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Today's game notes, courtesy of @Mets.
Teams: Mets vs. Diamondbacks
Date: Sunday, July 29, 2012 • 4:10 p.m
Location: Chase Field • Phoenix, AZ
Starters: RHP R.A. Dickey (13-2, 2.97) vs. LHP Joe Saunders (5-6, 3.51)
TV/Radio: PIX11 • WFAN • WQBU
Info: Game #102 • Road Game #50
Lineup
Ruben Tejada - SS
Daniel Murphy - 2B
David Wright - 3B
Scott Hairston - RF
Ike Davis - 1B
Jason Bay - LF
Andres Torres - CF
Josh Thole - C
R.A. Dickey - RHP
METS AT A GLANCE: The Mets have lost two straight, dropped eight of their last nine games and 14 of of their last 16...The Mets are 5-17 in July after posting winning months in April (13-10), May (15-13) and June (15-13)...The Mets are 2-13 since the All-Star break.
ON THE ROAD: New York has lost eight of its last 10 road games and is 22-27 overall on the road this year...David Wright is tied for the major league lead with a .370 road batting average.
SUNDAY: Ruben Tejada has the fourth-highest batting average (.421, 16-38) in the majors on Sunday (min. 35 at-bats).
JULY: Daniel Murphy ranks fourth in the majors with a .390 batting average this month...David Wright is tied for third in the NL with 20 RBI in July and Ike Davis is tied for fourth in the majors with nine home runs this month.
IKE DAVIS: Equaled a franchise record and become the ninth player in team history to hit three home runs in a game last night...Below are the others to achieve the feat.
| Player | Date | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Hickman | 9/3/1965 | at St. Louis |
| Dave Kingman | 6/4/1976 | at Los Angeles |
| Claudell Washington | 6/22/1980 | at Los Angeles |
| Darryl Strawberry | 8/5/1985 | at Chicago |
| Gary Carter | 9/3/1985 | at San Diego |
| Edgardo Alfonzo | 8/30/1999 | at Houston |
| Jose Reyes | 8/15/2006 | at Philadelphia |
| Carlos Beltran | 5/12/2011 | at Colorado |
DAVIS DELIVERS: Ike Davis, the Arizona native, has four home runs in his last two games...The club record for home runs in three straight games is six by Frank Thomas set August 1-3, 1962...He has six home runs in his last six games...Davis now has 20 home runs, a new career-high...His previous best was 19 home runs established in 2010...In addition, the 20 home runs are the most in the majors by a first baseman...In his fourth at-bat he singled to tie his career-high with four hits...It was his fourth career four-hit game and first since September 11, 2010 vs. Philadelphia...Davis has 15 home runs since June 12, the third-most in the majors...Arizona’s Jason Kubel is first and Minnesota’s Josh Willingham are tied for first with 16 home runs over that period.
MORE HISTORY: Ike Davis is the eighth player in major league history to hit three or more homers, all solo, which accounted for all of his team's runs...The others to do it were Clyde McCullough (1942), Del Wilber (1951), Hank Sauer (1952), Gus Bell (1955), Boog Powell (1964), Eddie Murray (1980) and Steve Finley (2004)...Research courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau...Davis finished with 13 total bases, tied with Darryl Strawberry, Claudell Washington and Jim Hickman for the second-most in team history for a single game...Edgardo Alfonzo is first with 16...Davis also tied the team mark with a home run in three straight at-bats, done many times, last by David Wright earlier this year.
JOSH EDGIN: Tossed 0.2 scoreless innings last night...Has not allowed a run in his last seven outings, spanings 6.2 innings...Overall, he has racked up 16 strikeouts in 9.1 innings of work...Lefties are 3-21 (.143) with 11 strikeouts against him.
DANIEL MURPHY: Has at least one hit in 13 of his last 16 games (23-62, .371)…Over his last 26 games, dating to June 26, he is hitting .398 (39-98) with 18 RBI and 18 extra-base hits...Murphy ranks third in the majors with 31 doubles.
RISP: The Mets were 0-9 with runners in scoring position last night and over their last 12 games, the club is hitting .184 (19-103) with runners in scoring position...New York is hitting .263 with RISP on the season, ranking 11th in the majors...The Mets are hitting .274 with runners in scoring position and two outs, the second-highest average in the majors.
TWO OUTS: The Mets have scored 201 two-out runs this season, the most in the majors...New York is hitting .267 with two outs, the fourth-highest average in the majors...New York’s pitching staff allowed two, two-out runs last night and has surrendered 189 runs with two outs, the third-most in the majors.
LOB: The Mets have left 702 runners on base this year, ranking fifth in the NL.
MIKE BAXTER: Went 1-4 with a single last night for Buffalo (AAA) of the International League at Indianapolis...He played nine innings in left field...Baxter is hitting .327 (16-49) with three doubles, seven RBI and four runs scored in 13 rehabilitation games...Baxter has been on the 15-Day Disabled List since June 2 with a displaced right collarbone and fractured rib cartilage.
FRANK FRANCISCO: Earned the save in Binghamton’s 2-1 win Friday vs. Portland...He worked 1.0 inning, allowed one hit, no runs, with no walks and no strikeouts ...Francisco threw 21 pitches, 16 strikes ...In two rehabilitation games, he’s worked 1.2 innings, allowed four hits, one run, earned, with one walk and one strikeout...Francisco has been on the 15-Day Disabled List since June 23 with a left oblique strain.
LAST START: Took his second loss of the season in the Mets’ 5-2 defeat vs. Washington on July 24 …Pitched 6.0 innings, allowing five runs, four earned, and eight hits...Walked one and struck out seven...Had his career-high 11 game winning streak snapped...Last season, Dickey recorded his second loss on April 14 vs. Colorado, his third start of the year...Dickey now has a career-high 139 strikeouts, surpassing last year’s total of 134.
WINNING STREAK SNAPPED: Dickey’s loss in his last start vs. Washington at Citi Field snapped a streak of 11 consecutive winning decisions dating to April 25 vs. Miami...The 11-game win streak was the best of his career and the third longest in Mets history...Dickey’s streak spanned 16 starts, also tied for the third longest streak of consecutive starts without a loss in Mets history...This was the first home loss for Dickey of the season and his first since falling to Washington on September 12, 2011, 3-2.
RANKS: After his win vs. Washington on July 19, Dickey became the first pitcher in the National League to reach 13 wins this season...He is tied for the National League lead in wins with Gio Gonzalez (Was), Lance Lynn (Stl), and Johnny Cueto (Cin),and trails only David Price’s 14 wins (TB) for the Major League lead...Has five double-digit strikeout games this season, which is second in the majors behind Yu Darvish (Tex)...Also has recorded 15 quality starts, which is tied for fourth in the majors...Has struck out 139 in 139.1 innings this season, good for fifth in the majors and second in the NL...His K/BB ratio of 4.63 ranks seventh in the majors and sixth in the NL...Dickey has limited opposing right-handed batters to a .208 (57-274) batting average this season, good for 13th in the majors and ninth in the NL.
PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Dickey was named the NL Pitcher of the Month for the month of June...Went 5-0 with 0.93 ERA (five earned runs/48.1 innings pitched)...Began the month with 37 consecutive innings without surrendering an earned run dating from June 2 vs. StL to June 24 vs. NYY...Threw three complete games and two shutouts...Also threw consecutive complete-game 1-hitters while striking out 10 or more in each.
RECENT ROUGH PATCH: Following his last start, Dickey has now allowed eight or more hits in each of his last four starts, dating back to his July 5 start vs. Philadelphia...This is the second longest streak of his career and the longest span since he allowed eight hits or more in five straight starts from May 8, 2004 to May 28, 2004 as a member of the Texas Rangers...During this span, Dickey has had starts of 10 hits allowed at Washington on July 19 and a career high-tying 11 hits allowed in his July 5 start vs. Philadelphia...These starts marked just the ninth and 10th times Dickey had allowed double-digit hits in one game in his career, spanning 125 starts...Dickey has allowed five earned runs in three of his last six starts, dating to his June 24 start vs. New York...In his 38 starts prior, Dickey had allowed five earned runs or more just once...He allowed five earned runs or more in back-to-back starts for the first time since June 13, 2008 vs. Washington and June 18, 2008 vs. Miami as a member of the Seattle Mariners...During the first four starts of this stretch, left-handers hit .321 (18-56) with six extra-base hits, six walks, and 12 strikeouts...This includes his June 29 start vs. Los Angeles when lefties went 1-15 with one walk and five strikeouts...In his last two starts, left-handers are hitting just .200 (5-25)...On the contrary, right-handers hit .205 (9-44) in the first four starts of this span but are now hitting .406 (13-32) in his last two starts...Has compiled a 5.36 ERA (24 earned runs/40.1 innings) since June 24.