MLB

Noah Syndergaard Made History With a Two-Home Run Game Last Night

John Stolnis  —  @johnstolnis May 12th, 2016
New York's young hurler used a different weapon to take down L.A. How historic was his performance?

In the Marvel comics, Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder, is the only one deemed worthy enough to wield the hammer of power, Mjolnir.

And now it seems pretty clear that no one should be able to pick up Noah Syndergaard's Louisville Slugger, either.

In addition to pitching a terrific game in Los Angeles, Syndergaard provided all of New York's offense in a 4-3 win, by homering twice and knocking in all four runs.

And these weren't exactly wall-scrapers, either.


Syndergaard's multi-homer game was the 66th by a pitcher since 1919, according to Baseball Reference, and the first since Arizona's Micah Owings went yard twice back in 2007.


And while Syndergaard's four runs batted in were mighty impressive, they did not come close to the record for pitchers in a single game. Atlanta's Tony Cloninger (1966) and Boston's Henry Staley (1893) hold the record with nine RBI in a game by a pitcher.

He has always been a decent hitter for a pitcher, owning a career slash line of .176/.222/.255 coming into last night with one career tater already on his resume.

And of course, Syndergaard's multi-homer game wasn't even the most impressive offensive performance by a Mets pitcher on their current road trip.


Syndergaard admitted as much after the game.


The man known as "Thor" was also quite electric on the mound, going eight innings and giving up two runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts. But he made most of his noise at the plate and, in the process, established an elite club of one.


But Syndergaard's performance doesn't match one of the all-time greatest single-game performances by any pitcher, pulled off by the Philadelphia Phillies' Rick Wise in 1971 against the Reds, when he smacked two homers and pitched a no-hitter in the same game.


However, let's not forget that, despite some impressive performances at the plate by MLB pitchers this year, they are a largely uninspiring group at the plate, hitting a collective .137/.163/.179 with 7 homers and a wRC+ of -11 going into Wednesday night's action.

Of course, there are some teams with offensive players who are having trouble in their own right.


So, bad news Mets opponents. Not only do you have to fear the incredible arm of Noah Syndergaard, but also it now appears you have to be terrified of his hammer, too.