The Mets avoided the sweep tonight thanks to an all-around solid performance by rookie Matt Harvey as they defeated the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 8-4.

Harvey was sensational on the mound as he held Reds batters to just one run on four hits in 7.2 impressive innings of work. His control was spot-on as he walked just one batter in the game while striking out eight. He shutdown one of the top offenses in the league and at times looked absolutely dominating. Harvey even helped himself at the plate with a big two-run double in the fourth inning. This kid is 3-for-9 so far at the plate.

“What you saw tonight was a little taste of what this guy’s going to be able to do,” manager Terry Collins said. “When he’s got the command going like he did tonight, everything working, he’s going to be tough to hit.”

In other news, the Mets scored some runs…

Ike Davis had a solid night at the plate going 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double, a walk, two RBI and two runs scored. The bad news is that he’s still only batting .216 for the season which is quickly running out of weeks.

Strike up the band as Jason Bay chipped in with two hits including a home run, his sixth of the season. He’s now batting .159 and it still appears he won’t be hitting his weight this season. I always thought that was just an old baseball adage. I never really believed there were actual major league ballplayers who couldn’t hit their weight, especially one that gets paid $18 million dollars a year.

Frank Francisco did his best to blow the win for the Mets. The Mets closer came in to pitch the ninth and was quickly greeted by a Ryan Ludwick home run. Two more runs would score on a walk and a trio of hits before Terry Collins finally replaced him with Jon Rauch who mercifully got the final out of the inning. Francisco has been a train wreck this season and I shudder to think that he’s coming back next season for the tidy sum of $6.5 million dollars. Psst… That’s more than what Luis Castillo was making annually… remember him?

Anyway, it was a much needed win for the Amazins. As the season winds down into nothingness all we have lett is the sprinkling of a few highlights like the one we got from Matt Harvey. Small favors.

Tomorrow, the Mets begin a three-game series against the NL East powerhouse-  Washington Nationals. Johan Santana (6-8, 4.58 ERA) takes the mound against LHP Ross Detwiler (6-5, 3.18) at 7:10 PM.

LGM