Ike Davis's Three Homer Game

Tonight Ike Davis hit three home runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks, in a 6-3 loss. It is the first time that Davis has hit three in a game, and on only two other occasions has he hit even two:

Rk	Date	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB
1	2012-07-28	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
2	2010-07-17	4	4	2	2	0	0	2	3	0
3	2010-05-07	4	3	3	2	0	0	2	2	1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/29/2012.

This game was just the ninth 3-homer game in Mets history (interestingly, all including Ike's have come on the road):

Rk	Player	Date	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB
1	Ike Davis	2012-07-28	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
2	Carlos Beltran	2011-05-12	5	5	3	3	0	0	3	6	0
3	Jose Reyes	2006-08-15	4	3	3	3	0	0	3	4	1
4	Edgardo Alfonzo	1999-08-30	6	6	6	6	1	0	3	5	0
5	Gary Carter	1985-09-03	4	4	3	3	0	0	3	6	0
6	Darryl Strawberry	1985-08-05	5	4	4	4	0	0	3	5	1
7	Claudell Washington	1980-06-22	5	5	3	4	0	0	3	5	0
8	Dave Kingman	1976-06-04	5	5	3	3	0	0	3	8	0
9	Jim Hickman	1965-09-03	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	4	0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/29/2012.

Finally, it should be noted that all three homers were of the solo variety, and that Ike also added a single. As a result Ike joins this list of players with at least 4 hits and 3 homers, with HR=RBI:

Rk	Player	Date	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB
1	Ike Davis	2012-07-28	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
2	Alfonso Soriano	2007-06-08	6	5	3	4	0	0	3	3	1
3	Barry Bonds	2002-08-27	5	4	4	4	1	0	3	3	1
4	Mike Cameron	2002-05-02	6	5	4	4	0	0	4	4	0
5	Ellis Burks	2001-06-19	7	7	3	5	1	0	3	3	0
6	Barry Bonds	2001-05-19	5	5	3	4	1	0	3	3	0
7	Mo Vaughn	1997-05-30	5	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	1
8	Geronimo Berroa	1996-05-22	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
9	John Valentin	1995-06-02	5	5	4	5	1	0	3	3	0
10	Tuffy Rhodes	1994-04-04	5	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	1
11	Dan Ford	1983-07-20	5	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	1
12	Eddie Murray	1980-09-14	6	6	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
13	Dave Kingman	1979-07-28	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
14	Bill Melton	1969-06-24 (2)	5	5	3	4	1	0	3	3	0
15	Duke Snider	1950-05-30 (2)	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
16	Bill Terry	1932-08-13 (1)	5	5	4	4	0	0	3	3	0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/29/2012.

Welcome to the Big Leagues, Matt Harvey!

Matt Harvey made his major league debut last night for the New York Mets. The 7th overall pick of the 2010 draft had gone 20-10 with a 3.48 ERA and a 9.8 K/9 rate in about 246 minor league innings. Yesterday, Harvey pitched 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 11, setting a new club record for a debut. He also collected 2 hits in 2 trips to the plate, the first of which was a double. Here are some quick notes about his performance:

Worst of the Worst: 1962 Mets vs. 2003 Tigers

If I were to ask the casual baseball fan who the worst team ever was, the usual response would be the 1962 New York Mets. Technically speaking they would be wrong, as that honor belongs to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, a team that lost 134 games and at one point endured a 24-game losing streak. In terms of modern baseball, however the Mets are a pretty decent choice for worst of the worst. But are they really at the very bottom? Personally, I believe that the 2003 Detroit Tigers are actually below the Mets. Read on to find out why.

My MLB All-Star Ballot

American League

C: Joe Mauer - .321/.414/.433 (He leads the AL in OBP)
1B: Paul Konerko - .333/.412/.549 (Cooled down recently but still has better numbers than Fielder)
2B: Robinson Cano - .308/.372/.580 (Is on pace for 40 HRs but only 90 RBI)
SS: Asdrubal Cabrera - .289/.373/.469 (Picking up where he left off at the AS break last year)
3B: Adrian Beltre - .333/.365/.538 (Barely beats out Miggy, who I would have picked two days ago)
OF: Josh Hamilton - .312/.375/.647 (Probably still the favorite for AL MVP)
OF: Mike Trout - .344/.402/.532 (Leads the AL in BA and SB - as a rookie; picked as write-in)
OF: Josh Willingham - .272/.384/.535 (Wanted Mark Trumbo but the ballot only has 1 write-in slot)
DH: David Ortiz - .309/.399/.628 (Leads the AL in runs, OPS, and OPS+)

National League

C: Carlos Ruiz - .364/.430/.591 (Somehow leading the NL in BA at age 33)
1B: Joey Votto - .353/.478/.643 (Easily the front-runner for NL MVP)
2B: Aaron Hill - .297/.361/.500 (Leads a very weak pack of NL second basemen)
SS: Jed Lowrie - .266/.355/.500 (Is currently on pace for 30 HRs)
3B: David Wright - .357/.449/.559 (Looking to be the 2nd straight Met to win a batting title)
OF: Andrew McCutchen - .342/.397/.586 (Where would the Pirates be without him?)
OF: Carlos Beltran - .312/.400/.582 (Leads the NL in both HR and RBI)
OF: Ryan Braun - .311/.392/.596 (Currently tied for the league lead in HR)

Early National League WAR-Stars (June 10)

C:  Carlos Ruiz, PHI; Yadier Molina, STL; A.J. Ellis, LAD;
      Jonathan Lucroy, MIL
1B: Joey Votto, CIN; Paul Goldschmidt, ARI
2B: Darwin Barney, CHC; Dan Uggla, ATL
SS: Starlin Castro, CHC; Jed Lowrie, HOU
3B: David Wright, NYM; Chase Headley, SDP
OF: Michael Bourn, ATL; Melky Cabrera, SFG; Martin Prado, ATL;
       Ryan Braun, MIL; Andre Ethier, LAD; Carlos Beltran, STL;
       Giancarlo Stanton, MIA; Matt Holliday, STL; Gregor Blanco, SFG;
       Angel Pagan, SFG
SP: Gio Gonzalez, WSN; R.A. Dickey, NYM; Stephen Strasburg, WSN;
      Johnny Cueto, CIN; Clayton Kershaw, LAD; James McDonald, PIT;
      Brandon Beachy, ATL; Lance Lynn, STL, Zack Greinke, MIL
RP: Aroldis Chapman, CIN; Matt Belisle, COL; Josh Roenicke, COL

Early American League WAR All-Stars (June 8)

C:   Matt Wieters, BAL; Carlos Santana, CLE 

1B: Paul Konerko, CHW; Prince Fielder, DET

2B: Jason Kipnis, CLE; Robinson Cano, NYY; Kelly Johnson, TOR 

SS: Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE; J.J. Hardy, BAL; Mike Aviles, BOS; 

      Sean Rodriguez, TBR; Yunel Escobar, TOR; Brendan Ryan, SEA 

3B: Brett Lawrie, TOR; Mike Moustakas, KCR; Kyle Seager, SEA 

OF: Josh Hamilton, TEX; Austin Jackson, DET; Matthew Joyce, TBR 

       Adam Jones, BAL; Mike Trout, LAA; Josh Reddick, OAK; 

       Josh Willingham, MIN; Mark Trumbo, LAA 

DH: Edwin Encarnacion, TOR 

SP: Justin Verlander, DET; Jake Peavy, CHW; Chris Sale, CHW; 

      David Price, TBR; CC Sabathia, NYY; Felipe Paulino, KCR 

RP: Pedro Strop, BAL; Jim Johnson, BAL; Scott Downs, LAA

Interesting Baseball Note for the Games of 6/3/12

Every starting pitcher yesterday got a decision (win or loss). While it is the fourth time this year that this has happened, those days were 4/1 (opening day with just two teams in action), 5/10 and 5/31 (Thursdays where there were just 7 and 3 games, respectively). Every team was in action last night, meaning thirty different SPs got decisions. This did not happen at all last year. (See after jump for the complete list)