The Mets (61-52) defeated the Rockies (47-64) by a score of 4-0 Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Pitching:
Matt Harvey (11-7) was once again fantastic, tossing 8.0 scoreless innings allowing a mere four hits, no walks, and striking out four. Only one of those hits left the infield. Harvey was pulled after throwing only 97 pitches (66 strikes), as the Mets had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning with a 1-0 lead, so he was pinch hit for. Another great outing for the Dark Knight.
Eric O’Flaherty came in to pitch the top of the 9th. He quickly induced a weak ground ball to left-handed Rockies’ leadoff man Charlie Blackmon. However, switch hitting Jose Reyes then doubled to center field and Carlos Gonzalez grounded out to put Reyes at third with two outs. Nolan Arenado then flew out to Yoenis Cespedes to end the game.
Offense:
The Mets threatened many times in the first five innings, but were unable to get a run across until the bottom of the 6th when Ruben Tejada smacked a base hit to right field, scoring Michael Cuddyer. Ruben Tejada had a good game at the plate, going 1-2 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning, sporting a slim 1-0 lead, Curtis Granderson pinch hit for Matt Harvey. The Rockies brought in lefty Boone Logan to face him, who the previous night plunked Grandy with the bases loaded. Tonight, after getting ahead of Grandy 1-2, he walked him to bring in a run, expanding the Mets lead to 2-0.
Then with the bases still loaded, Juan Lagares crushed a double to left field scoring two, giving the Mets a 4-0 lead. Lagares led off and had a huge night, going 3-5 with two doubles and two RBIs.
The 8th inning ended when Daniel Murphy hit a routine ground ball to shortstop, however it hit the base-running Lagares for the third out. Murph went 2-5 tonight.
Michael Cuddyer and Wilmer Flores both had great nights, recording two hits in four at-bats each. Travis d’Arnaud also recorded a hit. Cuddyer also stole a base, and he looked great running. Hopefully his knee problems are behind him.
Notes:
Right-handed batters facing Mets’ LHP Eric O’Flaherty have a batting average against over .425 on the season.
The Mets are 40-18 at home this year, already matching their home win total from last season.
On Deck:
The Mets will send Jacob deGrom (10-6, 2.13 ERA) to the mound to face Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa (7-4, 4.85) Wednesday night at Citi Field at 7:10 pm.
