The Mets come back home after splitting the series on the road against the defending champion Kansas City Royals.
The New York Mets offense had been up-and-down, posting seven runs in the first game and only one in the second game against the inferior Philadelphia Phillies.
Matt Harvey would take the mound for the Mets today. Here was Harvey’s stat line: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3K’s. Matt Harvey pitched well as most would expect him to. Harvey gave up a run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly out to Freddy Glavis. Harvey was very much in control of the game, retiring 10 betters in a row until he gave up a two-run homerun to Odubel Herrera in the sixth to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead.
The Phillies would then take on another run in the eighth and ninth innings each to reach their five run mark.
Some of the Mets bats would finally begin to show some life. Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run blast in bottom of the sixth. Cespedes had been under some fan fire regarding his offensive struggles. The fans and the teams are hoping that this will get Cespedes’ bat going. Cespedes mentions post-game that he’s still getting into a routine and he fully believes that with more plate appearances, he will have better at-bats.
David Wright also went 2-4 with a run scored in the afternoon. Wright had the day off last night because of the cold weather. Wright’s AB’s have gotten much better since the series against the Royals.
The Phillies are a team the Mets have usually done very well against, winning 14 of their 19 meetings last year. If the Mets consider themselves a legitimate title contender this year, then they need to win games against teams like the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mets fall to 2-3 in the season. Steven Matz will take the mound against the Miami Marlins tomorrow night.
In other news:
Jacob deGrom has been scratched off Wednesday’s start because of the tightness in his lat. It is a precautionary skipped start as the Mets want to make sure deGrom is fully healthy before taking the mound again. Logan Verrett will start in deGrom’s place. The Mets will continue to monitor deGrom’s condition and could still possibly make his Wednesday start if he reports no signs of pain.
Yoenis Cespedes finally broke out of a slump in which he was 2-16 in his last plate appearances. Fans were becoming irritated with Cespedes, but he seems to have broken though a bit.
Mets are starting to see some flashes of last years team: great pitching and no run support. According to Adam Rubin of ESPN, entered today with the top ERA and the 28th-ranked batting average in the majors.
Mets open a three game series against the Miami Marlins tomorrow night.
