Live Blog From Citi Field Pressbox

Top First: It starts to rain right after the anthem and moment of silence for Boston and Texas. The weather isn’t Minnesota-Denver bad, but I thought there would be more people here for Harvey-Strasburg. Harvey strikes out his first hitter and gets out of the inning with a runner on second.

Bottom First: Jordany Valdespin leading off again. Glad to see Terry Collins running with this. Valdespin reaches on E6. Takes third on Daniel Murphy’s hit-and-run single and scores on wild pitch. Murphy takes third on fly ball and scored on John Buck’s RBI. That’s 20 RBI for him. Really is amazing. I like Murphy’s aggressiveness in advancing on fly to right.

Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Second: A lot of attention in the press box on what’s going on in Boston. Harvey breezing. Fans Chad Tracy. A 1-2-3 second.

Bottom Second: Marlon Byrd doubles, but is stranded on third as Strasburg punches out Valdespin. That’s a wasted opportunity and you don’t get many off Strasburg. We’ll see if this haunts them later. Strasburg nearing 50 pitches already.

End Second: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Third: Strasburg doubles, but Harvey gets out of it by striking out Jayson Werth.

Bottom Third: Rain gone. Doc Gooden gets a nice ovation when they show him on the video board. He tweeted Harvey is the real deal. Looks like it. … Meanwhile, Boston PD has suspect cornered. That’s where a lot of the attention is. … Ike Davis strikes out for second time. Buck fans and another runner is left in scoring position.

End Third: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Fourth: Harvey finished the fourth with one hit and two walks and five strikeouts. He’s thrown 62 pitches, 41 for strikes. Everything is working for him tonight.

Bottom Fourth: There’s a steady falling mist again. Strasburg walked Duda, but set the next three hitters down. He’s settled down since the first, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and five strikeouts. He’s pitching a good game, too.

End Fourth: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Fifth: A 1-2-3 inning for Harvey, Strikes out Suzuki swinging. They have apprehended the second suspect. Pressbox buzzing.

Bottom Fifth: Valdespin, Murphy, Wright go down in order. Just in – Brandon: Nimmo is 3-for-3.

End Fifth: Mets 2, Nationals 0

Top Sixth: Everyone watching the breaking news of suspect capture in Boston. Terrific job by law enforcement across the board. Boston can sleep easier tonight.… Harvey throws DP grounder started by Murphy, who is looking better and better at second. … Valdespin makes diving catch to end inning.

Bottom Sixth: Davis and Duda homer. Davis hit his to left and Duda’s went to center. … Crowd chanting “Harvey’s better.’’ Actually, pretty funny. … Strasburg already over 100 pitches, so this figures to be his last inning.

End Sixth: Mets 4, Nationals 0

Top Seventh: Harvey enters the inning with a two-hit shutout on 82 pitches. But, a walk and a couple of hits later and his shutout was gone. … Perhaps even more impressive was getting out of a bases loaded jam with no outs without giving up further damage. … Harvey finished with one run given up on four hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.

Bottom Seventh: Strasburg didn’t come out. He gave up four runs on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings. “USA – USA – USA -USA!” The crowd chants as news of arrest shows on scoreboard.

End Seventh: Mets 4, Nationals 1

Top Eighth: Big cheer when news on the scoreboard announced second suspect was captured. … Another cheer when Boston Police Department was saluted. … Scott Rice pitched a scoreless inning.

Bottom Eighth: Drew Storen now pitching and gives up leadoff triple to David Wright and two-run homer to Davis. … Duda added another homer, his fifth of the season.

End Eighth: Mets 7, Nationals 1.

Top Ninth: Sweet Caroline was played as Bobby Parnell threw his warm-up pitches. The Mets did it before, but it sounded better tonight. … Sweet, diving play by Murphy to get the second out.

Final: Mets 7, Nationals 1

Mets Starting Lineup

1. Jordany Valdespin CF
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. Ike Davis 1B
5. John Buck C
6. Lucas Duda LF
7. Marlon Byrd RF
8. Ruben Tejada SS
9. Matt Harvey RHP

Game Notes

No Surgery for Travis d’Arnaud! The Mets’ top prospect suffered a nondisplaced fracture of the first metatarsal in his left foot when he was struck with a foul ball in the sixth inning of Triple-A Las Vegas’ game Wednesday night. He has been placed in a walking boot and will miss approximately eight weeks, Terry Collins just said..

Shaun Marcum got through yesterday’s extended spring training game fine. Mets will try to get him to 80 pitches next time. He tossed four hitless and scoreless innings in an extended spring training game, struck out five.

Relievers Josh Edgin, Scott Atchison and Jeurys Familia combined to allow six runs in the seventh inning, and the Mets lost to the Rockies 11-3 Thursday afternoon at Coors Field. The Mets dropped to .500. Hopefully, Matt Harvey gives the pen a day of rest tonight. They need one.

New York had two games postponed on its recent road trip. They will play the Rockies at Coors Field on June 27 at 6:10 PM, and will make up its game against the Twins on August 19 at 2:10 PM at Target Field.

Game Preview

The Mets finally get out of Colorado and return home to Queens tonight to one of the most anticipated pitching matchups in a long time. The Mets entered Denver with a 7-4 record and were swept, dropping them down to a record of 7-7. While there is plenty of blame to go around, the bullpen, who saved the Mets in an earlier Laffey start at home and was strong at the start of the season, fell apart on the road. Anyway, Matt Harvey looks to keep his strong start going against Stephen Strasburg.

Harvey is 3-0 in first three starts with a 0.84 ERA over 22.0 innings. In that stretch he has allowed only 2 ER and only 6 hits while walking 6 and striking out 25 batters. He’s leading the league in WHIP, Wins, and H/9. He faced the Nationals once last year picking up the loss after allowing only one earned run over 5 innings of work while striking out 10 batters. The Nationals have the following numbers against Matt:

Desmond 1-2
Harper 0-3
LaRoche 1-3
Werth 0-2
Zimmerman 1-2, HR
Suzuki 0-2

The Mets will get a crack at the National’s phenom today in Stephen Strasburg who is 1-2 over 18.1 innings and 3 games so far this year while posting a 2.95 ERA. He has had two dominant games where he went 7 shutout innings 6 innings allowing 0 earned runs (2 unearned). He also had one start where he allowed 6 ER over 5.1 innings. He was good against the Mets last season holding them to one earned run over 13 innings and two starts, who have posted the following numbers against him:

Buck 2-9
Davis 3-8, HR
Tejada 1-8
Murphy 1-5
Wright 1-6
Byrd 1-3
Duda 0-2
Valdespin 1-3

Let’s Go Mets!

Check 213 Miles From Shea!

The world awakens this morning seeking to right itself after a pair of explosions rocked Boston yesterday afternoon.  Lost are three souls, with no fewer than another one hundred and thirty-two injured.  Also lost in the day’s events, a nation’s sense of security when it comes to sporting events.

Long thought to be a potential target, major sporting events are often subjected to increased security measures.  To date, the United States had been successful (or lucky depending upon your point of view) to avoid such disasters, however April 15, 2013 will live on in infamy as the day the sports world was no longer immune to a direct attack.

The aftereffects of yesterday’s events remain to be seen, but as families, the city of Boston and the nation as a whole mourn this loss, its fair to assume that our shattered sense of security will send ripples through the sports world.  Decreased attendance can only be countered by increased protection in an effort to reassure fans that they’re safe.  At what point will your trip to the stadium resemble a tour through your local prison system?  At what point are fans treated like inmates? More importantly, at what point is such treatment necessary?

Long gone is the innocence of physically attending a game, ruined by the majority of fans who feel the price of admission grants them the freedom to drink like a fish and curse like a sailor without repercussion.  That arrogance, until yesterday thought by most to be the worst you could encounter during a trip to the ballpark, is now miniscule by comparison to the violence seen in the past twenty-four hours.  So what now?

Ultimately, too much energy is lost debating the successes and more frequently, the failures of our favorite sports franchises.  That faux pas takes place on a daily basis throughout social media and on sites just like this one.  I’m just as guilty as many of your reading this.  We’re debating a game..something that shouldn’t be life or death.  Its unfortunate that it takes such tragedy for things to fall in line once again, but it has become apparent that this is the world we live in now.  So remember, the next time your headed out to Citi Field, be cognizant of those around you, because not everyone is on the same team.

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.

Rounding The Bases is back… As we did before, we’ll highlight some of the must-read posts from the Mets beat writers, take a cruise around the Mets blogosphere, check in on our enemies, and have a little fun while we’re at it.

MMO Instant Replay

• Connor O’Brien dished out his report cards for the Mets infielders this week and gives Josh Thole a big fat D. “Josh Thole has not become the player we thought he could be. After hitting over .300 in his last two minor league seasons, and showing glimpses of a future .300 hitter over his first two years in the big leagues, his production has declined. This year, he hit rock bottom.”
• Dan Valis wonders if the Mets should consider trading David Wright for Andre Ethier if they don’t work out an extension. “If you swapped these two players, the Mets would still have a very solid middle of the order hitter to replace David. Ethier is already signed, and plays a position we desperately need to fill. They Mets already have some in-house options for third base, while they really have nobody on the roster who can play right field. With a tight budget a move like this could be very beneficial to the Mets as they begin to prepare for this off-season.”
• Is there a new manager trend, asks Jessep who lists Mike Piazza, Edgardo Alfonzo, Dave Magadan and Brett Butler as former Mets who could someday manage for their former teams.

On The Beat

• Ken Davidoff of the NY Post predicts that free-agent outfielder Melky Cabrera will eventually sign a one-year, $4 million deal with the Mets. Cabrera of course was suspended 50 games for failing a test for PED’s and then tried to cover it up. The Giants washed their hands of him.
• The Mets are not close to reaching new agreements with either R.A. Dickey or David Wright, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions according to Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger. Things have certainly slowed down of late.
• In the aftermath of the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, the New York Mets will be holding a food drive and offering tickets. This is a great gesture by them, and gives fans a great opportunity to help others, while also possibly getting tickets to the game.

Friendly Fire

• MetsBlog reports that R.A. Dickey was named the National League’s most outstanding pitcher in 2012 as picked by the players. “It’s an extreme honor to be recognized by the people who you play against and compete against all year long,” Dickey said in a statement. “To know my peers think this highly of me is a tremendous feeling.”
• Have you checked out 2 Guys Talking Mets Baseball yet? Enjoy this behind the scenes conversation between Fred, Jeff and Sandy and you’ll be going back for more.
• Joe Janish of Mets Today wonders what if the Mets never signed Pedro Martinez. “Certainly, the magic of 2006 would not have occurred, but maybe — just maybe — the pain and suffering Mets fans are enduring now would have occurred from 2005-2009, when instead of signing people like Billy Wagner, Moises Alou, and Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets would have been stocking up on #1 picks.”
• The Rising Apple wonders if the Mets will re-sign any of their free agents and writes the following regarding Scott Hairston: “Unlikely; he drew a lot of interest on the trade market before the non-waiver trade deadline and even into August when he was placed on trade waivers. Alderson decided not to trade him because he felt there was more value in letting him finish the year with the team than trading him away. Now, with his career season, Hairston is looking to cash in with a more lucrative, multi-year deal, something the Mets won’t be able to afford.”

Enemy Territory

• In the rest of the league, there is still news. First off, David Ortiz has signed an extension with the Red Sox for two years. He might also consider sitting out the World Baseball Classic so it doesn’t interrupt him getting ready for the regular season.
• Rookie Mike Trout won the Defensive Player of the Year award in the American League, a testament to how great his defensive play was this season. Braves outfielder Michael Bourn took home the award in the National League.
• In big news for the New York Yankees, Mariano Riveraplans to return to the field next year.
• The Red Sox don’t want to offer Cody Ross a three-year deal, which could be a stumbling block in contract discussions according to WEEI.com. Jon Heyman says Ross is looking for a three-year deal worth about $25 million.

Today In Mets History

Seven members of the World Champion Mets begin a two-week engagement with comedian Phil Foster at Caesar’s palace in Las Vegas. Giving it the ol’ soft shoe are Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Donn Clendenon, Ed Kranepool, Tommie Agee, Cleon Jones, and Art Shamsky. – Mets.com

“What has he done? Has he pitched this year?” Jonathan Papelbon told WEEI.com. “Is he ready to pitch or is he not? … I think our bullpen is good where we’re at right now. Don’t get me wrong. But I guess you could always make it better. It’s kind of like the [Eric] Gagne thing, I guess.”

Equating a potential free-agent acquisition to the fateful trade for Gagne in 2007 isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement from the team’s closer, and Papelbon wasn’t alone.

“We loved Gagne coming over here, just the stuff that he had, but it was an awkward situation this late in the season,” Manny Delcarmen told WEEI.com. “I think our bullpen is fine right now. It is what it is. If [Wagner] comes and helps us win, that’s what we want. But sometimes, shaking things up this late might work out different. We’ll see what happens.”

But of course Wagner wasn’t going to keep quite either about possibly being traded and about Papelbon. Wagner said he “loved Boston” but also said he doesn’t expect to go. He didn’t stop there though…

reacting to Papelbon’s not warm quote about him, Wagner said, “I don’t have anything to say about somebody like that. When he walks in my shoes then I’ll say something. Let him be 38 and have Tommy John surgery “

Wagner could be traded to Boston by Tuesday, has recorded 385 saves and 1,068 strikeouts in his career. He has only pitched once in 2009 — a scoreless inning against the Braves on Thursday night — and missed the last two months of 2008 with an injury. He underwent Tommy John surgery last September and, based on his performance this week, appears to have regained his velocity.

David Wright was asked about the recent power outage and this is what he said to reporters on Wednesday,

“We’ve played in big parks,” third baseman David Wright said, fully aware that they’ll now play in a small one. “I’m not worried about the home runs. That’s the last thing I’m concerned with.”

He’s right of course. The Mets have just completed series in Dodgers Stadium and AT&T Park, both notorious for keeping the ball inside the park.

This Red Sox series may be just what the doctor ordered to ramp up the power and get those bats going again.

I see Carlos Beltran benefiting the most from the Red Sox series, given all those near homers and 400 foot outs that plagued him on the west coast. Even the slumping Ryan Church and Fernando Tatis were denied at least one homer each in the last two series.

The green monster will be a welcomed sight for our big sluggers, and I believe they will have a nice weekend swinging their lumber and getting back on track.

Lets Go Mets!