First of all, the air conditioner commercial:
And now, the Starling Marte home run chain as he and the Mets both embark on what hopefully will be a happier second half of the season…
Starling Marte hit his first home run off Dallas Keuchel, 7/26/12
Dallas Keuchel gave up his first home run to Asdrúbal Cabrera, 6/23/12
Asdrúbal Cabrera hit his first home run off Jason Hammel, 8/18/07
Hammel connects us Brandon Nimmo’s home run chain, as that’s who gave up the Mets leadoff man’s first home run, in 2016. Hammel was with the Devil Rays, in their final season as such, and Cabrera was a Cleveland rookie.
Cabrera moved on to Washington in 2014, then the Rays in 2015, before joining the Mets ahead of the 2016 season. Hammel, meanwhile, pitched one season for the (non-Devil) Rays before a couple of decent years in Colorado, Baltimore for 2012-13, and then the Cubs as a free agent in 2014. Traded to Oakland later that year in the Jeff Samardzija deal, Hammel returned to Chicago the following winter when he returned to free agency… and that brought him, as the owner of a World Series ring, to Flushing with the Cubs on July 1, 2016.
Jacob deGrom retired six of the first seven Cubs hitters that Friday night, and after Hammel set down the side in order in the bottom of the first, the Mets gave their ace a lead on back-to-back homers by James Loney and Cabrera. Loney’s two-run double the following inning made it a 4-0 game before Kris Bryant got the Cubs’ first hit, a homer off deGrom in the fourth.
Nimmo busted that game open with his first dinger, a three-run shot, in the bottom of the fourth, but the Cubs stuck with Hammel to give up two more bombs — a leadoff dinger to Yoenis Céspedes in the fifth, and then Cabrera’s second of the game, a two-run blast.
That was the last time that Cabrera got to face Hammel, against whom he had not homered since his first at-bat against him in 2007, having gone 1-for-6 with a double in the years between. It was also Nimmo’s only time facing Hammel. But Loney? Loney owned that dude — 16-for-44, four homers, 12 RBI, and a 1.083 OPS with only two strikeouts. Nobody had more hits against Hammel than Loney, and only Edwin Encarnación hit more homers, with five in 40 plate appearances.
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We Can Pod It Out 155: Get Back