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Thievery! Arizona Diamondbacks set team record for stolen bases in series sweep of New York Mets

Posted at 1:57 PM, Aug 11, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-11 16:58:03-04

The last-place Arizona Diamondbacks rattled Noah Syndergaard with four more stolen bases, then broke open the game in a six-run fifth inning that included Chris Owings' bases-loaded triple and rolled to a 9-0 rout of the New York Mets on Thursday that completed a three-game sweep.

Braden Shipley (2-1), making his fourth big league start, pitched three-hit ball over seven innings, struck out seven and walked one. Zack Godley and Dominic Leone finished the five-hitter.

After brushing aside Syndergaard (9-7), the Diamondbacks began their burst against Jon Niese with Tuffy Gosewisch's leadoff homer. Owings had his second straight three-hit game, finishing with a single, double and triple.

Arizona was a band on the run with 13 stolen bases in the series -- one shy of Baltimore's season total, three more than the Diamondbacks' previous mark for any series and the most in a three-game series against the Mets. Paul Goldschmidt had two of them, and Socrates Brito and Shipley one each.

Runners have swiped 36 bases in 40 tries against Syndergaard this year and are 51 for 56 against him in his career, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.  The Mets have allowed a big league-high 102 steals, including 20 off rookie Steven Matz, who is second behind Syndergaard.

Fans booed the sloppy Mets, who allowed Arizona to steal bases without throws and also had an error, wild pitch and run-scoring passed ball.

New York, which began the day 2 1/2 games back for the NL's second wild card, dropped to 5-11 since the All-Star Game and at 57-57 is down to .500 for the first time since a 7-7 mark in April.

Fourteen of New York's last 15 batters made out, and the Mets -- missing injured Yoenis Cespedes, Lucas Duda, David Wright and Jose Reyes -- managed five runs and 17 hits in the series. They have the lowest batting average in the major leagues and were shut out for the ninth time.

With its first sweep at the Mets since 2002 at Shea Stadium, the Diamondbacks improved to 29-27 on the road -- they are 19-39 at home.

Syndergaard threw up his arms in frustration when Shipley, who made his debut July 25, singled up the middle through a drawn-in infield for his first big league RBI. Syndergaard allowed three runs and eight hits -- including three doubles and a triple. He is 0-4 in his last six starts.

Mets manager Terry Collins left the ballpark at 12:30 a.m. following a 3-2, 12-inning loss and was back 6 1/2 hours later. He said a quick turnaround on a hot, humid day was a mental test.

If so, his team failed.

Brito's opposite-field double to left, Gosewisch's opposite-field triple to right and Shipley's RBI single -- all over or through a drawn-in infield -- built a 3-0 lead in the fourth for the Diamondbacks, who wore their battleship gray uniforms.

Shipley stole second without a throw, joining Arizona's Zack Greinke and San Diego's Edwin Jackson as the only pitchers with stolen bases in the major leagues this season.