Schwei: Davis And Harvey Make Mets History
By John Schweibacher
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Ike Davis became the ninth player in Mets history to hit three home runs in a game, although it wasn't enough to get New York a win as they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3 on Saturday night.
Davis was just the fourth player in baseball history to account for all three of his team's runs with solo homers in a loss, matching Steve Finley (2004 D'Backs vs. Cubs), Baltimore's Eddie Murray (1980 Orioles vs. Blue Jays) and Clyde McCullough (1942 Cubs vs. Phillies).
Matt Harvey set a Mets record for strikeouts in his major league debut by fanning 11 in his 3-1 win in Arizona Thursday night.
Here are some other notes on the rookie right-hander's impressive debut (courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau):
Harvey struck out 11 batters and recorded two hits in his debut. He's the first player in modern baseball history (1900 to date) to strike out 10 or more batters and collect at least two hits in his first major-league game.
Harvey is the fourth pitcher since 1960 to strike out 11 or more batters without allowing a run in his major-league debut, joining Milwaukee's Steve Woodard (July 28, 1997), Cleveland's Luis Tiant (July 19, 1964) and San Francisco's Juan Marichal (July 19, 1960).
Harvey struck out 11 batters in 5 1/3 IP in his MLB debut. That matches the most K's in an MLB debut with fewer than 6 IP in the "Live Ball" era. Tim Hudson also had 11 K in 5 IP in 1999.
Harvey's 11 strikeouts were tied for the eighth-most since 1900 for a pitcher making his major league debut. Here is the list of pitchers to have more than 11 K's:
· J.R. Richard, Houston September 5, 1971, SF 15
· Karl Spooner, Brooklyn September 22, 1954, NY Giants 15
· Stephen Strasburg, Wash. June 8, 2010, Pittsburgh 14
· Cliff Melton, NY Giants April 25, 1937, Boston (NL) 13
· Steve Woodard, Milwaukee July 28, 1997, Toronto 12
· Juan Marichal, SF July 19, 1960, Philadelphia 12
· Elmer Myers, Phil. (AL) October 6, 1915, Washington 12
Jordany Valdespin hit his fifth pinch-hit home run of the season in last Tuesday night's loss to Washington. That set a new Mets single-season record and also tied Cliff Johnson for the second-highest single-season total ever recorded by a rookie. Johnson hit five pinch-homers for the Astros in 1974. Craig Wilson was a rookie when he tied Dave Hansen's major-league record for pinch-homers with seven in 2001.
Year, Player, HR's as PH:
· 2001 Craig Wilson, Pittsburgh 7
· 2000 Dave Hansen, Los Angeles (NL) 7
· 1932 Johnny Frederick, Brooklyn 6
· 2012 Jordany Valdespin, New York 5
· 1943 Joe Cronin, Boston (AL) 5
· 1945 Butch Nieman, Boston (NL) 5
· 1959 Gene Freese, Philadelphia 5
· 1961 Jerry Lynch, Cincinnati 5
· 1974 Cliff Johnson, Houston 5
· 1978 Lee Lacy, Los Angeles (NL) 5
· 1978 Jerry Turner, San Diego 5
· 1996 Billy Ashley, Los Angeles (NL) 5
· 2001 David Dellucci, Arizona 5
· 2001 Erubiel Durazo, Arizona 5
· 2004 Mark Sweeney, Colorado 5
· 2009 Matt Stairs, Philadelphia 5
Mets pitchers combined to strikeout out 16 batters in the 3-1 win over Arizona last Thursday night, tying the third-highest total in a nine-inning game in team history. The only two nine-inning games with more than 16 strikeouts were on April 22nd, 1970 vs. San Diego (19 strikeouts) and October 6th, 1991 at Philadelphia (19 strikeouts). The Mets now have 14 games in team history with 16 or more strikeouts in a nine inning game.
· 7/26/12 at Arz: Matt Harvey (11) Josh Edgin (1) Tim Byrdak (1) Bobby Parnell (3)
· 9/12/06 at Fla: Oliver Perez (11) Chad Bradford (1) Guillermo Mota (2) Billy Wagner (2)
· 4/4/05 at Cin: Pedro Martinez (12) Manny Aybar (2) Dae-Sung Koo (2)
· 10/6/91 at Phi: David Cone (19)
· 5/11/90 vs. LA: Dwight Gooden (15) Jeff Musselman (1)
· 7/14/89 at Atl: Sid Fernandez (16)
· 9/1/86 vs. SF: Sid Fernandez (14) Roger McDowell (2)
· 8/20/85 vs. SF: Dwight Gooden (16)
· 9/17/84 at Phi: Dwight Gooden (16)
· 9/12/84 vs. Pit: Dwight Gooden (16)
· 5/29/73 at SF: Tom Seaver (16)
· 5/29/71 at SD: Nolan Ryan (16)
· 4/22/70 vs. SD: Tom Seaver (19)
· 6/8/69 at SD: Tom Seaver (14) Ron Taylor (2)
Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:
Runs: Ike Davis. Mets first baseman had 13 total bases in Saturday night's game, tying Darryl Strawberry (8/5/85), Claudell Washington (6/22/80) and Jim Hickman (9/3/65) for the second-most in a game in Mets history behind Edgardo Alfonzo's 16 (8/30/99).
Hits: Andres Torres. Mets center fielder snaps 0-for-17 slump and finishes series in Arizona 6-for-12 to raise batting average from .216 to .231.
Errors: Home Alone. Mets went 0 for 6 on last homestand vs. Dodgers and Nationals. It was the Mets' first winless homestand of six or more games since August 2002, when they went 0-6 at Shea Stadium (against the Padres and Dodgers) as part of an overall 12-game losing streak.
How will the Mets fare this week? Make your prediction in the comments below...
