Schwei: Mets Lookin' To Start Cookin' At Citi Field
By John Schweibacher
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The Mets return home to Citi Field to host the Houston Astros and Arizona Diamondbacks this week. The Mets went 1-and-6 on their first homestand of the season -- their worst performance at home in a season-opening homestand (of at least six games) since the 1962 Mets went 0-and-6 at the Polo Grounds.
The Astros will be making their earliest trip to Flushing since 2005 when they were the Mets' first opponent during their season-opening homestand that year. The Mets have gone 12 and 4 against the Astros at home since 2006.
The Diamondbacks, who will be making their first April appearance in Flushing since 2003, took two of three from the Mets in New York last August, outscoring the Mets 27-12 in the series. Arizona has won nine of their 13 games against the Mets at Shea Stadium and Citi Field since 2006.
The Mets have already played two doubleheaders in 2011. The last time the Mets played two twinbills this early on in a season was in 1997 when they played a pair of doubleheaders during their first 17 games. In 1981, the Mets had two doubleheaders by their 11th game of the year, the earliest in club history.
In 1974, the Mets somehow played five doubleheaders in their first 27 games as they got off to a 10 and 17 start. Four of those 1974 April and May twinbills were played at Shea but the Mets managed just one win in those eight games.
Jason Isringhausen made his return to the Mets last week, appearing in a regular season game for New York for the first time since 1999.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 11-year, 254-day span between his Met appearances was the longest in club history. Here are the 10 longest spans between appearances in a game by Mets pitchers and position players:
· Jason Isringhausen 11 years, 7 months, 11 days
· Bob L. Miller 10 years, 11 months, 29 days
· Kelly Stinnett 10 years, 11 months, 7 days
· David Cone 10 years, 7 months, 12 days
· Alex Trevino 8 years, 9 months, 30 days
· Mike Jorgensen 8 years, 6 months, 11 days
· Jeromy Burnitz 7 years, 7 months, 22 days
· Bill Almon 6 years, 7 months, 26 days
· Tim Foli 6 years, 6 months, 18 days
· Hubie Brooks 6 years, 6 months, 11 days
Troy Tulowitzki's performance last week in the Rockies' four-game sweep of the Mets was one of the best-ever by a Mets opponent. The Rockies shortstop went 10-for-16 with four home runs and eight runs batted in over the four games, becoming the first player to hit home runs in each game of a four-game (or longer) series against the Mets. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Tulowitzki and Ryne Sandberg, who in a four-game series against the Mets in June of 1990 went 10-for-18 with four home runs and 10 RBI, are the only players to have a series against the Mets in which they had 10 hits, four homers, and eight RBI.
Chipper Jones connected for his 45th career home run against the Mets this past Saturday at Turner Field. The 45 homers allowed by the Mets equal the most allowed by any opponent during Jones' career:
· Mets 45
· Phillies 45
· Marlins 40
· Expos/Nationals 37
· Rockies 29
Jones, who matched Hall-of-Famers Mike Schmidt and Willie Stargell with home runs against the Mets in 17 consecutive seasons, has now homered against 31 different Mets pitchers. Here is a list of Mets pitchers who have allowed more than one career home run to Chipper Jones:
· Steve Trachsel 4
· Bobby Jones 4
· Rick Reed 3
· Mike Pelfrey 3
· Dave Mlicki 2
· Orel Hershiser 2
· Al Leiter 2
· Aaron Heilman 2
Mike Pelfrey took the loss in the nightcap of the Braves doubleheader sweep against the Mets this past Saturday. The defeat dropped Pelfrey's career record to 43 and 43. Ten pitchers in Mets history who have had at least 10 decisions now have .500 records:
· Jesse Orosco 47-47
· Mike Pelfrey 43-43
· Oliver Perez 29-29
· Ron Taylor 21-21
· David Weathers 12-12
· Charlie Puleo 9-9
· Francisco Rodriguez 8-8
· Brian Bohanon 8-8
· Robert Person 5-5
· Billy Wagner 5-5
Pedro Beato has appeared in six games this season for the Mets but so far none of them have been a Mets win. Thanks to baseballmusings.com for this list; the most career games appeared in by Mets without the team winning one:
· Pedro Beato 0-6
· Jeff Kaiser 0-6
· Kevin Loman 0-6
· Jason Anderson 0-6
· Herb Moford 0-7
· Sherman Jones 0-7
· Lance Broadway 0-8
· Joe Grzenda 0-11
· Jerry Hinsley 0-11
· Jerry Cram 0-14
Schwei's Hits, Runs and Errors:
Runs: Dillon Gee. Allows one run over 5 & 2/3 innings for the win Sunday, ending Mets 7-game losing streak, the club's longest since 2004.
Hits: Josh Thole. Goes 2-for-4 with two RBI's hitting second in the batting order in Sunday's 3-2 win. Mets #2 hitters came into the game hitting just .175.
Errors: Angel Pagan. Now 1-for-18 over his last five games, dropping his season batting average to .169.
Can the Mets put together some wins here? Make your homestand prediction in the comments below...
