Mets Stat of the Day: July 2021

August 1st, 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Mets this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

July 31: Mets 5, Reds 4 -- All he does is get hits!
Brandon Drury's walk-off single in the 10th inning was his 11th hit in 15 at-bats since returning from the Minors in late July. In only 15 plate appearances, Drury has amassed four doubles, two home runs and five RBIs -- including the game-winning RBIs in two of the Mets' last four games.

July 30: Reds 6, Mets 2: Club record for most players
Carlos Carrasco became the 57th player to appear in a game for the Mets this season, breaking the franchise record of 56 set in 2008. And the team is not done. Trade acquisition Javier Báez will soon become the 58th player to appear, with others likely to follow. Carrasco also became the 17th different starting pitcher for the Mets, who are approaching their record of 20 set in 1967.

July 29: Braves 6, Mets 3 -- Drury finishes run 8-for-8
Brandon Drury recorded a hit in eight consecutive plate appearances before snapping the streak on a broken-bat double-play ball in the sixth inning on Thursday. He finished one shy of the franchise record for consecutive at-bats with a hit, behind José Vizcaíno (1996) and John Olerud (1998).

July 28: Mets 2, Braves 1 -- Megill continues to impress
In holding the Braves to one run, Tylor Megill slimmed his ERA to 2.04, the second-lowest by a Mets rookie through seven career starts. Nolan Ryan holds the franchise rookie record with a 1.99 ERA in his first seven starts from 1966-68. (Terry Leach produced a 1.51 ERA in his first seven career starts, but those did not all come as a rookie.)

July 27: Braves 12, Mets 5 -- Eickhoff allows 10 earned runs
Jerad Eickhoff became the seventh pitcher in Mets history to allow 10 or more earned runs in a game on Tuesday, joining a list that also includes Johan Santana, Orlando Hernandez, Al Leiter, Steve Trachsel, Pat Mahomes and Calvin Schiraldi. The team record is 11, set by Hernandez in 2006.

July 26: Braves 2, Mets 0 (Game 1); Mets 1, Braves 0 (Game 2) -- Another doubleheader split
The Mets have split nine of their MLB-high 11 doubleheaders. Their 11 double dips are their most since 1979, when they played 13 of them. They are scheduled for two additional doubleheaders this season.

July 25: Mets 5, Blue Jays 4 -- McNeil extends streak
Jeff McNeil's go-ahead, pinch-hit double in the sixth inning of Sunday's win over the Blue Jays gave him a career-best 12-game hitting streak, dating to July 7. McNeil is batting .349 over the life of the streak.

July 24: Blue Jays 10, Mets 3 -- Nimmo's OBP since 2018
Brandon Nimmo reached base safely in three of his five plate appearances, raising his on-base percentage to .402 since the start of the 2018 season. Only three qualified players have posted higher OBPs over that stretch: the Angels' Mike Trout, the Nationals' Juan Soto and the Brewers' Christian Yelich.

July 23: Mets 3, Blue Jays 0 -- Alonso moves into top 20
With two home runs, including a 450-foot, second-deck shot in the eighth inning at Citi Field, Pete Alonso passed Gary Carter to take over 20th place on the Mets' all-time home run list with 90 career blasts. Next up is Cleon Jones in 19th place, with 93 career Mets homers.

July 21: Mets 7, Reds 0 -- McNeil on a roll
Jeff McNeil singled in the third inning to bring his hitting streak to 11 games, matching his career high set back in 2018. McNeil is batting .333 (14-for-42) with seven runs scored over the life of the streak. (He later departed Wednesday's game due to muscle fatigue, but it's not considered serious.)

July 20: Reds 4, Mets 3 -- Alonso's historic start to career
Pete Alonso hit his 88th career homer in his 300th career game on Tuesday, giving him the second most in AL/NL history through the first 300 games of a career. Ryan Howard holds the record with 91 homers through his first 300 games.

July 19: Mets 15, Reds 11 (11 innings) -- Back-to-back history
The Mets on Monday became the second team in AL/NL history to hit back-to-back homers in both the first inning and extra innings of the same game, joining the 1950 Pirates in accomplishing that feat. Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil went back-to-back in the first inning of New York's 15-11 win over the Reds, before Kevin Pillar and Michael Conforto did the same in the 11th.

July 18: Mets 7, Pirates 6 -- Epic turnaround for Mets
By rallying to win after trailing by six runs, the Mets became the third team in the modern era to blow a six-run lead and lose, then come back from a six-run deficit and win the next day, according to STATS. The only other instances were the Rays on July 27-28, 2019, and the Braves on July 13-14, 1997.

July 17: Pirates 9, Mets 7 -- Megill climbs Mets' rookie ranks
Tylor Megill moved up in the Mets' rookie record books by collecting two strikeouts against the Pirates. Megill's 28 strikeouts through his first five starts tied teammate Jacob deGrom for the fifth-most strikeouts by a rookie who made their first five outings in a single season with New York.

July 16: Pirates 4, Mets 1 -- Rare combination
The Mets managed to draw eight walks, but collected only three hits. That made it the first time since April 30, 2008, where the Mets had three or fewer hits in a game where they walked eight or more times. The opponent on that occasion? Pittsburgh.

July 11: Pirates 6, Mets 5 -- Nimmo is Mets' leading man
Brandon Nimmo lined a leadoff double and scored on Francisco Lindor's two-run homer in the first inning on Sunday. Nimmo is batting .391 (9-for-23) with a .462 OBP in 26 plate appearances leading off in the first inning.

July 10: Pirates 6, Mets 2 (Game 1) and Mets 4, Pirates 2 (Game 2) -- Megill in good company
Tylor Megill logged 26 punchouts across 18 innings to start his MLB career. He joined Matt Harvey (2012), Dwight Gooden (1984) and Dick Selma (1965) for the most strikeouts by a Mets pitcher in the first four starts of a career.

July 9: Mets 13, Pirates 4 -- Power switch
Jonathan Villar homered twice, once from each side of the plate. He is the 10th Met to achieve the feat and the first since José Reyes in 2018. Villar’s second home run, from the right side, went 437 feet to the second deck at Citi Field for his longest of the season.

July 7: Mets 4, Brewers 3 (Game 1) -- More deGrom history
Jacob deGrom struck out his 1,500th batter in his 198th career start on Wednesday, becoming the second-fastest pitcher to reach 1,500 in Major League history. Yu Darvish recently set the record with his 1,500th strikeout in his 197th career game, passing Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, who needed 206 games to reach 1,500 strikeouts.

July 5: Mets 4, Brewers 2 -- Megill joins Harvey, Matz
Tylor Megill's seven-strikeout performance on Monday gave him 19 over his first three career starts. Only two Mets have ever struck out more over their first three starts -- Matt Harvey (23) and Steven Matz (20). Hall of Famer Tom Seaver is tied for fourth on the list, with 18.

July 4: Yankees 4, Mets 2 (Game 2) -- Immaculate frame vs. Mets
The Mets fell victim to an immaculate inning in the seventh of Game 2 of a seven-inning doubleheader, as Chad Green retired Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil and Jonathan Villar on three straight strikeouts and nine total pitches. It was the fourth immaculate inning against the Mets, following the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax on June 30, 1962, the Expos' Mel Rojas on May 11, 1994, and the Yankees' Ivan Nova on May 29, 2013. The Mets have thrown two immaculate innings -- Nolan Ryan on April 19, 1968, and David Cone on Aug. 30, 1991.

July 3: Mets 8, Yankees 3 -- For Mets, eight is always enough
The Mets haven't lost a game they've led by eight or more runs in nearly 41 years. Their 8-3 win over the Yankees on Saturday marked the 365th consecutive game they've won when leading by at least an eight-spot. They haven't lost one of those since Aug. 19, 1980, against the Cubs. Then again, no MLB team has blown an eight-run lead since the Reds against the Giants on May 3, 2019.

July 1: Braves 4, Mets 3 -- deGrom extends own record
Jacob deGrom started shakily, but he finished as strong as ever with 18 consecutive batters retired. He also enjoyed a stretch of strikeouts in eight consecutive at-bats, which is something he's done four times in his career. The only other pitcher in MLB history to do that more than once is Nolan Ryan (he did it twice).