After winning each of their first five series of the season, the New York Mets have lost the last two, dropping 2 of 3 to both the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves last week.
The Mets took a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning against Atlanta, but the Braves scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings to beat New York, 4-3, Saturday night in what turned out to be the final game of the series after a rain out on Sunday.
According to the Ultimate Mets Database, it was the 45th time the Mets lost to the Braves in “walk-off” fashion.
Here are the opposing clubs with the most “walk-off” wins vs. the Mets in club history:
Phillies- 47
Braves- 45
Dodgers- 40
Astros- 37
Cubs- 34
Jose Reyes, who came into the game 0-for-20 this season, went 3-for-4 in the loss.
Phil Linz went 0-for-25 before getting his first hit in 1968, the longest any Mets position player had ever gone to begin a season.
Linz also snapped his slump in Atlanta, going 3-for-4, in a 9-1 Mets’ win over the Braves at Fulton County Stadium back on May 25th, 1968.
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The Mets beat the Braves, 5-3, in 12 innings Friday night in Atlanta.
Yoenis Cespedes, who struck out in his previous four at-bats, drove in the go-ahead run with two outs in the 12th inning.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other time a Mets hitter struck out four times in a game but still drove in the winning run in extra-innings was back on July 4th, 1986 when Ray Knight hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the 10th inning that capped a three-run rally and gave New York a 6-5 victory over the Houston Astros at Shea Stadium.
The Mets lost the series opener vs. the Braves, 12-4, last Thursday night at SunTrust Park.
Matt Harvey took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out four in six innings. Harvey lost his spot in the starting rotation following this outing.
It was the first time Harvey had gotten an out in the sixth since last May 28th. Harvey now has one win in his last 12 starts dating back to June 2nd, 2017.
The Mets rallied to beat the Nationals, 11-5, Wednesday night to salvage the final game of the homestand.
Yoenis Cespedes' grand slam capped off the Mets nine-run bottom of the eighth inning that turned a 4-2 deficit into an 11-4 lead.
It was the third time the Mets have scored at least nine runs in an inning at Citi Field.
The last time the Mets scored nine or more runs in an inning was back on April 29th, 2016, when they scored 12 in the bottom of the third inning vs. San Francisco in a 13-1 victory.
Prior to that, the Mets scored 10 times in the bottom of the fourth inning in their 14-1 victory over the Brewers back on May 16th, 2015.
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The Nationals handed the Mets their first consecutive losses of the season, 5-2, last Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Gio Gonzalez got the win for Washington, improving to 15-5 in his career against the Mets and 11-1 with a 1.78 ERA in 16 starts at Citi Field.
Here are the opposing pitchers with the most career victories against the Mets at Citi Field:
Gio Gonzalez- 11
Stephen Strasburg- 7
Max Scherzer- 6
Tim Hudson- 6
The Mets have already used four different starting catchers this season; Kevin Plawecki (7 starts), Travis d'Arnaud (4), Tomas Nido (3) and Jose Lobaton (6).
Only twice before in club history have the Mets used at least four different starters behind the plate before the end of April.
5 starting catchers April 1962 (Games in order of appearance):
Hobie Landrith- 4
Joe Ginsberg- 2
Chris Cannizzaro- 8
Sammy Taylor- 1
Harry Chiti- 1
4 starting catchers April 1984 (Games in order of appearance):
Ron Hodges- 4
Junior Ortiz- 7
Mike Fitzgerald- 2
John Gibbons- 7
Happy Recap: Mr. Clutch. Yoenis Cespedes has 18 runs batted in, tied for third in the NL, and six go-ahead RBI's, tied with teammate Todd Frazier for the most on the Mets this season.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: Mr. K. Cespedes has struck out 37 times, the most in the majors, and is hitting just .195 in 82 at bats this season.