NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets dropped the opening game of a three-game series to the Pirates, 14-7, last night…New York is a season-low four games below .500 and is a season-high 9.5 games behind first-place…The Mets continue their six-game road trip (0-4) to Atlanta (0-3) and Pittsburgh (0-1)…Following this series, the Mets are off on Monday before the start of a six-day, five-game homestand against the Yankees (two games) and Cardinals (three games).
LET’S NOT GO STREAKING: New York has lost seven straight games, which is the longest stretch of the season…The last time the Mets lost seven straight was in 2019, from June 23- 29…The last time the Mets had a longer losing streak was when they dropped a season-high eight games from May 31-June 9…The Mets have posted a 6.82 ERA (46 ER/60.2 IP) with 26 walks and 57 strikeouts during the streak…The team is batting .225/.286/.408 over the span…New York has been outscored 51-31 over the last seven games.
SENGA GENESIS: Kodai Senga has recorded 73 strikeouts through his first 11 career major league games, that is the third-most by a Mets pitcher in franchise history…Only Dwight Gooden (87) and Nolan Ryan (75) have more in their first 11 career starts…His 73 strikeouts are tied with Yu Darvish for the third-most by a Japanese born pitcher through 11 career games…He trails only Hideo Nomo (96) and Masahiro Tanaka (88).
FRANKLY SPEAKING: Francisco Lindor is on a five-game hitting streak…He is batting .353 (6-17) with four runs, one doubles, two home runs, three RBI, three walks with a 1.215 OPS in that span.
TAKE IT TO THE BANK: The Mets play at PNC Park for the first time this year…New York went 2-1 at the yard in 2022…Eduardo Escobar has hit .500 (23-46) with 11 runs, five doubles, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBI and four walks in 13 career games a the ballpark…He has safely hit in 10 of his 13 games in Pittsburgh…Omar Narváez has hit .351 (26-74) with 14 runs, four doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI with 11 walks and a .435 OBP and a.527 SLG in 24 games in Pittsburgh.
A STARLING IS BORN: Over his last 29 games, Starling Marte is batting .307 (31-101) with 14 runs, one double, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBI, three walks with a .346 OBP…He has safely reached base in 10 of his last 12 games…He has safely hit in six of his last seven games…Marte has played 478 career games at the ballpark and is a .290/.348/.445 career hitter with 46 home runs and 204 RBI.
WE FOUND NIMMO: Brandon Nimmo is batting .331 (48-145) with 21 runs, eight doubles, three triples, three home runs, 21 RBI, 20 walks with a .412 OBP and .490 SLG in 37 games on the road this season…His .331 road average ranks sixth in the majors…Nimmo owns a career .398 OBP on the road…That is the fourth-highest mark in the majors since the Wyoming native entered the league in 2016.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: New York has played 37 games on the road this year, the most in the majors…New York is 15-22 with a 5.137 ERA away from Citi Field in 2023…The team’s 304 strikeouts on the road are the second-most in the majors.
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Francisco Alvarez as hit 11 home runs this season…That is the third-most by a rookie in the majors and the second-most 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 12 career homers (one last year) before turning 22 years old are the most by a catcher since Iván Rodríguez had 21 from 1991-1993.
PHAM-TASTIC: Over his last 14 games, Tommy Pham is batting .324 (12-37) with six runs, four doubles, one triple, three home runs, 13 RBI, five walks with a .395 OBP, a .730 SLG and a 1.125 OPS.
COME AT THE KING, BEST NOT MISS: Omar Narváez has reached base safely in seven of his eighth games this season, batting .273 (6-22) with three runs, two RBI and two walks.
FIRST IS THE WORST: The Mets have been outscored 49-14 in the first inning this year.
FIRST IS THE BEST: The Mets are 17-6 (.739) when scoring first this season…On the other hand, the Mets are 13-28 (.317) when their opponent scores first.
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.
STEAL THIS BASE: The Mets are second in the major leagues with an 88.0% stolen base success rate this season…Starling Marte has swiped 17 bags this year, tied for sixth in the majors and tied for third 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.
RISPY BUSINESS: The Mets are hitting .242 (118-488) with runners in scoring position, ranking 11th in the NL and 21st in the majors this year…Last season, New York batted .269 (371- 1,378), good for third in the NL and fourth in the majors.
STARTING PITCHER – KODAI SENGA RHP #34
2023 STATS: 5-3, 3.75 ERA
SENGA’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 41.9% 44.3% 39.3% 95.9 mph
Forkball 21.9% 22.3% 21.4% 83.8 mph
Cutter 21.1% 24.4% 17.6% 90.2 mph
Sweeper 11.4% 5.2% 17.8% 81.9 mph
Slider 2.6% 1.9% 3.4% 85.3 mph
Curveball 1.1% 1.7% 0.4% 71.5 mph
LAST TIME OUT: Threw 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits, with five walks and three strikeouts…Did not factor into the decision in the Mets loss against Toronto on June 4…Was his first career start on four days rest.
STRIKE ‘EM OUT: Senga has 73 strikeouts through his first 11 career major league games, the fourth-most by a Met…Only Dwight Gooden (87), Nolan Ryan (81) and Matt Harvery (80) have more in their first 11 career starts.
SHUT ‘EM OUT: On May 30 against the Phillies, Senga 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.
PUTTING THE K IN FORK: Senga’s “ghost fork” has accounted for 39 of his 73 strikeouts through 11 starts…The pitch has a 58.8 percent whiff rate and a 26.9 percent putaway rate… Opponents have managed just seven hits in 58 at-bats ending with the forkball, a .121 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.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES: Snapped their brief two-game losing streak with last night’s win…Are 5-2 on their homestand against the Cardinals (3-0), A’s (1-2) and Mets (1-0)… Have had four separate winning streaks of at least four games this season, including a season-high seven-game winning streak from 4/17-23…Are back in first place today for the second time this month (also following the team’s win Monday vs. Oakland).
CHASING 2000: Andrew McCutchen comes into today just one hit shy of 2000 in his career (his first career hit came in his big league debut against Mike Pelfrey of the Mets on June 4, 2009)…McCutchen has recorded 1514 of his 1999 hits with the Pirates…McCutchen’s 1514 hits with Pittsburgh ranks 12th in team history…Hall-of-Famer Roberto Clemente is first with 3000 while Tommy Leach is 11th (1603).
ABOUT TODAY’S STARTER: Johan Oviedo gets the start this afternoon in the middle game of this three-game series…Oviedo allowed three runs (2er) in a career-high tying 7.0 innings in his last start Monday night against the A’s (he was in line for the win but came away with a no-decision)…Beginning with his outing on May 12, Oviedo has recorded a 2.57 ERA (28.0ip/8er), which ranks ninth in the National League.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST: The Pirates have scored at least 10 runs in a game on seven occasions this season…That’s tied with the Dodgers for the second-most among all National League teams this season…The only National League team to score at least 10 runs in a game more than seven times this season are the Cubs, doing so eight times…Texas has scored at least 10 runs a MLB-leading 16 times this year.
CENTER OF ATTENTION: Jack Suwinski doubled, singled and homered in each of his final three at-bats on Friday, giving him 69 total bases as a center fielder this season (the fifth-most in the National League at that position)…Suwinski’s double off New York’s Zach Muckenhirn in the fourth inning was also the second-hardest hit ball (114.4 miles per hour) by a Pirate this season…Oneil Cruz’ exit velocity of 115.8 miles on his groundout against Michael Kopech of the White Sox on April 9 is the hardest hit by a Pirate this year.
GIMME FIVE: Ke’Bryan Hayes has hits in five straight and eight of his last nine at-bats…Last night Hayes matched his career high in both hits (also September 26, 2020, at Cleveland) and RBI (also June 2, 2023, vs. St. Louis)…The last Pirate to record a hit in more than five straight at-bats was also Hayes, doing so in eight straight from September 25-27, 2020.
LIVING IN A HAYES: Ke’Bryan Hayes has hit safely in each of his last eight games, going 19-for-34 with three doubles, two triples, two home runs and 11 RBI…It’s the longest active hitting streak in the National League and third-longest in MLB behind Oakland’s Ramon Laureano (10 games) and Cleveland’s Josh Naylor (nine games)…Hayes leads all of MLB in both total bases (28) and hits (17) this month…Arizona’s Corbin Carroll ranks second in total bases (27) while Miami’s Luis Arraez is second in hits (16).
CARLOS SANTANA’S HITS: Carlos Santana connected for his fourth homer of the year on Friday, which was also the 282nd of his career…Santana’s 282 home runs are the most among all active switch hitters…Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez ranks second with 202, while Francisco Lindor of the Mets is third (196).
NOTHING BUNT HITS: Ji Hwan Bae recorded his fifth bunt of the season last night during Pittsburgh’s five-run third inning… Bae is tied with Cincinnati’s TJ Friedl for the most bunts this season in MLB…Prior to Bae, the last Pirate to have more than five bunt base hits in a season was Starling Marte with six in 2017.
STARTING PITCHER – 24 – RHP JOHAN OVIEDO
JOHAN OVIEDO: The 25-year-old righthander is making his 13th start…He was in line for the win (7.0ip/3r) but had a no-decision in his last start in a 5-4 last at-bat win Monday vs. Oakland.
vs. NEW YORK (NL): 0-2 in three career starts…Went 0-2 in two starts in 2022, losing a 10-0 decision (1.2ip/4r) to Jacob deGrom in game two of a doubleheader at PNC Park on 9/7 and coming away with a no-decision (4.0ip/3r) on 9/18 at Citi Field…He also allowed four runs in 4.0 innings while losing a 7-2 decision on 5/5/21 as a member of the Cardinals.
