One of the titans in Mets history is Jerry Koosman. One of the things he had said was it was a starting pitcher’s job to shut ’em out and hit ’em out. The funny thing about that is why Koosman threw 26 shutouts as a Met, he hit just two homers in his career. While Koosman did have a complete game in both games he homered, he did not shut out the opponent in either game.
In fact, when you go down the annals of Mets history, there have been only three pitchers how have homered in a game where they threw a shutout. The first was Pete Falcone in 1981, and the second was Johan Santana in 2010. That made Syndergaard the first right-handed Mets pitcher to accomplish this feat.
But as we would find out, Syndergaard accomplished something much bigger than that. He was the first Mets pitcher to win a 1-0 game where the pitcher hit a solo homer. Not only was it the first time it happened in Mets history, but it was also the first time it happened since Bob Welch accomplished the feat in 1983, almost a full decade before Syndergaard was born. In fact, there have been just seven other pitchers who have accomplished this feat since 1900.
In terms of just Mets history, this was Syndergaard’s sixth home run tying him with Tom Seaver for second on the Mets all-time pitcher home run list. It also put him one behind Dwight Gooden for the Mets career mark. With the 10 strikeouts, he moved into the top 20 on the Mets all-time strikeout list. He would also become the first Mets pitcher to hit a ball with an exit velocity of 100 MPH and throw a pitch over 100 MPH multiple times in his career.
More than any of the records or feats, this was a performance the Mets desperately needed. The tired bullpen had Edwin Diaz and Seth Lugo unavailable, and with Jeurys Familia on the Injured List, there was no obvious pick to close out the game. With the Mets offense sputtering, the team needed someone to step up and drive in a run. With the team standing at .500 about the embark on a difficult road trip, they needed a win.
Even though this was just a day game in the beginning of May, this is a performance Mets fans will always remember. It is a moment which will forever live in baseball history. Like with Greg Maddux and “The Maddux”, this is a feat which could only be accomplished by just a few players in baseball history. That is why this is is the Neon Moment of the Week!
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