The Mets drop their first road series of the 2013 season, losing 2 of 3 games against the hated Philadelphia Phillies. Here are the 3 Up and 3 Down from this series.
Amazing Matt: Matt Harvey pitched the series opener on Monday night, and was spectacular once again. Harvey went seven innings giving up only one run. So far this season Matt is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA and 19 (yes 19), strikeouts. Truth be told, I missed Monday night’s game in favor of a Fleetwood Mac concert, but it’s becoming pretty apparent that any Matt Harvey start has got to be Must See TV for Met fans.
What The Buck? The John Buck home run parade continued this week, with Buck going yard in all three games. Who would have expected it? It’s the great thing about baseball, expect the unexpected.
What Up Dude? Lucas Duda hit two home runs on Wednesday night, and although Citizens Bank Park is a bandbox, it looked like Duda clobbered the ball both times. This is supposed to be the make it or break season for Duda. Let’s hope he makes it.
Gee Gets an F: Dillon Gee took the mound Tuesday night. Watching him pitch reminded me of the old Bugs Bunny cartoon with the Gas House Gorillas. Gee couldn’t get anyone out, going only three innings and giving up seven runs. It looked even worse than that… Not a good outing at all.
What The Heff? According to our guys on SNY, in his last outing against the Phillies last season, Jeremy Hefner gave up seven runs without retiring a better. In that context, last night’s outing was an improvement. Hefner, like Gee went three innings giving up five runs. The first inning was a horror, but things did get slightly better for Hefner.
Reality Check: After winning two series against the Padres and Marlins, Met fans were riding high. But when the level of competition increased, we got a nasty reality check. Looking at the National League, the “elite” teams are the Nationals, Braves, Reds, Giants, and Dodgers. The weakest teams are our Mets (sorry), the Marlins, Cubs, Padres and Rockies. For the Mets to turn the corner, they have to start winning series from the better teams. As Met fans, this is what we have signed up for. We have to be patient and watch this team evolve. A big thing to watch for is how both Hefner and Gee do in their next outings (Colorado?). Stay tuned.
Off to Minnesota with an 8:00 PM start on Friday, 4:00 PM on Saturday, and 2:00 PM on Sunday.
