now gone 4-for-8 in the following games with a double, two homers and nine RBI's.
Hits: Carlos Beltran's Walk-Off. Mets centerfielder's game-winning sac fly in bottom of 9th vs. Arizona gives club 1st walk-off win since Ike Davis' 11th inning home run vs. San Diego June 8th.
Errors: Mike Pelfrey's Month. Mets starter goes 0 and 3 with 10.02 ERA in July, a far cry from his 4 and 0, 0.69 April numbers.
