Last night, during the Mariners and White Sox game Kyle Seager hit a dramatic game-tying grand slam in the bottom of the 13th inning. But follow the ball’s path in the video below and keep a close eye on the kid standing in the aisle enjoying his ice cream cone.

No word on who the kid was and if he was seriously hurt, but wow…

The announcers never even made a mention of it…

One of my greatest wishes as a relatively young Mets fan is wanting to have seen Tom Seaver pitch.

Sure, I’ve seen the highlight videos and World Series tapes that portrayed his dominance, but it’s still not the same as seeing the best pitcher in Mets’ history actually toe the rubber.

However, albeit still very early, we younger Mets fans are seeing firsthand what it was like when Seaver took the mound in the form of Matt Harvey – just throwing it out there that I was also too young to remember Doc Gooden as well.

Harvey has been dominant this year, and his body of work is very similar to that of Seaver.

Harvey has a slightly bigger build than Seaver when he pitched, but Seaver still fit the mold of a powerful right-hander.

Both have explosive fastballs and aren’t afraid to challenge hitters up in the zone – again going back to at least what I’ve seen from Seaver on the tapes.

Both have at least one good secondary pitch: Seaver mostly a slider and Harvey a curveball, slider and change-up. Harvey already has shown great command of each of these pitches, just like Seaver demonstrated with his slider.

Certainly, the mental approach by each pitcher resembles one another. That “bulldog” mentality if always wanting to win allowed each to experience success very early in their careers – and we naturally hope Harvey’s success continues for plenty more years.

But of all the similarities between the two, the fact that each came up with an inept offensive team is just uncanny.

The Mets really have never been known as an offensive team, but to not somehow scratch together a run when your pitcher is working on a perfect game really is embarrassing. Yes, Hector Santiago threw a very good game Tuesday night for the White Sox, but that’s where you have to dig deep and dent the plate at least once.

I looked at Seaver’s rookie year in 1967 and compared it with the first few months of Harvey’s career. Seaver made 34 starts during his Rookie of the Year campaign and finished with a 16-13 record.

However, he had just a 2.76 ERA, and in those 34 starts, he only gave up four or more runs eight times. He also threw 18 complete games, but we’ll overlook that for now since today’s game is much different than back then – especially when dealing with pitch counts and innings limits.

As for Harvey in 17 career starts, he’s given up four or more runs in a start just once and has a collective 2.07 ERA. Yet his career mark is only 7-5.

Now I don’t want to only point the finger at the offense for a lack of production. There likely were times – albeit few – that the Mets actually scored a comfortable amount of runs for Seaver, and the same will be true for Harvey eventually.

It may not even out fully, but there will be times when Harvey doesn’t have his best stuff and the Mets score enough runs to get him the win.

But just imagine if Seaver and Harvey had any sort of consistent run support. Is it so much for a pitcher to ask his team to score four runs per game? If that was the case for Harvey, he could potentially be 11-1, not to even mention the no-decisions.

Ok, it’s definitely not as cut and dry as that, but what I’m saying here is that it’s just the typical Mets way to have an ace-type pitcher yet not be able to score a single run.

Let’s hope that changes as Harvey continues to progress. Based on what we saw Tuesday night, he may only need one run per game.

Luckily, he’s a decent hitter too, so he should be able to help himself at the plate. Like a typical Little League superstar game, Harvey could pitch a complete game shutout and hit a home run to win the game.

That might be his only chance to consistently pick up wins.

Jeurys Familia

Asked if he was concerned about the situation, Familia shrugged. ”I’ll be OK in a couple of days. I want to play,” he said.

Manager Terry Collins said he was aware of Familia’s condition before the game.

No word if the Mets will have Familia get a precautionary MRI or if he was examined by team doctors. It’s also uncertain how long Familia will be sidelined and unavailable.

Familia said the soreness began on Wednesday, when he pitched one inning against the White Sox and allowed a run.

Starting Lineup

1. Ruben Tejada SS
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. John Buck C
5. Justin Turner 1B
6. Marlon Byrd RF
7. Andrew Brown LF
8. Juan Lagares CF
9. Dillon Gee RHP

Game Notes

New York will play consecutive four-game series (vs. Pittsburgh and at St. Louis) for just the third time since 2008. The Mets played two straight four-game sets last year, July 26-August 2 at Arizona and at San Francisco. The Mets played two four game road series, July 1-6, 2008 at St. Louis and Philadelphia.

Over the club’s last nine home games, the Mets have scored 22 runs (an average of 2.4 per contest) while hitting .181 (51-282). They have scored two runs or less in six of those games. Overall, the Mets have plated 71 runs in 17 home games (4.2 runs per game).

The Mets are averaging 4.70 runs per game, the third-most in the NL and the eighth-most in the majors. David Wright is tied for third in the majors with 23 walks and Lucas Duda is tied sixth in the majors with 21 walks. The Mets are sixth in the National League with 106 walks.

The Mets are fourth in the NL and 11th in the majors with a .272 (62-227) batting average with RISP. The club has 10 home runs in such situations, tied for the third-most in the majors. John Buck has four of those home runs, tied for the major league lead. David Wright is hitting .414 (12-29) with RISP, the seventh-best mark in the National League. As a team the Mets have stranded 203 runners, including seven last night, ranking 27th in the majors.

Frank Francisco pitched 1.0 scoreless inning yesterday for St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League vs. Daytona. He did not allow a hit, issued two walks and recorded two strikeouts. Francisco has not permitted a run in five rehabilitation outings with St. Lucie. He’s worked 5.0 innings, allowed one hit, issued two walks and fanned six.

Matt Harvey will be presented with his NL Pitcher of the Month Award for April in a pre-game ceremony. Harvey will also receive an engraved watch for his Player of the Week (April 8-14) honor. In April, Harvey’s 1.56 ERA ranked third, his 46 strikeouts were tied for fourth and he limited opposing hitters to a .153 batting average, the lowest mark in the NL…He was one of only two NL starters to post four wins in April without suffering a loss.

Game Preview

The Mets fresh off of a split with the White Sox start a four game series with the Pirates tonight. Last night the Mets offense was flat, and too little too late. It wasn’t until the end of the game where the Mets started to get hits but they still couldn’t get runs. Anyway, Pittsburgh comes to town today and they are second in the NL Central with a 18-15 record. Tonight Dillon Gee will go up against Jeff Locke.

Dillon Gee is 2-4 this season over 6 games with a 6.16 ERA and 30.2 innings of work. In his last two starts he has allowed 8 ER over 11.0 innings of work. Gee hasn’t faced the Pirates since 2011 where he was 2-0 in as many games pitching 15.0 innings with a 2.40 ERA. The Pirates have the following numbers against Gee:

Tabata 4-10, 2B
McCutchen 1-9
Jones 2-7, 2B
Martin 0-5
Harrison 2-4
Alvarez 0-2
Barmes 0-2

The Mets will get a look at Jeff Locke today, who is in his 3rd season in the majors. This is the season where Locke is starting to put it together pitching 33.2 innings over 6 starts with a 3.21 ERA. At the start of the season, he wasn’t doing too well as he allowed 9 ER over 15.2 innings but in his last three starts he has allowed 3 ER over 18 innings. He has made one start against the Mets where he allowed 5 ER over 3.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Buck 1-3
Murphy 2-3
Tejada 3-3
Davis 0-1
Duda 0-2
Recker 1-2, HR
Wright 1-2

Let’s Go Mets!

From his key double in his first at-bat in blue and orange, to his crucial catch in Johan Santana‘s no-hitter, to last night’s tenth inning walk-off knock against the White Sox, Mike Baxter has already found his place in Mets history and into the hearts of the Flushing Faithful. For Baxter however, he is always looking to improve and perform to the best of his ability.

Baxter started off the year having difficulties at the plate, but has apparently found some consistency coming off the bench sporting a .444 OBP when called on to pinch-hit. I spoke with Baxter outside the Irish Circle Tavern luncheon to benefit the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding efforts yesterday, and he says he still has plenty of room for improvement.

“I need to be more consistent with recognizing the pitch that I’m looking for, the pitch I’m waiting for and square it up.” said Baxter.

“In this season compared to last year, I’ve been missing that pitch. With the approach we try to employ with the Mets, that’s a problem. You need to recognize and hit that pitch, that’s what good hitters do. I have been a little frustrated with the way I’ve played and I have got to do better.”

The Mets’ hitting approach under the Alderson regime is commonly understood as trying to wait out the pitcher in order to both draw walks and knock the starter out of the game early. However, Baxter says there is much more to the approach than simply taking a high number of pitches.

“The key to the approach, is not necessarily trying to see a lot of pitches per-se.” said Baxter “It’s wait until you get that one. If it happens to be the first pitch you see and that’s the one you want, then that’s the one you’ve got to swing at.”

“You tend to see more pitches to hit because you’re laying off that 0-1 sinker away that’s a borderline pitch or that 0-0 pitch that’s a borderline strike. It might end up a strike but you’re still in the at-bat rather than putting it in play weakly somewhere and the at-bats over. It helps the chance to get to the good pitch.”

While the Mets continue to apply their selective approach at the plate, one of the more free-swinging bats in the lineup has had trouble with consistent good at-bats, however when it matters most, he always seems to come through this year. Jordany Valdespin has been a spark and a source of excitement on this 13-16 Mets ballclub. Baxter says his teammate is an exciting player to watch.

“He’s a dynamic player, he’s someone that brings a lot to the table as a player and he has a flare for the dramatic in those big spots, proven by his track record.” said Baxter, almost yelling over an airplane howling a few thousand feet above. “His skills as a player are dynamic; he can hit a ball deep to the shortstop and beat it out. He can lay a bunt down and beat it out and he can hit a home run.”…”He’s a good ballpayer and he’s a big part of what we do and why we win.”

Baxter says he hopes to improve all aspects of his game and get “consistent, good at-bats” as he did last night in the bottom of the tenth. He didn’t go deep into the count. He took that ’0-0 pitch that’s a borderline strike’, he fouled off the second and then finally on a 95-mph two-seam fastball, put a solid drive into it to bring home Ike Davis and take the opener against the White Sox. If he continues to do just that, he will fulfill his goal of “getting his pitch and hitting it.”

In the meantime  Baxter will enjoy watching his New York Rangers continue their run towards the Stanley Cup. Something that he says has become the “big thing in the clubhouse right now.”

Special thanks to Ron Darling and Mike Baxter for taking the time to speak with me on Tuesday. It was a pleasure to meet and speak to a couple of classy individuals like them.

Starting Lineups

Game Notes

The Mets held the White Sox to one hit over 10 innings last night. It was the second 10-inning one-hitter in team history. Terry Leach hurled a 10-inning one hitter on October 1, 1982 at Philadelphia in a game the Mets won, 1-0. Luis Aguayo had a fifth-inning triple in that game. The last 10-inning one-hitter in the majors was May 28, 2011 when the Twins won 1-0, holding Anaheim to one hit. Last night was the 37th regular season one-hitter in Mets history. Since 1962, only the Dodgers (42) have more one-hitters

Mike Baxter singled home Ike Davis with one out in the 10th inning to give the Mets a 1-0 win last night It was Baxter’s first career game-ending RBI and the Mets’ third walk-off win of the year and first since Jordany Valdespin’s pinch-hit grand slam on April 25 vs.Los Angeles. The Mets had six walk-off victories in 2012.

Jordany Valdespin is leading off tonight and is batting .300 (9-for-30) with two walks as the team’s leadoff hitter this season. Ruben Tejada, Collin Cowgill, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Mike Baxter, and Justin Turner have combined to hit .194 (18-for-93) with eight walks and 22 strikeouts out of the leadoff spot.

Matt Harvey wasn’t credited with a victory, since the Mets won the game in the bottom of the 10th inning. But he remains undefeated on the season (4-0), is second in the National League in ERA (1.28), and leads the NL in strikeouts (58). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Harvey is the only pitcher in the last 100 years with at least 125 strikeouts and 25 or fewer earned runs allowed in his first 17 career starts.

The Mets are taking it slow with Michael Fulmer as he returns from surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Fulmer has not pitched again in a game since throwing two innings in an extended spring training game last Monday.

Game Preview

The Mets look to take the series tonight as they play their second game against the White Sox. Last night was definitely a Matt Harvey Day as Matt threw 9 innings allowing one hit and striking out 12 batters. Sadly, the bats were not able to help him out at all and the game went to extras where Mike Baxter knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. The Mets look to continue the good pitching and hope to find their bats tonight as they take on Jake Peavey behind Jermey Hefner.

Hefner is 0-3 on the season over 6 games, 5 starts, while pitching 29.0 innings with an ERA of 4.34. He has been on fire in his last two starts allowing 3 ER over 15 innings, and that number could have easily been lower. His two runs in his last start came in the 9th inning when he allowed the first two batters on in the inning and the bullpen imploded behind him. During those 15 innings, he struck out 12 batters.  Hefner has never faced the White Sox but has faced two batters. Wise is 0-1 while Greene is 0-3.

The Mets will get a look at Jake Peavey today who is putting his career back together in Chicago. He was fantastic as a Padre, found himself with the White Sox via trade. His career in Chicago was thrown off a bit by injury at the start but over the last two seasons he is starting to look like shades of his former self. This year he is 3-1 over 5 starts with a 3.38 ERA. In his career, he is 5-2 over 10 games and 62.0 innings against the Mets with an ERA of 3.48. The Mets have the following numbers against Jake:

Wright 2-14, 2B
Byrd 3-10, 2B
Buck 3-6, 2 HR
Murphy 1-2, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

BUY METS TICKETS!

Starting Lineup

1. Ruben Tejada – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. John Buck – C
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Andrew Brown – RF
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Matt Harvey – RHP

Game Notes

• The Mets went 2-3 on their recent road trip. The club begins a six-game homestand tonight. New York is 7-8 at home this season. Saturday’s rain out in Atlanta is now scheduled for Tuesday, June 18 at 1:10 p.m. as part of a split doubleheader. That series is now a five-game series.
• New York is 2-0 this year in Interleague play after beating the Twins twice in Minnesota. The Mets were 8-7 vs. the AL last season. The Mets are 137-127 all time in Interleague play. The 137 wins are the fourth-most among NL clubs. Since 2010, the Mets are 11-3 vs. the AL Central.
• The Chicago White Sox make their first trip ever to Flushing. The Mets have hosted every other American League team at least once. New York has played the White Sox just once: the Mets lost two of three to the Sox in Chicago in 2002.
• David Wright has 94 career Interleague RBI, the most in team history. The 94 Interleague RBI are tied for the fourth-most among any major leaguer since 2005, the first season Wright played an Interleague game. Wright has hit a home run in three straight games. It’s the fifth time he’s hit a home run in exactly three consecutive games, his career-best is a home run in four straight games, June 7-10, 2007.
• Matt Harvey has allowed one run or less in 10 of his first 16 major league starts and has not allowed more than one run in seven of his last eight starts. Since July 26, 2012 (his ML debut), he ranks fourth in the majors with a 2.26 ERA (25 ER/99.2 IP). Minimum of 70 innings.
• Harvey also has 116 strikeouts in his first 16 major league starts, the 11th-most since 1921 by a pitcher making his first 16 career starts. Kerry Wood is first with 148 strikeouts in 1998. Harvey is third in Mets history, behind Dwight Gooden, who had 125 strikeouts in his first 16 starts and Nolan Ryan, who had 117 strikeouts.
• Frank Francisco pitched 1.0 scoreless inning last night for St. Lucie of the Florida State League vs. Daytona. He allowed a single. He’s tossed 4.0 scoreless innings in four rehab outings.
• Edgardo Alfonzo, SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt and 92.3 NOW’s Ty Bentli will serve as judges for Banner Day on Saturday, May 11 at Citi Field. The judges will select three finalists to join the online Banner Day winner then fans at the ballpark and at home will vote for the winner through texting, Twitter and Facebook.

Game Preview

The White Sox finally visit Citi Field as the Mets will meet up with an old friend in Robin Ventura tonight. The Mets are coming off of a 9-4 loss where just about everyone on the field was experiencing a collective off day. Since then the Mets have had an off day and for the first time on 7 days rest, the Mets will enjoy another Harvey day as Matt takes on Hector Santiago.

Sandy Alderson told the Daily News that the Mets still have confidence in Ike Davis even though he is batting .172 to start the season. “I don’t think he’s happy with what has happened to date,” Alderson said. “We would have hoped for a better performance to this point, but the evidence is he can do it, and he could do that again this season, we’ll see what transpires.” Last year was batting .173 last year at this time, but he was dealing with a case of valley fever, a one-year layoff, and recovering from a serious ankle injury.

Matt Harvey is 4-0 on the season with a 1.56 ERA over 40.1 innings of work. He bounced back from his worst start of the season (3 ER over 6 innings, quality for everybody else) to pitch 5.1 innings allowing 1 ER in Miami, a game he really had to labor through. He allowed 7 hits in that game, a season high, but paired that with 7 strikeouts. Not really all that surprisingly, Matt has not faced the White Sox in his career and has not faced any batters on the roster.

Hector Santiago gets the nod for the White Sox. On the young season he is 1-1 over 8 games, 1 start with a 2.29 ERA over 19.2 innings. His last outing was the first start of the season where he allowed 1 ER over 5.1 innings of work while striking out 6 batters. Last season, he was in 42 games including 4 starts with a 3.33 ERA. In his four starts, he pitched 19.2 innings allowing only 4 ER. Also not really surprising, but he has not faced anyone on the Mets roster in his career.

Let’s Go Mets!

DAVID WRIGHT, 3B

MMO PLAYER OF THE WEEK

David Wright copped his third MMO Player of the Week honor after what may have been his most productive week of the season.

The feisty third baseman had a few run-ins the umps this past week which is something we don’t see too much of from him, but it’s what a player does in the box score that matters most for this weekly staple at MMO.

Wright posted an incredible .333/.368/.889/1.257 batting line to lead the team while also clubbing a team high three home runs – all of them coming in his last three games to close out his week with a BANG!

Additionally, he led the team with 16 total bases and six runs scored, more than double any of the other players for the week.

Wright saw his franchise record of 77 games without an error come to an end, and it was also the longest active streak among all MLB third basemen.

Honorable Mentions

John Buck

John Buck may have had a rough day yesterday behind the plate, but offensively he batted .278/.350/.667/1.017 in 18 at-bats with two more home runs to give him a team-leading ten homers for the season. He also drove in six runs and now leads the NL with 29 RBI.

Matt Harvey

Matt Harvey didn’t get the win, but delivered another solid start in which he allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings pitched. The right-hander allowed seven hits and uncharacteristically walked three batters, while striking out seven. He’ll get the start tomorrow on seven days rest as the White Sox roll into town.

Jeremy Hefner

Hefner was the hard-luck loser after pitching the best game of his young career against the Miami Marlins last week. The righty did a nice job of changing speeds and using his assortment of pitches to keep the Fish off balance all night for eight solid innings of work. He allowed two earned runs on just four hits and struck out three while walking three.

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

1. David Wright – 3

2. John Buck - 1

2. Matt Harvey - 1