TORONTO BLUE JAYS NOTES:
THE LATEST: The Blue Jays plated a run in the top of the 9th to edge the Mets by a score of 2-1 yesterday…Marked their 12th comeback win of the campaign…Improved to 8-5 in one-run games…Now have 10 wins when scoring three-or-fewer runs, tying Baltimore and Miami for the most in the Majors. Toronto has now won five of its last six games and six of its last eight contests, coming on the heels of a 2-9 stretch…Has won three straight series and is now 12-7-0 in series play (6-5-0 on the road)…Can complete its 4th sweep with a win this afternoon.
VLAD TIMING: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in the game-winning run yesterday with a double in the 9th inning…Was his 13th double of the year and his 1st extra-base hit since May 23 at TB (HR)…Has gone 6-for-20 (.300) across his last five games…His 63 hits are tied for 5th most in the AL…Has recorded an AL-leading 104 hardhit balls (95+ MPH) this season, trailing only Ronald Acuña Jr. for the most among MLB batters.
BERR1&0’S: José Berríos tossed 6.0 innings of one-run ball yesterday, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out six batters…Has allowed one or no runs in each of his last three outings…Lowered his ERA for the year to 3.66…Over his last 10 starts, has gone 5-2 with a 2.48 ERA (17 ER/61.2 IP) and a 1.15 WHIP.
ORDERING DOUBLE DOUBLES: Brandon Belt doubled twice yesterday, finishing 2-for-3 while also drawing a walk and scoring a run…Marked the 27th time in his career and 2nd time this season to have a two-double game (also: May 6 at PIT). The first baseman has recorded five walks in his last three games and has nine in his last seven contests… Had a .235 OBP on May 1 but has since boosted that to .385 for the season, now 9th best in the AL (min. 150 PA)…Over his last 24 contests, has batted .353 (24-for-68) with eight doubles, a homer, seven RBI, and 19 walks (.500 OBP, 1.015 OPS).
SPRINGER HAS SPRUNG: George Springer singled twice and scored a run as part of a 2-for-5 afternoon…Has gone 34-for-109 (.312) with four doubles, a triple, five home runs, 13 RBI, and a 13BB/17K ratio during his last 28 contests (.385 OBP, .890 OPS)…Has raised his season batting average by 46 points since May 2nd (from .216 to .262).
MULTI-TALENTED: Bo Bichette also singled twice yesterday…Was his 25th multi-hit game, tied with Freddie Freeman for the most in MLB…Extended his road hitting streak to a career-long 15 games (14G from May 24-June 22, 2022)…Is 27-for-67 (.403) with nine extra-base hits and 10 RBI over that stretch (1.062 OPS). The 25-year-old has hits in 13 of his last 14 games, going 24-for-63 (.381) with a double, a triple, three home runs, and nine RBI (.962 OPS)…Leads all MLB hitters with 85 hits (2nd: Freeman – 80)…Also leads the AL with 134 total bases, trailing only Freeman (135) for the most in MLB…His .336 batting average ranks 1st in the AL (3rd in MLB) while he is currently
5th in SLG (.530), 5th in OPS (.900), T-8th in OBP (.371), and T-8th in home runs (12).
A WEEKEND IN THE CITI: The Blue Jays are wrapping up a brief, three-game road trip to Citi Field…Own a 17-17 road record this season for a .500 win% (6th in the AL)…After this series, will return home for a seven-game homestand, taking on the Astros (35-23) for four games and then the Twins (31-28) for three. Blue Jays hitters lead the Majors with 322 road hits (2nd: TEX – 297)…Rank 2nd in the AL in road AVG (.267), 2nd in road SLG (.437), 2nd in road OPS (.768) and 3rd in road OBP (.332)…The pitching staff ranks 10th in the AL in road ERA (4.32), 12th in road opponents’ average (.256), and 12th in road WHIP (1.36).
ROAD WARRIOR: Daulton Varsho singled and walked to go 1-for-3 yesterday…Extended his hitting streak to seven games, going 7-for-27 (.259) with a double, two homers, and four RBI (.804 OPS)…Is now batting .269 (35-for-130) during his 34 road games, including 15 extra-base hits and 22 RBI for an .829 OPS.
INTERTAINMENT: Toronto is playing its 6th interleague series of the year… Has gone 11-5 vs. NL clubs so far…The .688 win% is tied for 2nd best among AL teams (1st: NYY – .714)… Led the AL with 13 interleague wins last season, which was one off the franchise’s all-time single-season record (14 in 2021)…Since the beginning of the 2021 campaign, Toronto’s .679 win% in Interleague Play (38-18) is the best among all MLB clubs (2nd: TB – .672). The Blue Jays have hit 659 home runs all-time in Interleague Play, the most among all 30 teams (2nd: NYY – 632).
HITTING IT: The Blue Jays have notched 548 hits this season, tied with Texas for the most in the Majors…Are currently 3rd in the AL in team AVG (.266), 4th in OBP (.333), 5th in OPS (.754), 6th in SLG (.421), and 6th in extra-base hits (180). The Blue Jays are one of two MLB teams to have scored in every game this season (also: ARI)…Have gone 77 straight games without being shut out, the longest active streak in the Majors (2nd: ARI – 60G).
TOUGH SCHEDDING: The Blue Jays are in the midst of playing 30 games over the course of 31 days…All opponents during this stretch are currently over .500…Are 11-11 through 22 contests.
VS. THE METS: All-Time: 15-22
2023: 2-0 Road: 4-14
Road: 2-0 Citi Field: 4-5
The Blue Jays last met up with the Mets in July of 2021, going 1-2 during the three-game series at Citi Field…Are now 15-22 all-time vs. New York…Went 0-9 at Shea Stadium but are now 4-5 at Citi Field… Are going for their 1st ever sweep of the Mets today.
Brandon Belt leads all current Blue Jays with 59 career games played against the Mets…Has kept a .745 OPS while batting .221 (44-for-199) with eight doubles, four triples, eight home runs, 19 RBI, and 30 walks (.323 OBP).
Daulton Varsho had hits in all six of his games vs. New York last season (7-for-23)…Is now a career 9-for-34 (.265) in 11 meetings, including five runs scored, three home runs, six RBI, and four walks for an .863 OPS.
Chris Bassitt spent last season with the Mets and set career highs in wins (15), starts (30), quality starts (19), innings pitched (181.2), and strikeouts (167).
STARTING PITCHER – Yusei Kikuchi, LHP #16
TODAY’S GAME:
Making his 12th start of the season and his 7th on the road…Improved to 6-2 his last time out, on 5/30 vs. MIL, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and a season-high 5 walks over 5.0 frames with 4 strikeouts…Punched out Joey Wiemer in the 4th inning for the 500th strikeout of his career…Became the 9th Japanese-born player to record 500 strikeouts and 500.0 innings pitched in the Majors.
2023 HIGHLIGHTS:
Shouldered the loss on 5/24 at TB, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks over 5.0 frames with 5 strikeouts…The outing was his 100th career start, becoming the 11th Japanese-born player to reach the century mark. Took his 1st loss of the year on 5/19 vs. BAL, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and a season-high 4 walks over 4.2 innings with 3 punchouts. Lasted 4.0+ frames on 5/14 vs. ATL, allowing 5R/4ER on 9 hits…Struck
out 7 without issuing a walk. Improved to 5-0 on 5/7 at PIT, tossing 6.1 shutout frames with 4 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts…Marked his longest outing as a Blue Jay, and his 3rd quality start this season. Improved to 4-0 on 4/26 vs. CWS, throwing 5.2 frames of shutout ball
while scattering four singles and a walk along with eight strikeouts…Has allowed one run or fewer in four of his five starts this year while the Blue Jays have won all five of his outings. Earned his 3rd win of the year on 4/21 at NYY, tossing 6.0 frames of onerun ball with 4 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts…Has back-to-back starts of 6.0+ innings and 0-or-1 runs allowed for the first time since 6/18-25 of his 2021 All-Star campaign. Improved to 2-0 on 4/15 vs. TB, throwing 6.0 innings of one-run ball with 4 hits, a walk, and a season-high 9 strikeouts…Marked his most punchouts in a single game as a Blue Jay…Completed 6.0 frames for the 1st time since 6/30/22 vs. TB. Took a no-decision on 4/9 at LAA, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits and a walk over 4.1 innings with 6 strikeouts…Threw 99 pitches (59 strikes) on the day, his most pitches in a single outing since 7/28/21 vs. HOU (101). Picked up the win in his season debut on 4/4 at KC, tossing 5.0 innings of one-run ball with 3 hits, a walk, and 2 strikeouts…Was his 1st start since 8/15/22 vs. BAL, and his 1st win as a starter since 7/28/22 vs. DET.
NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets fell to the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1, yesterday…New York finishes a six-game homestand (3-2) against Philadelphia (3-0) and Toronto (0-2)…New York is off on Monday before the start of a six-game road trip to Atlanta (three games) and Pittsburgh (three games).
TAKE THE TRAIN TO THE GAME: With the expected large crowd at Citi Field this weekend, the Mets encourage fans to take the train to the game.
PUT AWAY THE BROOMS: The Mets are looking to avoid their fourth sweep of the season and their second at home…This would mark the first time the Mets have been swept by the Blue Jays.
TURNED A CORNER: The Mets have received eight quality starts from their staff in the last 13 games…New York had eight quality starts through the first 46 games of the season…Over the last 13 games, Mets starters have posted a 2.82 ERA (24 ER/76.2 UP) with 23 walks and 73 strikeouts.
SENGA GENESIS: In his last start, Kodai Senga became the 10th rookie hurler in franchise history and the first since Steven Matz (August 14,
2016) to throw 7.0 or more innings and allow one or zero hits…He joined Jonathon Niese, who tossed a complete game shutout on June 10, 2010, as the only Mets rookie to accomplish the feat without issuing a walk…He has 70 strikeouts through his first 10 major league games, tied with Matt Harvey for the third-most by a Met…Only Dwight Gooden (80) and Nolan Ryan (74) have more in their first 10 career starts…
The 70 strikeouts are the third-most by a Japanese-born player in a player’s first 10 starts…Only Hideo Nomo (83) and Masahiro Tanaka (79) recorded more.
THEY’RE OUT OF MY LEAGUE: The new schedule format has New York playing a total of 43 Interleague games in 2023, more than double their previous high for a single season (20)…The Mets are 8-6 against the American League this year…Overall, New York owns a 243-233 record in Interleague play…The team’s .511 winning percentage is the second-best among National League clubs.
INTERSTELLAR: Jeff McNeil owns a .332/.382/.453 slashline with 41 runs, 15 doubles, seven home runs and 36 RBI in 81 Interleague games, while
Starling Marte has slashed .325/.387/.540 with 119 runs, 45 doubles, 11 triples, 28 home runs and 88 RBI in 183 Interleague games…They rank
first and fourth in average among active players in Interleague play (min. 250 PA)…McNeil’s .332 clip is the highest all-time by a Met.
INTERLEAGUE PETE: Pete Alonso has hit 35 home runs in Interleague Play since the 2019 season…His 35 home runs against the American League is a franchise record, and the most among any player since 2019…Mike Piazza was the previous record holder with 28 Interleague home runs.
CANHA GET AN AMEN?: Over the last 16 games, Mark Canha is 14-42 (.333) with seven runs, two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, six walks with a .440 OBP, .524 SLG and a .964 OPS…He has safely reached base in each of his last 11 games with a plate appearance, batting .345 (10- 29) with five runs, two home runs, six RBI, six walks with a 1.024 OPS in that span.
D-FENCE: The Mets have committed 19 errors in 59 games this year, the fewest errors in the majors…New York owns a .991 fielding percentage… Their .991 fielding percentage also leads the major leagues.
FIRST IS THE WORST: The Mets have been outscored 46-13 in the first inning this year.
BROOKS WAS HERE: Brooks Raley allowed four earned runs in one inning of work on April 4 in Milwaukee…Since then he has pitched to a 1.04 ERA (2 ER/17.1 IP) with six walks and 19 strikeouts…Since returning from the IL, the southpaw has not allowed a run in any of his last 10 games, striking out 11 over those 8.1 innings.
IF YOU START ME OFF: New York is 16-1 when their starter goes at least 6.0 innings…The Mets are still 6-0 when the starter goes at least 7.0 innings.
IN THE CITI: The Mets have played 26 games at Citi Field, tied for the second-fewest home games in the majors this season…The team is 15-11 at Citi Field this year…Their .577 winning percentage at home is fourth in the National League.
EIGHT IS GREAT: The Mets are 27-0 when leading after eight innings this season…The last time the Mets lost a game when they were ahead after
eight innings was on September 6, 2021 at Washington…The Mets were up 3-2 and lost 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth…Since then the Mets have won their last 122 games when ahead after eight, the longest active streak in MLB…It’s the longest streak in franchise history, surpassing the previous high of 117 consecutive games.
FOR PETE’S SAKE: Pete Alonso has hit 20 home runs this year, which leads the majors leagues…His 46 RBI are fourth in The Show and lead the National League…Alonso ranks 12th in franchise history with 426 career RBI…Next up is Kevin McReynolds (456) and Keith Hernandez (468)…
Alonso has appeared in all 56 of the Mets games this year.
Player HR Ballpark
PETE ALONSO 71 CITI FIELD
Paul Goldschmidt 103 ARI
Freddie Freeman 70 ATL
Joey Votto 190 CIN
Miguel Cabrera 188 DET
Mike Trout 183 LAA
Player HR Ballpark
Giancarlo Stanton 112 MIA
Aaron Judge 123 NYY
Andrew McCutchen 96 PIT
Evan Longoria 129 TB
Adolis García 44 TEX
ACTIVE PLAYERS WHO HOLD ACTIVE BALLPARK’S HR RECORD
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Francisco Alvarez has hit eight home runs this season…That puts him tied for the fourth-most by a rookie in the majors and third in the National League…Only two rookie catchers in Mets history have had more homers in a season…Travis d’Arnaud (13) holds the club mark for home runs by a rookie catcher in 2014…Jason Phillips hit 11 as a rookie in 2003…Alvarez’s nine career homers (one last year) before turning 22 years old are the most by a catcher since Iván Rodríguez had 21 from 1991-1993.
STEAL THIS BASE: The Mets lead the major leagues with an 87.5% stolen base success rate this season…Starling Marte has swiped 17 bags this year, tied for fourth in the majors and second in the National League… His 331 career stolen bases rank second among active players…Elvis Andrus is the active leader with 340 steals…Pete Alonso has stolen 12 bases in 13 tries in his career.
KODAI SENGA RHP #34
2023 STATS: 5-3, 3.44 ERA
SENGA’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 41.9% 43.6% 40.1% 95.9 mph
Forkball 22.1% 23.3% 20.8% 83.8 mph
Cutter 20.5% 24.3% 16.5% 90.3 mph
Sweeper 11.9% 5.2% 19.1% 81.9 mph
Slider 2.4% 1.8% 3.0% 83.5 mph
Curveball 1.1% 1.8% 0.4% 71.5 mph
LAST TIME OUT: Became the 10th rookie in franchise history to throw 7.0 or more innings, while one hit or less and was the first Met since Steven Matz did so on August 14, 2016… Joins Jonathon Niese, who tossed a complete game shutout on June 10, 2010, as the only Mets rookie to accomplish the feat without allowing a walk…Finished the game with nine strikeouts, bringing his career total to 70.
STRIKE ‘EM OUT: Senga has 70 strikeouts through his first 10 career major league games, tied with Matt Harvey for the third-most by a Met…Only Dwight Gooden (80) and Nolan Ryan (74) have more in their first 10 career starts.
WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Through his first five career home starts, Senga has a 1.20 ERA (4 ER/30.0 IP), which is the best mark by a Mets pitcher during that span…He has the second-best home ERA in the majors among pitchers with at least 30.0 home innings this season.
PUTTING THE K IN FORK: Senga’s “ghost fork” has accounted for 39 of his 70 strikeouts through 10 starts…The pitch has a 59.1 percent whiff rate and a 28.1 percent putaway rate… Opponents have managed just six hits in 56 at-bats ending with the forkball, a .107 batting average.
ALL I DO IS WIN: Senga became the only Japanese-born pitchers to start their career 3-0 and is the fourth player in franchise history to earn the win in their first two career major league starts, joining Steven Matz, Mike Pelfrey and Gary Gentry…Additionally, he joins Kazuhisa Ishii, Hideki Irabu and Koji Uehara as the only Japanese-born pitchers to win each of their first two career major league starts…Senga fell just shy of becoming the second Mets starting pitcher ever to begin his career 4-0, a record held by Steven Matz.
