New York, NY (WFAN) -- The Mets road trip continues as they head to someplace old, Wrigley Field in Chicago and someplace new, Nationals Stadium in Washington D.C., before they head home for a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves.
New York takes on the Cubs Monday night and Tuesday afternoon. In 2007, the Mets took two of the three games they played against the Cubs at Wrigley, capping off the series win with Tom Glavine's 300th career win on August 5th and five of the seven games overall vs. Chicago. The Mets will play just these two games at Wrigley in 2008, their fewest ever at the "friendly confines". From 1962 thru 1992, New York played nine times a season against the Cubs at the North Side of Chicago.
David Wright hit his 100th career home run during the Mets last home stand, becoming the 9th player to hit 100 homers as a Met. Here is a list of the eight Mets to hit the century mark and the pitchers they hit that milestone home run against:
- Ed Kranepool vs. Joe Kerrigan/Montreal at Shea 8/3/76
- Dave Kingman vs. John Montefusco/at Atlanta 8/18/81
- Darryl Strawberry vs. Ed Whitson/at San Diego 8/27/86
- Howard Johnson vs. Bryn Smith/Montreal at Shea 6/21/89
- Kevin McReynolds vs. Ernie Camacho/St. Louis at Shea 9/11/90
- Todd Hundley vs. Kevin Ritz/at Colorado 5/5/97
- Mike Piazza vs. Kevin Tapani/Chicago at Shea 4/23/00
- Edgardo Alfonzo vs. James Baldwin/at L.A. 8/18/01
- David Wright vs. Jeff Suppan/Milwaukee at Shea 4/13/08
The Mets head to our nation's capital Wednesday for a two-game set with Washington at its brand new ballpark: Nationals Stadium. New York did well against the Nats in the three seasons at RFK Stadium, winning 21 of the 28 games they played there, including six out of the nine meetings in 2007.
Last week, the Mets swept the three-game series against the Nationals at Shea. In the series finale, Washington's John Lannan, a Long Beach native, struck out 11 in his six innings of work in an eventual 3-2, 14-inning Met win. The 11 K's are a handful short of the best strikeout performance ever by a Mets' opponent at Shea. On October 2nd 1965, Chris Short of the Phillies fanned 18 Mets in a game and didn't get a win-in fact, nobody did. Short's 18 strikeouts came in 15 innings pitched in a game that ended in a 0-0 tie which was called due to the curfew after the 18th inning. The Mets' starter, Rob Gardner matched Short with 15 shutout innings of his own. On September 10th, 1969, the Expos Mike Wegener had 15 strikeouts against the Mets in 11 innings of work in the Mets 3-2, 12-inning victory. That game is better remembered as the one in which New York moved into first place in the N.L. East for the first time in club history and the Shea Stadium scoreboard proclaimed "Look Who's Number One…" with the updated standings after that win in the opening game of the twi-night doubleheader.
The record for most strikeouts by a Mets' opponent in a nine inning game at Shea is also 15, set by Burt Hooten of the Cubs on September 15, 1971. Hooton, making just his 2nd major league start, got the win for Chicago 3-2, going the distance and allowing just three hits. {Thanks to both Baseball Digest and Retrosheet.org for the fun facts and figures on the Mets 100 homer list and the strikeout performances}
On Friday night, the Mets return home to begin a three-game series with the Braves. Atlanta took five of the nine games played at Shea in 2007, the first time since 2002 that New York lost the season series of home games at home to their longtime rival. The Mets will not face Tom Glavine, who they also missed in the rain-shortened two-game set two weeks ago in Atlanta. The 42-year old lefty was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his career with a strained right hamstring he suffered during the first inning of his April 13th start vs. the Nationals. The Mets could, however, face another one of their former pitchers: Mike Hampton. Hampton went on the D.L. with a strained pectoral muscle that he injured while warming up prior to what would have been his first start in 32 months, April 3rd against the Pirates. The last time Hampton faced anyone was August 19, 2005 vs. San Diego but two starts prior to that on July 17th was the last time Hampton pitched against the Mets. Hampton, who was also coming off a D.L. stint that day, lasted just two innings, allowing five runs and seven hits in an 8-1 Braves loss at Shea.
