This Date in Mets History: May 27 — Mets and Big Pelf go for record-setting win versus Phillies

No one would confuse the 2010 Mets with the miraculous '69 team, but for three days three years ago, that late model Minaya-Manuel roster was every part the equal of the world champs. You see, on May 27, 2010, the Mets completed a series sweep of the Phillies in which all three victories were shutouts. The only other time in team history that's happened was when Jerry Koosman, Tom Seaver, Gary Gentry, and two relievers combined to hold the Phillies scoreless for 27 consecutive innings during the last week of the 1969 season.

Mike Pelfrey was the star of the third and final blanking, tossing seven innings and allowing just three hits. Big Pelf did put five additional runners on base via walk, but the defense turned three double plays behind him to limit the damage. Jose Reyes, the linchpin in two of the twin killings, also contributed the biggest hit of the game, a two-run double off of Cole Hamels in bottom of the seventh that made the score 3-0. That proved to be the winning margin, as Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez fanned three in the game's final two frames to keep the shutout streak alive. Incidentally, Johan Santana would tack another eight innings on to that streak the following evening against the Brewers, only to see Ryota Igarashi blow it and the game by giving up a walk-off homer to Corey Hart with two out in the ninth.

Birthdays

• Terry Collins celebrates his 64th birthday this afternoon. While there's been plenty of speculation as to whether Collins will keep his job until season's end, let alone earn a contract for next year, the real question is if he'd even be interested in managing this team for 2014 and beyond. After all, he's 64 and, realistically, the Mets are two years away from contention. There's a legit chance that Terry might be reaching this point.
• Ray Daviault, the 18th overall selection in the 1961 expansion draft, is 79. An erratic right-handed pitcher and a minor league lifer, Daviault spent ten years in the Dodgers and Giants organizations before breaking camp for the first time ever with the '62 Mets. In four of those aforementioned ten minor league seasons, he walked over 100 batters. That lack of control was present in Daviault's MLB debut, as he issued four free passes and uncorked two wild pitches in two innings of work.
• Todd Hundley turns 44. A few months back, Pack Bringley covered all the bases in regard to the record-setting slugging Hundley, the 37th best Mets of all-time, during his nine-year Flushing career. In addition to establishing a single-season mark for most long balls hit by a catcher with this blast, Hundley also set a club record by homering on four consecutive Opening Days from 1994 to 1997.
• Ed Nunez hits the big 5-0 today. The Mets acquired Nunez, who served as the closer for the Seattle Mariners during the 1985 and '87 seasons, about two weeks before the 1988 trade deadline. He tossed a scoreless inning of relief in his first game with his new team and wound up as the winning pitcher. That would prove to be the highlight of his Mets career, however. He appeared in just nine more games, didn't make the postseason roster, and earned his walking papers at the end of spring training the following year.

Amazin'-ly Tenuous Connection
Speaking of birthdays, André 3000 also celebrates turning another year older today. While Dré was born in Atlanta and a proponent of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, his baseball team preferences trend toward the New York metropolitan area. The profile photo on his Wikipedia page sees him sporting a Brooklyn Dodgers hat, while this publicity pic from back in the day has him rocking an blue and orange outfit that's topped with a Mets cap.