Ultimate Mets Database: Game of April 25, 1996

Dave VW
July 10, 2023
As best as I can tell, Vizcaino's 9 straight hits still stands as the Mets record. He's a guy I've learned to develop a new respect for after re-watching these mid-90s games: He was a soft-spoken professional, moved from SS to 2B to accommodate Rey Ordonez, but didn't let the position change affect him at the plate, nor was he bothered by losing occasional playing time to Edgardo Alfonzo.

Vizcaino also played a part in the Mets' 8-run 7th inning during this game, which was their highest-scoring inning of the season (and, according to the WWOR broadcast, the highest-scoring 7th inning in the team's history to that point). The Mets first 8 batters reached base during the inning, highlighted by home runs from Brent Mayne (his only as a Met), Lance Johnson (his first as a Met) and Butch Huskey (his first of the season). It was Vizcaino's triple that represented his 9th straight hit and chased starter Alan Benes from the game, who prior to the 7th had only given up 3 hits -- all to Vizcaino.

Now staked to a 9-3 lead, Mark Clark was allowed to go the distance, notching the first of 10 complete games Mets pitching would record in 1996. It was his first win as a Met, even though he had pitched well during his first 3 starts but ran into some bad luck. The Mets narrowly avoided further misfortune in the 8th inning when Rey Ordonez, while making a fancy diving catch on a pop fly by Gary Gaetti, accidentally shinned Bernard Gilkey in the face. Somehow, despite the collision looking pretty nasty, no one got hurt.

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