Schwei: Flores' First Impression, Serving Up Shutouts And More Mets Notes
By John Schweibacher
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The Mets begin the week having won five of their last six games, thanks in part to rookie Wilmer Flores, who has driven in nine runs in his first six games in the major leagues.
Flores is the third player in Mets history to collect nine or more RBIs in his first six games with the club. The others were Mike Jacobs, who in August 2005 drove in nine runs in his first five big-league games, and John Buck, who had nine RBIs in his first five games this season.
Ike Davis was 2-for-2 with two walks in the Mets' 4-1 win Friday night at Arizona. His fourth inning double raised his batting average to exactly .200 (53-for-265). It was the first time Davis' average had been that high at any time this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Davis's 264 at-bats to begin a season without his batting average ever reaching the "Mendoza Line" broke his own team record of 233 at-bats set last year.
Matt Harvey tossed a four-hit shutout against the Rockies last Wednesday night at Citi Field. As the Elias Sports Bureau points out, it was the 13th shutout thrown by a Mets pitcher since October 2009, and 12 of them were in Mets' home games. Johan Santana (four), R.A. Dickey (three), Miguel Batista, Chris Capuano, Nelson Figueroa, Jonathon Niese and Harvey have all pitched shutouts at Citi Field for New York over that span, but Dickey is the only Mets pitcher with a road shutout during that time (August 31st, 2012 at Marlins Park).
Including the one by Dickey, the Mets last 13 complete game road shutouts date back to October 4th, 1999, when Al Leiter two-hit the Reds in Cincinnati in the one game playoff that decided the National League wild card.
Here are the last 13 complete-game shutouts thrown on the road by New York Mets pitchers:
· 8/31/12 R.A. Dickey at Mia (3-0)
· 9/27/09 Pat Misch at Fla (4-0)
· 8/17/08 Johan Santana at Pit (4-0)
· 6/10/06 Alay Soler at Arz (5-0)
· 6/15/03 Steve Trachsel at Ana (8-0)
· 9/11/02 Al Leiter at Atl (5-0)
· 8/8/02 Steve Trachsel at Mil (9-0)
· 5/15/02 Jeff D'Amico at LA (2-0)
· 5/14/02 Pedro Astacio at LA (3-0)
· 4/18/02 Al Leiter at Mtl (1-0)
· 9/25/01 Kevin Appier at Mtl (2-0)
· 6/5/01 Rick Reed at Phi (9-0)
· 10/4/99 Al Leiter at Cin (5-0)
Ex-Met Jose Reyes hit his 100th career home run last week and added his 101st over the weekend. There have been only 15 other players who were originally drafted and/or signed by the Mets and began their professional careers in the Mets' farm system, who hit at least 100 homers in the majors:
· 335 Darryl Strawberry
· 315 Jeromy Burnitz
· 246 Ken Singleton
· 234 Kevin Mitchell
· 220 David Wright
· 189 Preston Wilson
· 169 Ty Wigginton
· 149 Hubie Brooks
· 146 Edgardo Alfonzo
· 131 John Milner
· 127 Jody Davis
· 126 Gregg Jefferies
· 119 Jay Payton
· 118 Ed Kranepool
· 101 Jose Reyes
· 100 Mike Jacobs
The Mets' west coast trip continues with a three-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles and a four-game weekend set in San Diego vs. the Padres.
The Mets have won six of their last eight games against L.A. at Dodger Stadium, taking three of four in each of the last two seasons.
The Mets have alternated wins and losses over their last 11 games against the Padres at Petco Park. The Mets have not won back-to-back games in San Diego since May of 2002 when they took three straight vs. the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium.
New York's 11-game road trip will conclude next Monday with a makeup game against the Twins at Target Field. The Mets won both games in Minnesota back in April.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: John Buck. Expectant father has gone 6 for his last 40 at the plate.
Happy Recap: Ike Davis. Hitting .357 with a .538 on-base average and a .571 slugging percentage since the all-star break.
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