Despite losing 3 out of 4 to the division rival Washington Nationals, the New York Mets did achieve a significant milestone as they enter the All Star break. With two home runs on Sunday, the Mets set a new franchise record for most homers in the first-half with 122, besting the previous mark of 120 by the 2006 club.
It was Jose Reyes who accounted for both homers on Sunday, a pair of solo shots but the Mets lost 3-2 to the Nats regardless to lose the series. After the game, manager Terry Collins wasn’t too thrilled about his team’s home run achievement.
“In the second half, if we have another record of home runs, hopefully we are 20 games above .500 because of it,” Collins said. “Team numbers are nice when you’re winning. They’re great. But they don’t amount to much if you’re not winning.”
The Mets have scored 53.1 percent of their runs via the long ball this season to lead the major leagues and by a significant margin. While it has been beneficial at times, it has also led to a very streaky and inconsistent offense that struggles to score runs without the long ball.
While home runs are always big and can dramatically change a game like it did on Thursday when the Mets came back twice to win it 9-7 on four home runs, if they don’t hit home runs, they usually lose.
Part of that is the team’s futility to drive runs home with runners in scoring position. The Mets rank an MLB worst 30th with a .213 average with RISP. And despite ranking fifth with 122 home runs, the Mets rank 28th in the majors in runs scored.
Still, records are records and the Mets did set a new first half record of most homers in franchise history.
Leading the charge is Yoenis Cespedes who has 21 home runs, followed by Curtis Granderson and Neil Walker who are tied with 15 homers each. The three of them have accounted for 42 percent of the team’s home runs.
