NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets returned to action on Tuesday night and fell to the Chicago Cubs, 7-2…The defeat snapped a five-game winning streak…The Mets have won six of their last nine games…New York continues a six-game road trip (0-1) to Chicago-NL (0-1) and Colorado (three games).
HOMER HAPPY: After the Mets went five straight games without a home run, the Mets have homered in season-high seven straight contests, hitting 14 home runs in that span…The Mets are 20-10 when hitting a home run this season and 9-5 when hitting multiple homers.
18, I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT: Pete Alonso has homered in five of his last seven games…Overall, he has hit 18 home runs this year, which leads the majors leagues…His 43 RBI are fourth in The Show and lead the National League…Alonso ranks 12th in franchise history with 423 career RBI…Next up is Kevin McReynolds (456) and Keith Hernandez (468)…Alonso has appeared in 49 games this year…See the chart below for the fastest Met to reach 20 home runs in a season and the fastest to 50 RBI…Courtesy of Elias.
NAME YEAR GAMES
Dave Kingman 1976 51
Mike Piazza 2000 59
Pete Alonso 2019 59
Darryly Strawberry 1987 63
Carlson Beltran 2006 65
Courtesy of Elias
NAME YEAR GAMES
Carlos Beltran 2006 53
Pete Alonso 2022 55
Todd Hundley 1996 57
Mike Piazza 2000 57
Gary Carter 1986 61
Bernard Gilkey 1996 61
FASTEST METS TO 2O HOME RUNS – FASTEST TO 50 RBI
DROVE TO CHICAGO ALL THINGS KNOW: According to Sportsradar, Pete Alonso has homered in seven career games at Wrigley Field…It ties him with Mark McGwire and Prince Fielder for the secondmost HR all-time in a player’s first 12 games at the ballpark, trailing only Carlos Beltran’s eight home runs…Beltran’s eight homers are the most through a players first 13 games at the yard.
FOGO POWER: Eduardo Escobar is 12-32 (.375) with a triple, three home runs, six RBI, five runs scored and a 1.147 OPS over his last 14 games…
ROAD WARRIOR: Brandon Nimmo collected three hits last night… He is now batting .355 (39-110) with 13 runs, eight doubles, two home runs, 15 RBI, 11 walks with a .413 OBP and .482 SLG in 28 games on the road this season…His .355 road average ranks fourth in the majors…He has safely hit in seven straight road games, batting .448 (13-29) with three runs, two doubles, four RBI, two walks with a .986 OPS in that span.
SENGA GENESIS: Kodai Senga struck out career-high 12 in his last start…It was the first double-digit-strikeout game by a Mets pitcher this season…It was the most strikeouts by a Japanese-born pitcher in Mets history and the first double-digit strikeout game by a Mets rookie since Tylor Megill struck out 10 vs. the Yankees on September 10, 2021…The right has 55 strikeouts through his first eight games of his career, the third-most by a Met…Only Nolan Ryan (64) and Dwight Gooden (59) have recorded more…Senga’s 55 strikeouts ranks fourth among Japanese born pitchers, behind Masahiro Tanaka (66), Hideo Nomo (59) and Yu Darvish (58) through a players first eight games.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: New York has played 28 games on the road this year, the most in the majors…New York is 13-15 with a 4.73 ERA away from Citi Field in 2023…The team’s 238 strikeouts on the road is the most in the National League and tied with the Twins for the most in the majors.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: The Mets continue a three-game set at Wrigley Field tonight…New York took three of four in the Windy City in 2022…Franciso Lindor is a lifetime .333 (18-54) hitter with nine runs, four doubles, two home runs, eight RBI and 12 walks with a .455 OBP and a .519 SLG in 14 games at the ballpark…Brandon Nimmo has hit .333/.378/.476 in 11 career games at the ballpark… In 67 career contests, Starling Marte has hit .269/.322/.454 with 44 runs, 12 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, 34 RBI and 17 walks.
THREE NIGHTS IN CHICAGO: The Mets are set to play three consecutive night games in Chicago…The last did that from April 20- 23, 2021…Prior to that, the team played three straight night games at Wrigley Field from September 12-14, 2017.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT: Jeff McNeil has hit safely in each of his last eight starts, batting .400 (12-30) in that span with five runs, two walks and three RBI…He has 178 multi-hit games in his career, which is 19th all-time in Mets history…Wally Backman is next with 179 multi-hit contests.
ATTABOY ALVAREZ: Francisco Alvarez is batting .271 (16-59) with four doubles, five home runs, 10 RBI, five walks with a .338 OBP and a .593 SLG against right-handed pitching this year…In 16 games in May, Alvarez is batting .271 (13-48) with seven runs, four doubles, four home runs, nine RBI, six walks with a .968 OPS.
EIGHT IS GREAT: The Mets are 22-0 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 117 games when ahead after eight, the longest active streak in MLB…It’s the tied for the longest streak in franchise history….From October 1, 1990- September 2, 1992, the Mets also won 117 straight games when ahead after eight innings.
D-FENCE: The Mets have committed 17 errors in 49 games this year… That gives the team a .990 fielding percentage….Their .990 fielding percentage ranks fifth in the majors and third in the NL…Their 17 errors are the second-fewest committed in the Senior Circuit…Only the Padres (12) have committed fewer.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – KODAI SENGA RHP #34
2023 STATS: 4-2, 3.77 ERA
SENGA’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 41.3% 41.5% 41.1% 95.9 mph
Forkball 21.8% 24.4% 18.9% 83.7 mph
Sweeper 14.5% 6.6% 23.1% 81.8 mph
Cutter 21.2% 25.7% 16.4% 90.2 mph
Curveball 0.9% 1.3% 0.6% 70.9 mph
Slider 0.3% 0.5% – 82.2 mph
LAST TIME OUT: Set a career-high with 12 strikeouts on May 17 in the Mets 8-7 win against Tampa Bay…Threw 6.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits with three walks…His 12 strikeouts marked the most strikeouts by a Japanese-born pitcher in Mets history…Senga was the first Met this season to record double-digit strikeouts in an outing.
STRIKE ‘EM OUT: Senga has 55 strikeouts through his first eight career major league games, the third-most in franchise history behind Nolan Ryan (64) and Dwight Gooden (59).
PUTTING THE K IN FORK: Senga’s “ghost fork” has accounted for 30 of his 55 strikeouts through eight starts…The pitch has a 58.8 percent whiff rate and a 27.8 percent putaway rate…Opponents have managed just five hits in 44 at-bats ending with the forkball, a .114 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.
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
The Cubs and Mets play six games spanning two series … following this three-game set at Wrigley Field the teams will meet for three games at
Citi Field, Aug. 7-9 … Chicago has won the last five season series against the Mets dating to 2017.
AN ALL AROUND GOOD EVENING: Drew Smyly improved to 5-1 with two runs in 5.0 innings, four relievers (Jeremiah Estrada, Julian Merryweather, Mark Leiter Jr., and Michael Fulmer) combined for 4.0 shutout innings and the team received home runs from Seiya Suzuki, Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel as the Cubs last night defeated the New York Mets 7-2 in the series opener of this three-game set.
Dating to May 9 vs. the Cardinals, the Cubs have hit seven home runs and scored 21 runs in their last three games at Wrigley Field … in 23 games at the Friendly Confines, Chicago has averaged 4.91 runs (113 runs scored) – that’s the fifth-best home average among N.L. clubs.
Cubs pitching has posted a 3.59 ERA (85 ER/213.0 IP) in its 23 home games, the third-best mark in the N.L. (Dodgers, 2.92 and Phillies (3.44) and ninth in the majors.
‘STRO SHOW AT HOME: Tonight’s Cubs starter Marcus Stroman has posted a 2.02 ERA (11 ER/49.0 IP) in his last eight starts at Wrigley Field dating to Sept. 16 of last season, recording quality starts in seven of those outings … he’s walked 15, struck out 49 and recorded a 0.96 WHIP in that span at Wrigley Field. CURRENT EVENTS AND LOOKING AHEAD: Tonight marks the second contest of a nine-game homestand that continues Friday with the first of three games against the Reds before Chicago hosts the Rays beginning Monday.
Following play on April 21, Chicago was 12-7 and 1.5 games behind the division lead … since, the club is 9-19 and enters tonight 4.5 games behind the division-leading Brewers, sitting at 26-22.
Once this homestand concludes on May 31, the Cubs then play 15 of 21 games on the road through June 25, culminating with the two-game series in London against the Cardinals, June 24-25.
I MEAN, WHAT CAN YOU SAY?: Christopher Morel has hit safely and scored a run in each of his first 12 games since he made his season debut May 9 following his recall from Triple-A Iowa … he’s hit .367 (18-for-49) with three doubles, nine homers, 15 RBI and 17 runs scored with Chicago, and has homered in each of his last five games.
Morel is just the second Cub since 1901 to record a hit and score a run in at least 12-straight games in a single season, joining Hank Sauer (12 games in 1954).
Morel’s stretch of 12-straight games with a run scored is second-longest in franchise history since 1900, joining Hank Sauer (13 games in 1954).
Morel is one of four players who have hit nine or more homers within their first 12 games of the season, joining Luis Gonzalez (9 HR in 2001), Larry Walker (9 HR in 1997) and Mike Schmidt (11 HR in 1976).
IN CASE YOU NEED IT: Christopher Morel has homered in each of his last five games, tying a franchise mark done by Sammy Sosa (June 3-8, 1998), Ryne Sandberg (Aug. 7-11, 1989) and Hack Wilson (July 3-7, 1928) … the last MLB player to homer in at least six-consecutive games is the Angels Mike Trout, who went deep in seven-straight games just last season, Sept. 4-12 … the last N.L. player to homer in more than five-consecutive games? … Cincinnati’s Joey Votto had a seven-game run in July of 2021.
CROSSING THE PLATE: The Cubs have scored at least one run in each of their first 47 games in 2023, and in 57-straight games dating to Sept. 25 of last season … this 57-game run is the club’s longest since scoring in 70-consecutive contests from Aug. 12, 2021-May 4 of last year.
The team has scored in each of its first 47 games to start a season for just the second time in the modern era as the 1995 club scored in each of its first 47 games … prior to 1995, the team opened a campaign with a longer run-scoring streak in 1898, plating a run in each of its first 91 contests that year.
IN THE FIELD: Dansby Swanson has gone 30-straight games since April 20 without committing an error (100 TC) and his seven defensive runs saved lead major league shortstops, just ahead of Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco (6), according to Fangraphs.
Seiya Suzuki on Sunday threw out Nick Castellanos at third base on a fly ball to right field … Statcast tracked the throw at 95.4 mph, Suzuki’s second-fastest throw of the season … he used a 97.4 mph toss to the plate May 8 vs. St. Louis to keep Willson Contreras from tagging from third base.
AT THE PLATE: The Cubs rank third in the majors in OBP (.339), sixth in walks drawn (179), seventh in OPS (.768) and eighth in average .262 (424-for-1,620) and slugging (.430).
Ian Happ’s .407 OBP is fifth in the N.L. and seventh in the majors … his 35 walks are tied for third-most in baseball.
Nico Hoerner’s .296 batting average is 19th in the N.L. while his 12 stolen bases are tied for fifth in the Senior Circuit.
Seiya Suzuki has a .400 average (14-for-35) with a 1.004 OPS against lefthanded pitching … Suzuki has hit .326 (15-for-46) with four doubles, five homers, nine walks, a .429 OBP and a .739 slugging mark in his last 13 games since May 8.
ABOUT SOME ARMS: Lefty Justin Steele ranks third in the N.L. with a 2.20 season ERA and his six victories are tied for the most … Drew Smyly leads the N.L. with a 0.96 WHIP and is tied for third with a .202 batting average against.
Including a scoreless inning last night, Jeremiah Estrada has spun 8.0 shutout frames in seven outings spanning two stints with Chicago … he has allowed three hits, walked five and struck out 12 with a 1.00 WHIP.
Julian Merryweather has posted a 1.42 ERA (2 ER/12.2 IP) in his last 13 relief appearances since April 17 … he has averaged 12.08 strikeouts per 9.0 innings in that stretch (17 SO in 12.2 IP).
Starting Pitcher – #0 RHP Marcus Stroman (3-4, 3.05)
Last Time Out
Marcus earned his fourth win of the season, tossing 6.0 innings of one-run ball while allowing three hits and two walks … was his fifth outing of the year tossing at least 6.0 innings while allowing one earned run or fewer … has allowed two or fewer earned runs in four of his last five starts … recorded his MLB-high-tying eighth quality start.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
5/19 @PHI W, 10-1 6.0 3 1 1 2 4 88-53 8-1
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 2-3 2.79 5 5 29.0 20 9 9 10 31
Road 1-1 3.33 5 5 27.0 23 10 10 11 20
AVG vs. LHB: .208 (21-for-101) / AVG vs. RHB: .214 (22-for-103)
Marcus is scheduled to make his team-high 11th start of the 2023 season tonight, his sixth at home … dating to Aug. 30, 2022, has allowed two runs or fewer in 13 of his last 17 starts, pitching to a 2.66 ERA (29 ER/98.0 IP), the fourth-lowest ERA in the majors during that span (min. 17 GS) … his eight quality starts are tied for the major league lead this season and his 17 such outings since the All-Star break oflast season are tied for fourth-most in the MLB.
Recorded his 1,000th career strikeout April 23 vs. Los Angeles (N.L.), retiring Freddie Freeman looking in the third inning.
Became the second Cubs starting pitcher since 1901 (also Jake Arrieta, 2016) with three outings of at least 6.0 scoreless innings in the team’s first 16 games.
Became the third Cubs starting pitcher since 1901 to allow two or fewer combined runs over his first four starts of a season (also Steve Stone, 1976; Jason Hammel, 2016).
Posted a 14.0-inning scoreless streak to begin the season, the fourth-longest by a Cubs pitcher since 1901.
Made his third career Opening Day start March 30 vs. Milwaukee (0 ER/6.0 IP), earning the win … improved to 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA (3 ER/21.0 IP) in his three career Opening Day starts.
Made two starts for Team Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, posting a 3.00 ERA (3 ER/9.0 IP).
