Reyes makes history with 2 HRs in defeat
WASHINGTON — Day after day, year after year, decade after decade, the Mets experience arguably more run-ins with wackiness than any other professional sports outfit. This week at Nationals Park, the spinner turned to Jose Reyes.
The Mets’ veteran didn’t start either game here, yet by the end of the Mets’ 5-3 loss to their divisional rivals Wednesday afternoon, he had carved a remarkable niche in baseball history.
Never before in the game’s modern era had a player given up two home runs in one game and then hit two home runs in the very next game. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Hall of Famer Cap Anson of the Chicago White Sox had turned the trick in 1884, but on Wednesday Reyes became the first to do it since.
Sing it with The Post now: That’s so Mets.
“I didn’t even know that,” Reyes said, smiling. “It feels very good, but still, we lost the game after a tough loss [Tuesday] night. It would’ve been better if we came out with a win today, but it didn’t happen.”
Yeah, whatever; the Mets stink and are going nowhere. At least Reyes registered an 18-ish hour stretch he won’t forget.
He made his professional pitching debut in Tuesday night’s 25-4 drubbing by the Nationals, the Mets’ worst loss (by run differential) in their 57-year history. While throwing the bottom of the eighth inning, Reyes surrendered six runs, including homers by Nats Matt Adams and Mark Reynolds.
Then, on Wednesday, Reyes entered the game as an injury replacement for second baseman Phillip Evans in the second inning. He proceeded to go deep off Washington starter Tommy Milone in the third inning and then again off reliever Ryan Madson in the eighth. Just to round it out, he committed a throwing error in the bottom of the eighth to start a two-run Washington rally that proved to be the difference in the scoring.
Reyes now has three homers in what has been a miserable season for him and his club. His topsy-turvy stay in D.C. provided a respite from that, especially by checking a box on his professional bucket list when he took the mound.
Asked whether he received many text messages after his 48-pitch performance on Tuesday, Reyes said, “Oh, my God. You don’t even know. Everybody. Every friend that I have who plays in the major leagues right now and some guys from the minor leagues texted me, too.”
His friends asked, via text, “’Man, what did you do?’ I said I tried my best. At least I got out of the inning.”
That’s what Steven Matz, who started Tuesday’s debacle, said to Reyes, who was approached about taking the mound by manager Mickey Callaway during the sixth inning of the blowout. The southpaw recorded just two outs, allowing seven runs, before departing, and now he’s facing tests for tightness in his left forearm.
“You pitched better than me,” Matz told Reyes, according to Reyes. He hit better, too. While it won’t help much in the Mets’ season, it did get Reyes a special, wacky place in the game’s history books.