Schwei: More First-Half Success For Mets; Phillies, Cubs On Tap
By John Schweibacher
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The Mets will reach the midway point of the 2012 season when they play their 81st game this week.
With their 43 victories so far, the Mets again have at least 40 wins through 81 games for the 13th time in the past 16 seasons:
· 2012: 43-37
· 2011: 41-40
· 2010: 45-36
· 2009: 39-42
· 2008: 40-41
· 2007: 46-35
· 2006: 48-33
· 2005: 40-41
· 2004: 41-40
· 2003: 35-46
· 2002: 40-41
· 2001: 35-46
· 2000: 46-35
· 1999: 45-36
· 1998: 44-37
· 1997: 45-36
Ike Davis hit another three-run homer in the the Mets' 5-0 win over the Dodgers this past Saturday in Los Angeles. The home run was Davis' 11th this season, and seven of them have produced at least three runs (six three-run homers and one grand-slam). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it's the highest total of three-run plus grand-slam homers by any major-leaguer this season.
Davis hit five of those homers during the month of June, the most three-run home runs or grand slams by one player in any month in the Mets' 51-year history.
With his win Friday night, R.A. Dickey became the fifth Mets pitcher to win 10 straight decisions. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Dickey joins Tom Seaver (16 straight, his last 10 in 1969 and first six in 1970), Dwight Gooden (14 in 1985), Terry Leach (10 in 1987, including three wins as a reliever) and Johan Santana (10, his last nine in 2008 and his first in 2009).
Dickey is also the third pitcher in Mets history to earn 12 wins before July 1st. Tom Seaver did it twice (1969 and 1970) and Bobby Jones in 1997.
Four Mets accounted for all the runs batted in for the Mets in their 17-1 victory at Wrigley Field last week: David Wright (5), Ike Davis (4), Scott Hairston (4) and Daniel Murphy (4). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was only the fourth game in major-league history in which four teammates drove in at least four runs each.
The most recent team to accomplish this feat was the Texas Rangers in a 30-3 win over the Orioles in 2007, with Jarrod Saltalamacchia (7), Ramon Vazquez (7), Marlon Byrd (4), and Travis Metcalf (4) driving in four or more.
It was the 11th time that the Mets scored at least 17 runs in a game and their fifth such game at Wrigley Field. Here are the 11 games in Mets' history in which they have scored 17 or more runs:
· 6/27/12 17-1 at Chicago
· 9/5/10 18-5 at Chicago
· 7/8/06 17-3 vs. Florida
· 8/24/05 18-4 at Arizona
· 8/30/99 17-1 at Houston
· 6/12/90 19-8 at Chicago
· 8/16/87 23-10 at Chicago
· 8/14/79 18-5 at Atlanta
· 4/17/76 17-1 at Pittsburgh
· 8/7/71 20-6 at Atlanta
· 5/26/64 19-1 at Chicago
Daniel Murphy's home run in the fourth inning of the 17-1 win ended his streak of 352 at-bats without a homer. Murphy hit his second homer of the game in his next at bat. According to Elias, the last player to end a homerless streak as long as Murphy's with back-to-back blasts was Chris Gomez of the San Diego Padres in 1998 (374 at bats).
The Mets host the Phillies and Cubs this week in their final homestand before the All-Star break. Following these six games at Citi Field, the Mets will play 17 of their next 23 games on the road.
The Mets have won six of their nine meetings against the Phillies so far this season, but lost two of three in their lone series match-up at Citi Field back in late May. Overall, the Mets have won nine of their last 13 games they have played against Philadelphia.
The Cubs took two of three from the Mets last week at Wrigley Field.
Chicago also won two of three in their lone trip to Citi Field in 2011 last September. Overall, the Cubs have won eight of the last 12 games they have played against the Mets.
Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:
Runs: No June Swoon. Mets pitchers led majors with a 2.79 earned run average in June while their offense scored 142 runs, the third-most in the month in MLB.
Hits: Winning Ways. Mets went 15-13 in June after their 13-10 April and 15-13 May, giving them winning records in each of the first three months of a season for the first time since 2006.
Errors: 63. Mets make three errors in series finale loss to Dodgers, increasing their NL-worst total to 63.
How will the Mets fare this week? Make your prediction in the comments below...
