Remembering Mets History (2008) Carlos Delgado Sets Club Record With Nine RBIs

Friday June 27, 2008: On this afternoon, the Mets played a day/night cross town subway series double header. The afternoon game was a make-up from a previous rain out. 

At this point, the Mets were hanging around the .500 mark, three games out of first place. Ten days earlier they had fired manager Willie Randolph replacing him with bench coach Jerry Manuel.

Carlos Delgado was hitting some HRs but having a tough year entering this game he was batting .229 & on a stretch where he was 2-22.

In the first game of today's split double header, in the Bronx, Mike Pelfrey (4-6) went up against Dan Giese (1-2). 

In the top of the 1st, Luis Castill drew a one out walk then stole second base. David Wright singled to left field bring in Luis with the first Mets run.

In the bottom of the 1st, Mike Pelfrey struck out the first two batters but walked Bobby Abreu, then gave up singles to Alex Rodriguez & Jason Giambi tying the game.

In the top of the 3rd, Luis Castillo reached for the second time with a single to center. He then stole his second base of the game. With one out, Carlo Beltran hit his 12th HR of the season, which was now leading the team, a two-run shot making it a 3-1 Mets lead.

In the top of the 3rd, Pelfrey had a terrible inning. He gave up a lead off double then an RBI single to Alex Rodriguea. He walked Jason Giambi & gave up a single to Jorge Posada.  Robinson Cano dribbled a weak grounder to Jose Reyes that allowed Alex Rodriguez to score the tying run. Wilson Betemit's base hit put New York ahead 4-3.

In the top of the 5th inning Jose Reyes & Luis Castillo walked. David Wright then singled to short left field to load the bases. Jose Reyes scored the tying run on a Carlos Beltran's fielder choice ground out. Next up, after going 0-2 so far in the game, Carlos Delgado drilled a double down the right field line scoring Luis Castillo & Carlos Beltran putting the Mets ahead 6-4. 

In the top of the 6th, Brian Schneider singled to right & Jose Reyes walked for the second time. David Wright hit an RBI single to right field in between first & second base. Carlos Beltran then walked to load the bases for Carlos Delgado. 

Delgado connected off pitcher Ross Ohlendorf for a mammoth grand slam HR over the right field bleachers making it an 11-4 game. 

Carlos Delgado Trivia: For Delgado it was the twelfth & last grand slam of his career, the first he had hit in two years. On August 22nd, 2006, his grand slam off the Cardinals Jeff Weaver was also his 400th career HR. Carlos hit 473 career HRs.

It was his 12th HR of the year tying Beltran who had one earlier for the team lead.

In the top of the 8th inning, with Ohlendorf still in the game, Jose Reyes & Luis Castillo led off with base hits. Luis Castillo reached base five times in the game, as he drew three walks, had two hits, stole two bases & scored five runs. Jose Reyes reached base three times with two walks, a hit & scored two runs. 

Franchise Single Game RBI Record: With one out & LaTroy Hawkins now pitching, Carlos Delgado stepped in & lifted another long HR into the runway between the right field bleachers. This three-run shot gave Delgado a franchise record nine RBIs for a single game.

It was Delgado's team leading 13th HR, the second of his seven multi-HR games on the season. The nine RBIs were also a career high for him. That year he would drive in 115 runs, second to David Wright on the team. It was the ninth 100 plus RBI season of his career.

Quotes- Carlos Delgado: "You come in here you understand how big these series are. You want to contribute, you want to come in especially with guys in scoring position, you want to come up with a big hit".

The Mets won the game 15-6, with Mike Pelfrey getting the win. 

Trivia: The 15 runs were a season high for the Mets. They would have eleven games where they scored ten or more runs that year. 

They collected 14 hits in the game with David Wright having a multi-four game while driving in three runs. 

Trivia: In 2025, Brandon Nimmo had a nine RBI game, tying Degado for the Mets single game RBI record.

Delgado went on to have a great comeback season, carrying the Mets throughout most the year. He raised his average up to .271, finishing with 38 HRs 32 doubles & 114 RBIs. The Mets did not make the playoffs for the second straight year blowing a playoff berth in the final days of the season.