The New York Mets bounced back from their third straight series loss (dropping two of three in St. Louis) by winning two of three in San Diego this past weekend.
The Mets completed their road trip with a record of 4-5 by taking the rubber game of the three-game set vs. the Padres, 14-2, Sunday.
Adrian Gonzalez went 3-for-6 with a home run and five RBI's in the win over his former club.
Only three other Mets had ever driven in five or more runs in a game against the Padres in San Diego:
4/29/77 Mets 9 at Padres 2 Dave Kingman 6 RBI's
9/3/85 Mets 8 at Padres 3 Gary Carter 6 RBI's
8/10/05 Mets 9 at Padres 1 David Wright 6 RBI's
4/29/18 Mets 14 at Padres 2 Adran Gonzalez 5 RBI's
The Mets lost the middle game of the three-game series in San Diego, 12-2, Saturday night at Petco Park.
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Jason Vargas, who made his season debut five weeks after breaking a bone in his glove hand in spring training, allowed nine runs and nine hits in 3 and 2/3 innings.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Vargas, who made two starts for the Mets back in 2007, became the fifth Met to go 10 or more years between appearances with the club, joining pitchers Jason Isringhausen, Bob L. Miller and David Cone, and catcher Kelly Stinnett.
Seven pitchers have now started games for the Mets in separate stints before and after leaving the organization:
Al Jackson 1962-65 1968
Tom Seaver 1967-77 1983
Terry Leach 1981-82 1985-87
Bill Pulispher 1995-98 2000
David Cone 1987-92 2003
Jon Niese 2008-15 2016
Jason Vargas 2007 2018
The Mets won the opener of the weekend series against the Padres, 5-1, last Friday night at San Diego.
Jacob deGrom earned the win allowing no runs and five hits, walking three and striking out eight over 7 1/3 innings.
deGrom lowered his season ERA to 2.06, and his career ERA against the Padres to 1.53, in 35 and 1/3 innings vs. San Diego.
Here are the Mets pitchers with the all-time best earned run averages vs. the Padres (minimum 50 innings pitched courtesy of The Ultimate Mets Database):
Jesse Orosco 1.59
Tom Seaver 2.03
David Cone 2.41
Jon Matlack 2.45
Dwight Gooden 2.65
The Mets lost two out of three games vs. the Cardinals last week in St. Louis.
The two clubs split a pair of extra-inning games in the three-game set, with the Mets taking the series opener, 6-5, in 10 innings and the Cardinals winning the rubber game, 4-3, in 13 innings last Thursday afternoon.
The extra-inning loss was the Mets' first against the Cardinals in the current Busch Stadium, which opened in 2006 (the Mets had won the previous three), and matched their second-longest loss in terms of innings all-time in St. Louis:
9/24/92 Mets 3 at Stl 4 (14) Zeile RBI single
8/12/98 Mets 4 at Stl 5 (14) Lankford RBI single
8/7/72 Mets 2 at Stl 3 (13) Sizemore home run
9/12/81 Mets 2 at Stl 4 (13) Gonzalez 2-run homer
9/15/86 Mets 0 at Stl 1 (13) Ford bases loaded walk
4/26/18 Mets 3 at Stl 4 (13) Fowler RBI single
Jay Bruce hit a tie-breaking homer in the 10th inning to give the Mets the win last Tuesday night.
It was the 8th extra-inning go-ahead home run by a Mets hitter in a victory vs. the Cardinals at St. Louis in club history:
4/19/76 Mets 4 Stl 3 (17) Del Unser
10/1/85 Mets 1 Stl 0 (11) Darryl Strawberry
7/29/87 Mets 6 Stl 4 (10) Howard Johnson
9/13/91 Mets 4 Stl 2 (10) Kevin McReynolds
4/6/92 Mets 4 Stl 2 (10) Bobby Bonilla
7/26/94 Mets 10 Stl 9 (11) Rico Brogna
7/19/95 Mets 5 Stl 4 (10) Bobby Bonilla
4/24/18 Mets 6 Stl 5 (10) Jay Bruce
The Mets lost the middle game of the series with the Cardinals, 9-1, last Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.
Corey Oswalt made his major league debut for the Mets in relief of Steven Matz and allowed two runs on two hits while striking out four in 4 and 2/3 innings.
It was the longest relief outing by a Mets pitcher in his major league debut in club history.
The only other relievers in Mets history to throw four or more innings in their major league debuts were Kevin Tapani, who went 4 and 1/3 innings on July 4th, 1989 at Houston, and Buzz Capra, who pitched four innings vs. the Cubs at Shea Stadium on September 15th, 1971.
Happy Recap: Comebacks. The Mets have four wins this season when trailing after seven innings. New York went 4-72 last year when behind after seven innings.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: Deja Vargas. Jason Vargas gave up nine runs in his season debut vs. San Diego. The lefty also allowed nine in his last start for the Mets back in 2007 at Colorado.