With a 4-3 victory against the San Diego Padres and the Washington Nationals being swept by the Chicago Cubs, the New York Mets are now sitting pretty in first place with a 19-11 record and a half-game lead.
The highlight of the New York Mets’ Sunday victory against the Padres wasn’t just moving to first place. It was the first time in weeks that Matt Harvey’s pitching seemed to settle down a bit. He started out the game impressively striking out the side in the bottom of the first inning. Matt Harvey went on to pitch six innings and allowed 2 runs, 4 hits and 2 walks, but he struck out 10 Padres batters.
Everybody talks about Harvey’s well-known struggles with the 5th and 6th innings (Ron Darling called it his “waterloo”), and once again he showed signs of tiring. He also gave up a 2-run homerun to Christian Bethancourt to make the score 3-2, but Matt Harvey held on and finished out the six innings and became the winning pitcher. In an “ohmigod, can this happen again?” moment, Harvey also almost hit a homerun over the centerfield wall. Just a few more inches and Harvey would have had his second career homer. But he settled for a base hit and later scored the winning run.
“I finally felt, the majority of the game, a lot more comfortable,” Harvey said. “I was able to pound the zone, was able to throw all of my pitches. Unfortunately there in the fifth I left one over the middle. Other than that, it was a successful day.” Yes it was Matt.
“It’s the best command I’ve seen him have this year so far,” manager Terry Collins said after the game about Harvey. “It’s what it’s all about. He’s got such good stuff. You saw it a lot early in the game. They’re swinging early because they don’t want to get behind. When he made pitches, he got easy outs. That’s how he normally pitches. As I’ve told him, I’ve told [pitching coach] Dan [Warthen], he’s going to get better. Jake [deGrom]’s going to get better. And we’re going to look up in a month and we’re going to say, ‘Wow, we got through it.’”
The Mets, who optioned Eric Campbell just a few weeks ago and called him up to the lineup must be happy with his performance. He batted his first run of the season in the bottom of the first, went 2 for 3 in hits (although he struck out once) and made a great play to end the game.
Yoenis Cespedes continues his strong hitting with a solo homerun that he dedicated to his mother on Mother’s Day. “Hitting a home run today is special,” said Cespedes, who defected with his mother from Cuba in 2011. “I dedicate it to my mom and moms around the world.” (Personal note: loved the pink in the Mets jerseys and the complete collection is available at the MLB.com Shop.)
Another fantastic part of the game was courtesy of Antonio Bastardo who, with the Mets clinging to a one-run lead in the eighth, sat the Padres down after they had loaded the bases with nobody out. One pop out and two strike outs. Fantastic.
Jeurys Familia closed out the ninth inning to give the Mets their victory.
Okay can we talk bonehead play of the game? Sorry Wilmer Flores I’m giving it to you. I understand that a ball came to you and ricocheted off of you (I saw you shaking your hand as if it hurt) and then rolled away. You then proceeded to casually walk and go and get the ball. In the meantime, the Padres ballplayer took second base on you. I get it that someone should have backed you up, but rule #1 in baseball – go after the ball until the play is over! The New York Mets won the game, but the outcome could’ve been different and it would have been because of this bonehead play. Run, don’t walk to the nearest baseball and pick it up! I think what annoyed me the most was the smile after the fact. Really? Nothing to smile about here Flores. You went 0-5, you’re batting .159 and now this? Come on.
The Mets now head over to Los Angeles for the start of a four-game series. Steven Matz is on the mound. In his last start, he picked up his fourth win in the Mets’ 8-0 victory vs. Atlanta on May 4 at Citi Field, had 7.2 shutout innings and allowed two hits. He’s 4-0 in his last four starts with a 0.67 ERA (two earned runs/27.0 innings pitched).
It has also been announced that New York Mets coach Terry Collins will return to Petco Field in July to manage the 2016 National League All-Star team.
