Mets Stat of the Day: June 2021
MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Mets this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.
June 30: Braves 20, Mets 2 -- Szapucki's debut
By making his MLB debut in relief, Thomas Szapucki became the 49th player to appear for the Mets this season. That moves them into sole possession of third in the Majors for most players used in 2021, behind the Mariners (52) and the Brewers (51). With more than half their games left to play, the Mets are closing in on their franchise record for players used in a season (56 in 2018).
June 29: Mets 4, Braves 3 -- Two starts vs. Braves for Megill
Two starts into his MLB career, Tylor Megill has seen only one team: the Atlanta Braves. With his start on Tuesday, Megill became the sixth pitcher in Mets history to start against the same opponent in his first two MLB games. The last Met to do that was Brian Bannister, who debuted with a pair of starts against the Nationals back in April 2006.
June 28: Nationals 8, Mets 4 -- Alonso's homers on the road
Pete Alonso launched his 12th homer of the year on Monday in Washington, D.C. It was Alonso's 11th long ball on the road, compared to just one at Citi Field. Before this season, Alonso had featured early identical power splits at home and on the road, with 34 of his career homers occurring in New York and 35 elsewhere.
June 27: Phillies 4, Mets 2 -- Oswalt offers length
Corey Oswalt delivered four shutout innings in relief on Sunday, matching his effort from an August 25 game against the Marlins last summer. He became the first pitcher to provide multiple scoreless relief appearances of at least four innings in his Mets career since Darren Oliver accomplished it four times during the 2006 season.
June 26: Mets 4, Phillies 3 -- deGrom's streak ends
The Phillies snapped Jacob deGrom's scoreless streak at 31 innings, tied for third-longest in franchise history. R.A. Dickey holds the Mets record with 32 2/3 straight scoreless innings in 2012, followed by Jerry Koosman with 31 2/3 scoreless in 1973. Four Mets pitchers have thrown 31 shutout innings in a row, including deGrom, who's done it twice. The others: Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and Bartolo Colon.
June 25: Mets 2, Phillies 1 (Game 1, eight innings) -- Lindor's 200th double
Francisco Lindor's double in the first inning of Game 1 of a doubleheader was the 200th two-base hit of his career. He's one of only 14 players to record 200 doubles in his first seven seasons, and he's the first since Boston's Xander Bogaerts accomplished the feat in 2019.
June 23: Mets 7, Braves 3 -- Megill adds to the list
Tylor Megill became the Mets' 12th starting pitcher over their first 69 games. During their last full season in 2019, the Mets used just nine starting pitchers all year.
June 22: Braves 3, Mets 0 -- Offense struggling
Since busting out for 14 runs against Matt Harvey and the Orioles on June 9, the Mets have averaged 2.6 runs per game in 14 contests. That's 29th in MLB over that stretch, and a full run less than their season average of 3.6 runs per game (which is also 29th in the Majors, ahead of only the Pirates). Over their last eight games, the Mets have been even less productive, averaging 1.6 runs per night.
June 21: Mets 4, Braves 2 (Game 1) -- deGrom in a class of his own
In delivering five shutout innings in Game 1 of the Mets' doubleheader on Monday, Jacob deGrom submitted his 12th straight start with zero or one earned runs. That snapped a tie with Bob Gibson for the most consecutively in a single season in Major League history by a traditional starting pitcher (since earned runs became an official stat in 1912).
June 20: Nationals 5, Mets 2 -- Mets scoring on homers
It's been home-run-or-bust in recent days for New York, which scored just nine runs during its four-game series in Washington. Over their last 45 innings dating to Wednesday, the Mets have scored 10 times, with nine of those runs coming on homers. The only exception was a Francisco Lindor RBI single on Saturday.
June 19: Mets 5, Nationals 1 (Game 1) -- Lindor's huge game
Francisco Lindor's five-RBI performance in Game 1 of the doubleheader marked the third time in his career he had driven in at least five runs in a game. His career high was seven in the Indians' 9-3 win over the Rangers on July 2, 2018.
June 18: Nationals 1, Mets 0 -- A new Lu
Joey Lucchesi posted a 9.19 ERA in his first six outings of the season, but he has since produced a 1.19 ERA in five starts. The southpaw has credited that to a more regular routine as a member of the rotation, plus some mechanical adjustments that have stopped him from tipping pitches.
June 17: Cubs 2, Mets 0 -- Stroman a marathon man
Marcus Stroman went seven strong innings, marking the eighth straight outing in which he's completed at least six innings. It's the longest such streak of his career.
June 16: Mets 6, Cubs 3 -- deGrom continues to rake
Before departing Wednesday's game against the Cubs due to right shoulder soreness, Jacob deGrom ripped a run-scoring single for his sixth RBI of the season. By contrast, deGrom has only allowed four earned runs in 11 starts. He's batting .423 (11-for-26).
June 15: Mets 3, Cubs 2 -- Walker's tremendous intro
Taijuan Walker's 2.12 ERA is the second-lowest in history by a Met in his first 12 starts with the franchise, trailing only Al Leiter, who produced a 1.70 ERA over his first 12 starts after joining the Mets in 1998.
June 14: Mets 5, Cubs 2 -- No hospitality from Mets' rotation
Mets starting pitchers have produced a 1.68 ERA at Citi Field this season. That's by far the lowest by a Major League starting staff since at least 2002. Next on the list is the rotation of the 2016 World Series champion Cubs, which posted a 2.25 ERA at Wrigley Field.
June 13: Padres 7, Mets 3 -- Lindor heating up
Remember when Francisco Lindor was slumping? That appears to be long in the past, as Lindor went 2-for-4 with a double to increase his OPS to 1.001 over his last 13 games. Eight of Lindor's 15 extra-base hits on the season have come during that stretch.
June 12: Mets 4, Padres 1 -- Mets stingy at Citi
The Mets have allowed three runs or fewer in 11 consecutive home games, their longest such streak since going 14 straight games in 1968. They've allowed two or fewer runs in 17 of their 22 home games this season.
June 11: Mets 3, Padres 2 -- A mind-boggling deGrom fact
Jacob deGrom's two-run single in the fifth inning gave him more RBIs (five) than earned runs allowed (four) this season. He is the first pitcher since RBIs became an official stat in 1920 to have more RBIs than earned runs over any 10-start stretch in a single season.
June 9: Mets 14, Orioles 1 -- MLB's top pitching trio
Taijuan Walker's seven strong innings in the Mets' win over the Orioles left him with a 2.07 ERA -- sixth in the Majors among qualified pitchers, but only second on New York's staff. Jacob deGrom leads the Majors with a 0.62 ERA, and Marcus Stroman ranks 15th with a 2.41 mark, making the Mets the only club with three starters in the Top 15.
June 8: Orioles 10, Mets 3 -- Peterson allowing runs in bunches
In allowing three runs to the Orioles in the second inning of a 10-3 loss on Tuesday, David Peterson gave up three or more in an inning for the sixth time this season. Only Luis Castillo of the Reds has allowed more rallies of at least three runs.
June 6: Mets 6, Padres 2 -- 29 straight days in first
The Mets have spent 29 straight days alone in first place, and are guaranteed to remain there for at least a full month. It's their longest stretch alone in first since Aug. 3, 2015, through the end of that season.
June 5: Mets 4, Padres 0 -- deGrom moves up charts
With his whiff of Eric Hosmer in the sixth inning, deGrom passed Sid Fernandez for fourth place on the Mets' all-time strikeout list with 1,450. Tom Seaver holds the Mets' record with 2,541 strikeouts, followed by Dwight Gooden (1,875), Jerry Koosman (1,799) and deGrom.
June 4: Padres 2, Mets 0 -- Lucchesi goes longer
The Mets have been careful not to let Joey Lucchesi see a lineup the third time through in any of his starts this season, leading to many abbreviated outings. But Lucchesi was efficient enough to record two outs in the fifth inning against the Padres, marking the first time all year he's retired anyone past the fourth inning.
June 3: Padres 4, Mets 3 -- Darvish a NY nemesis
Yu Darvish singled and doubled against Taijuan Walker for his second multihit game against the Mets in the past three seasons. It's the same number that every other Major League pitcher -- combined -- has against the Mets over that stretch.
June 2: Mets 7, D-backs 6 -- Hot start for Mets' bats
The Mets opened the game with six consecutive hits, marking the second time in franchise history that they had done so, per the Elias Sports Bureau. The first time occurred on June 25, 1979, against the Pirates. This time, the six hits came from Jonathan Villar, Francisco Lindor, James McCann, Pete Alonso, Kevin Pillar and Dominic Smith. Five of the six were singles, while McCann's was a three-run homer.
June 1: D-backs 6, Mets 5 (10) -- Smith busts homer slump
Dominic Smith belted a two-run homer in the fourth inning, ending a drought of 138 at-bats without a home run. He hadn't gone deep since the opener of a seven-inning doubleheader against the Phillies on April 13. Smith also had his first three-RBI game since driving in four on Sept. 11, 2020.