Mets Stat of the Day: May 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.
May 31: Mets 6, D-backs 2 -- deGrom great through eight starts
With six scoreless innings of two-hit ball, Jacob deGrom lowered his ERA to 0.71, the fourth-lowest mark by a pitcher through eight starts of a season (dating back to 1912 in the National League and 1913 in the American League), per the Elias Sports Bureau, putting him behind only Fernando Valenzuela (0.50 in 1981), Mike Norris (0.52 in 1980) and Zack Greinke (0.60 in 2009). deGrom's 0.57 WHIP through eight starts is the lowest since the current mound distance was set in 1893.
May 29: Mets 13, Braves 2 -- Taijuan's triumphant return
With five scoreless innings in the Mets' 13-2 win over the Braves on Saturday, Taijuan Walker lowered his ERA to 1.82. It's the second-lowest mark in history by a Met in his first nine starts with the team, trailing only Al Leiter (1.49) in 1998.
May 27: Mets 1, Rockies 0 (G1); Mets 4, Rockies 2 (G2) -- Baseball aplenty in NYC
The Mets and Yankees both played home doubleheaders, marking the fourth time they've done so on the same day since the Mets became a franchise in 1962. The other occasions happened in 1982, 1997 and 2008, making this a rare day with four Major League games in New York City (and a total of six professional games in the five boroughs, with the Mets' High-A Brooklyn affiliate also hosting a doubleheader).
May 25: Mets 3, Rockies 1 -- deGrom's hitting prowess
Jacob deGrom's single in the fourth inning was his eighth hit of the season, tying him for the fourth-most by a pitcher through seven games. Don Sutton had 10 hits through seven starts in 1966, followed by Catfish Hunter (1968) and Dan Haren (2010) with nine hits apiece.
May 24: Rockies 3, Mets 2 -- Peterson taken deep by lefty
Entering Monday's game against the Rockies, David Peterson had allowed 11 home runs in 18 career appearances (17 starts), all of them to right-handed hitters. That changed when Ryan McMahon took Peterson deep to lead off the second inning. In addition to the first homer, it was just the fourth extra-base hit by a left-handed hitter off Peterson.
May 23: Marlins 5, Mets 1 -- Maybin going for first hit
Since joining the Mets last Wednesday, outfielder Cameron Maybin is hitless in 16 at-bats with nine strikeouts. It seems when opposing pitchers throw him breaking balls, Maybin is struggling.
May 22: Marlins 3, Mets 1 -- Four stars for Fargas
It looked like the Mets had a potential game-saving catch when Johneswhy Fargas dove to make a sensational grab in center field to record the first out of the ninth inning. The catch had a 40 percent catch probability -- a four-star catch per Statcast's grading system. It was the Mets' first four-star grab since Michael Conforto on May 12. It’s the Mets’ 5th 4+ star catch this year, equaling their total from 2020
May 21: Mets 6, Marlins 5 (12) -- Smith's HR drought
First baseman Dominic Smith has hit for average during the month of May (.279), but he hasn’t hit the long ball. His last home run came on April 13 against the Phillies.
May 19: Braves 5, Mets 4 -- Nido heating up at plate
For the third time in his four-year career, Tomás Nido recorded back-to-back games with an RBI. Nido has been the unlikely hero for the Mets over the past three games, hitting .556 with a game-winning homer.
May 18: Mets 4, Braves 3 -- Tommy Hunter's first hit
Hunter relieved opener Miguel Castro after the first, tossing two scoreless innings and notching his first MLB hit in his 14-year career. In the top of the third with none on, Hunter singled on a line drive to left field to become the Mets’ first baserunner of the game.
May 17: Mets 3, Braves 1 -- Nido's first three-hit game
Tomás Nido had an impressive outing and recorded the first three-hit performance of his career. Nido is slashing .267/.353/.820. After six tough innings offensively, Nido's double off Max Fried in the top of the seventh inning got New York going. Then, James McCann doubled to drive Nido home and break the scoreless tie in Atlanta.
May 16: Rays 7, Mets 1 -- Mazeika's first hit goes the distance
Patrick Mazeika became the first Met to homer for his first career hit since pitcher Jeremy Hefner on May 29, 2012, off the Phillies' Joe Blanton, and the first Mets position player to do it since Jordany Valdespin on May 7, 2012, off Philadelphia's Jonathan Papelbon.
May 15: Rays 12, Mets 5 -- Alonso finds HR swing
Pete Alonso has 75 home runs in 252 career games, becoming the second-fastest player (by games played) to reach that mark in Major League history, trailing Ryan Howard (240 games). Alonso's solo blast in the third inning snapped a streak of 15 consecutive games without a homer, the longest homerless stretch of his career.
May 14: Rays 3, Mets 2 -- Villar finding form
Jonathan Villar has six RBIs in his last eight games. He had three RBIs in his previous 21 games. Villar also has eight walks in his last seven games.
May 12: Mets 7, Orioles 1 -- Harvey cedes seven at Citi
In Matt Harvey's return to Citi Field for the first time since 2018, he allowed seven earned runs -- only the second time he had ever given up that many in Queens, and the first such occasion since June 10, 2015, against the Giants.
May 11: Mets 3, Orioles 2 -- Mazeika makes history
With a walk-off fielder's choice in the win over the Orioles, Patrick Mazeika became the first MLB player in the last 100 years to record multiple walk-off RBIs before his first career hit. Mazeika also became the first player since at least 1920 to have multiple walk-off RBIs in his first four career games, and the first since 1955 to have three RBIs in his career without a hit
May 9: Mets 4, D-backs 2 -- Díaz reaches way back
While locking down his second career save of at least five outs (and his first since 2016), Edwin Díaz hit 101.6 mph on the radar gun. It was the fifth fastest pitch of his career, and his hardest since a Sept. 2017 game against the Rangers.
May 8: Mets 4, D-backs 2 -- Welcome back to the family
After posting a combined 5.09 ERA from 2019-20, Jeurys Familia has rebounded in the early part of '21, producing a 0.93 ERA over his first 11 appearances. He has delivered 10 straight scoreless outings since allowing two runs (one earned) in his first game of the season.
May 7: Mets 5, D-backs 4 (10) -- Rotation has been top-heavy
Although the Mets' overall rotation numbers have been excellent, it's almost entirely due to the standout performances of Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker, who have combined for a 1.65 ERA. The three other Mets pitchers to start games (David Peterson, Joey Lucchesi and Miguel Castro) have produced a 7.06 mark.
May 6: Mets 4, Cardinals 1 -- Walker shuts down St. Louis
Following a Jonathan Villar throwing error with no outs in the second inning, Mets starter Taijuan Walker retired the final 18 batters he faced. It marked the longest streak of outs in his career. Walker's previous best was 16 in a row on Sept. 16, 2016.
May 5: Mets 7, Cardinals 2 (Game 2) -- Backups bring the thump
With multiple Mets position players on the injured list, Kevin Pillar, Jonathan Villar and Tomás Nido went a combined 6-for-11 with two home runs and 6 RBIs in Game 2 of the Mets' doubleheader against the Cardinals. The Mets scored eight runs in two games at Busch Stadium, with those three bench players driving home six of them.
May 3: Cardinals 6, Mets 5 -- Lindor still searching for hits
Francisco Lindor's offensive struggles continued in Monday's 6-5 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. His 0-for-21 hitless streak is now the second longest of his career. The longest of his career was during his time with the Indians in 2016, where he endured an 0-for-27 stretch.
May 2: Mets 8, Phillies 7 -- This save sounds Familia
The Mets' long-time closer, Jeurys Familia went to the A's in a midseason trade in 2018. He re-signed with the Mets that offseason, but never regained a shot at the ninth inning, due in part to his own struggles and in part to the Mets' trade for Edwin Díaz. But with Díaz suffering a back injury in the ninth inning in the series finale vs. the Phillies, Familia struck out Bryce Harper for the final out. It was his first save for the Mets in nearly three years. He's third on the franchise's all-time saves list with 124, trailing only John Franco and Armando Benítez.
May 1: Mets 5, Phillies 4 -- Mets' big output in 1st inning
The Mets scored four runs in the first inning on Saturday, matching their largest single-inning output of the season. They previously had scored four runs in the seventh inning of their April 6 game at Philadelphia.