Mets win 11th straight, match longest winning streak in club history
Despite a series of early-season injuries thrown their way, the New York Mets are the best team in baseball and taking down club records one game at a time.
The Mets matched their longest winning streak in franchise history Thursday, topping the Atlanta Braves 6-3 to secure their 11th straight victory.
It marks the fourth time the organization has reeled off 11 consecutive, and the first since 1990. New York also won 11 in a row in 1986, the last time the club won the World Series.
Thank you #Mets fans for an unbelievable homestand!! #Perfect #Whiff #MetsWIN #11InARow pic.twitter.com/98PkOT2BmP
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 23, 2015
Thursday's victory helped New York complete a three-game sweep of the division-rival Braves and accomplish something no team has done in over 20 years.
The Mets became the first club since 1991 - and the seventh in the modern era - to go undefeated on a homestand of 10 or more games, according to ESPN Stats and Info. New York is a perfect 10-0 at Citi Field.
Bartolo Colon became the first pitcher to reach four wins, throwing six innings of three-run ball with five strikeouts. It marked the third straight start Colon has struck out five and walked no one.
"He is the epitome of what pitching is all about," manager Terry Collins said of Colon.
Related: Colon chases down Pierzynski on basepaths
Daniel Murphy went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and gave New York an early 3-0 lead with a bases-clearing double off Braves starter Julio Teheran.
The Braves scored one in the second and tied it up in the fourth before the Mets took the lead for good in the fifth.
A 13-3 stretch to start the season has not been easy for the battle-tested, red-hot Mets.
New York lost right-hander Zack Wheeler to Tommy John surgery, closer Jenrry Mejia to a performance-enhancing drug suspension and is also without third baseman David Wright and catcher Travis d'Arnaud.
The Mets will travel across town looking to set a franchise-best winning streak when they visit the New York Yankees in the Bronx on Friday. Jacob deGrom will get the ball opposite Michael Pineda.
The Yankees, meanwhile, enter the contest as winners of three straight and six of their last seven.