clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Home Runs That Count

By Eric Simon

I watched the first few innings of the game last night, which was enough time to see a couple of amazing things.

1. Carlos Beltran hitting a homerun in a game not started by Pedro Martinez.
2. Jose Reyes inducing another run-scoring balk, only to have the call reversed at the behest of Padres' manager Bruce Bochy.

#1 looked like this:

As for #2, I guess the call wasn't actually reversed, as much as the actual events were clarified for home plate umpire Chuck Meriwether. If the run had counted it would have been the third time this year Reyes scored on a balk.

Mike Piazza also hit a homerun last night, and of course the Mets went on to win the ballgame 7-3. The Mets have now won three games in a row and sit at two games over .500 for the first time in over a month.

Piazza's homerun and the Mets' subsequent victory got me thinking about the timeliness of homeruns, and how despite Piazza only going yard 11 times this season, it always seems as if they came in a winning effort. I thought it would be interesting to see how the Mets have done when certain players hit homeruns. I did a quick little breakdown of any Met with at least five homeruns this season:

             Mets Record   Win%
Beltran         8-1         89%
Piazza          8-2         80%
Diaz            3-1         75%
Wright          9-4         69%
Mientkiewicz    6-3         67%
Cameron         6-4         60%
Floyd          11-9         55%
Cliff Floyd, despite leading the team with 23 homeruns, has actually seen his homeruns come in a lower percentage of Mets victories than the rest of the players on the list. Beltran has the highest homerun Win% at 89%, which is not very surprising when you consider the fact that most of his bombs have come in Pedro's starts, and that the Mets win most of those starts because Pedro is awesome.

? The Daily News thinks that the Mets will have some interest in recently DFA'd Red Sox lefty Alan Embree.

Lefthanded reliever Alan Embree, designated for assignment by the Red Sox after going 1-4 with a 7.65 ERA in 43 appearances, figures to get serious attention from the Mets. A Mets staffer yesterday was gathering information on Embree, who "just needs a change of scenery," according to one scout. The lone southpaw in the Mets' bullpen, Dae-Sung Koo, allowed all three lefty batters to reach base in Tuesday's series opener with the Padres.
I'm not so sure this is a good idea. Embree is 35 now, and while you used to be able to count on him to strike out better than a batter per inning, that figure has dropped over the last three years. His biggest weakness is the longball, though that would be helped a bit by Shea, which is a terrible park for right-handed power hitters.

? Today's game is at 12noon, so get on over here for the game chatter.

Amazin' Avenue Daily Web Links
- MetsGeek.com: Next Year Is Now (Michael Oliver)
- MetsDaily.com: Game Highlights (07.20.2005)
- Press & Sun-Bulletin: Mets' Jacobs Catching For a Reason
- The New York Sun: What the System Needs Is a Little Discipline

More From Amazin' Avenue