The New York Mets have gotten great pitching so far this season, and it’s something that has come from start to finish.
On Thursday, it came from Bartolo Colon and Jeurys Familia, as the Mets extended the win streak to a franchise record-tying 11 games by completing a sweep of the Atlanta Braves.
This is the fifth time in team history that the Mets have won 11 straight games. Two of the other instances came in the World Series-winning seasons of 1969 and 1986. Thursday’s win came on the 53rd anniversary of the first win in franchise history.
The Mets have now completed their first 10-0 homestand in franchise history. The Elias Sports Bureau notes it’s the seventh unbeaten homestand with at least 10 wins in modern major league history (since 1900) and the first since the 1991 Twins went 11-0 on a homestand on their way to winning the World Series.
With the win, Colon improved to 4-0 this season. He’s the first 40-year-old to start a season 4-0 since Roger Clemens in 2004.
Familia earned his eighth save in eight opportunities (all during the win streak) since taking the closer role after Jenrry Mejia was put on the disabled list and then suspended for violating baseball’s steroids policy. What has been impressive for Familia is his outings have been low stress. He has put more than one man on base only once in 10 appearances this season, and that was in a non-save situation.
Wins, not walks
The Mets pitching staff is off to a remarkable start with regard to limiting walks. They have 131 strikeouts and 31 walks in 141 innings pitched this season.
The 31 walks are the fewest through 16 games in team history (the previous mark was 37 in 2001) and 21 fewer than the team allowed in 2014. The 131 strikeouts rank third in franchise history and trail only the 1990 (145) and 2006 (132) teams.
Colon has 23 strikeouts and one walk in four starts. Amazingly, that’s not the best strikeout-to-walk ratio on his team, as it is surpassed by Matt Harvey’s 24 strikeouts and one walk.
Meanwhile, Mets hitters have 61 walks this season -- 30 more than their pitchers have allowed.
Familia matters
Familia had a rough spring training but has been dominant since moving into his new role. He comes at hitters with a fastball ranging from 95 to 97 mph and a slider typically in the high 80s.
Familia used that slider to notch a pair of strikeouts on Wednesday. Opposing hitters are 1-for-9 with seven strikeouts against that pitch this season.
The Mets' bullpen was terrific in pitching 7 1/3 scoreless innings in a three-game sweep of the Braves.
Key to victory: Shutting down Freeman
After years of Freddie Freeman pummeling the Mets, the roles might be reversed this season. Freeman went 1-for-11 with five strikeouts in the series. He is 3-for-23 against the Mets this season.
Freeman hit .325 with 51 RBIs in 55 games against the Mets from 2012 to 2014.