The Mets were armed and not dangerous in a two rain delayed 5-0 loss against the Nationals in D.C. Mother nature limited Matt Harvey to 3 2/3 innings, depriving the right-hander from seeing a little more light at the end of his dark and demoralizing tunnel.
Manager Terry Collins said Harvey (4-10) was outstanding despite being the hard-luck loser.
“It would have been great for him to go a few more innings because tonight was some of the best stuff he’s had all year,” Collins said. “Tonight he had it. Tonight he had things going. His arm was working great, he just felt good on the mound.”
Surrendering only one run in his stunted stay, Harvey handed the baton to the recently reliable Jerry Blevins and Hansel Robles. But the duo gave up four runs between them, while the Mets bats belted their rendition of Silent Night.
As New York sinks deeper in the NL East standings, now five games back and in third place, the entire team’s walk up song should be, Free Fallin’.
With the musical chairs of changes to the Mets line-up, the round trip tickets to and from Las Vegas, along with the uncertainty of Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz’s elbows, the Mets are mired in a precarious state of mind.
Baseball’s top prospect Lucas Giolito delivered a dandy of a four shutout inning debut allowing a single and walk to Curtis Granderson. He kept the rest of the Mets off balance and off the base paths with a combination of change-ups, fastballs and curves.
The Mets had a golden opportunity to do some damage in the 6th when they loaded the bases with one out against relief pitcher Yusmeiro Petit. But Dusty Baker pulled Petit for Oliver Perez who struck out James Loney, then retired Wilmer Flores on a fly ball to center, recording his second win of the season.
On the Mets floundering offense Collins lamented, “I’m scratching (my head) a little bit. But we’ve got to make sure these guys stay upbeat.”
Well, to avoid a sweep, Logan Verrett has some big cleats to counter facing Max Scherzer, as he gets a spot start in lieu of the bone spurred Steven Matz. Verrett has come through for the Mets before, but in his latest spot starts he has been found wanting.
The Mets certainly need a win tonight to calm the masses which are getting loud and boisterous – and not in a good way. Another loss and they limp home to Citi Field to begin a four game series against the National League’s best – the Chicago Cubs – who lead the majors with 25 wins on the road.
