Well, hello July. The weather outside isn’t the only thing heating up this month. The New York Mets have now won five straight following a four-game losing streak. After a scary start to today’s game against the Miami Marlins where they found themselves down by a 6 – 0 deficit, the Mets bats erupted for 8 runs to win the game.
The Mets had 13 hits, including homeruns by Travis d’Arnaud and Curtis Granderson. The good news is that the Mets have not been relying on the long ball to get runs. Instead, their bats are fired up and they are driving in runs – just as it should be.
However, even with all the excitement of the most recent games, once again the chatter surrounds the performance of Matt Harvey, who after some better games fell apart during this one and he left to a cacophony of boos from frustrated Mets fans. Even though he’s had some good pitching lately, the Mets fans see more of this side of Harvey than his stellar side and are starting to show him they’ve had enough. Nobody understands more than Harvey though (come on Matt!).
“It’s part of baseball. You go through a lot of ups and downs,” Harvey said in an interview. “Unfortunately this year has been more downs than there are are ups.”
Collins said it’s “back to the drawing board,” for “The Dark Knight” whose outing was very bleak. Harvey pitched only 3.2 innings, giving up 11 hits and 6 runs, and had 4 strikeouts.
While Harvey talks about how it’s been a continuous struggle to find his arm slot, it’s become a question of how many more days will the Mets wait in a time period where the team is looking to make a comeback? Right now, they’ve moved from third to second place thanks to this win streak. Harvey’s ERA doesn’t stack up against the other Mets pitchers — Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Bartolo Colon – who all have ERAs lower than 3.00, with Steven Matz close by with a 3.40 mark.
While the Mets figure out Harvey’s problems and role with the team, they are busy dealing with bringing up infielder Jose Reyes from the minor leagues after signing him from the Colorado Rockies. With the Low-A Brooklyn Cyclones and Double-A Binghamton Mets, he’s hit .200/.286/.233 in 35 appearances with one stolen base in two attempts. Hopefully he’ll add something to this team. The Internet has been all abuzz since this signing because of Reyes’ history of domestic assault, with various Mets fans expressing their disapproval of bringing Reyes to the team. With all of the excitement over the last five games, it would stink to have any distractions from that.
For those of you on Brandon Nimmo watch since he’s been up to the majors he is 9-for-his-last-28.
Familia got his 29th save and now has 45 consecutive saves since dating back to August 1, 2015. According to the New York Mets, Familia is tied for the sixth-longest streak in major league history with Grant Balfour (2012-2013). Brad Lidge is fifth on the list with 47 (2007-2009). Familia’s streak is also the longest active streak in the major leagues.
Tonight’s game against the Marlins pits Steven Matz, who has been fighting bone spur issues. He’ll face Marlins left-handed pitcher Wei-Yin Chen, who has never faced the Mets, is going through a rough stretch since mid-May. In his last nine starts, the left-hander is 1-2 with a 5.73 ERA. He has one win since May 11. Overall, he’s 3-2 with a 4.61 ERA on the road.
If you’re in New York and want to get to the game, the New York Mets announced a “4 for $52” ticket promotion tied to MLB All-Star Game balloting in honor of Yoenis Céspedes. Now through Wednesday, July 6, fans can take advantage of this limited time offer to purchase four tickets for $52 (Céspedes’ uniform number) for the Mets three-game series vs. the Miami Marlins July 4-6. Seats for this promotion are located in the Promenade outfield and must be purchased online at mets.com/VoteYo with a limit of eight tickets per transaction subject to availability. Hurry!
