The New York Mets (31-23) were unable to complete the sweep and were shutout 1-0 by the Miami Marlins (29-27) this afternoon at Marlins Park.
Sunday’s finale in Miami, was everything you could ask for in what was billed as a marquee pitching matchup as Marlins ace Jose Fernandez dueled Mets right-hander Matt Harvey. Unfortunately for the Mets, Fernandez had the edge over Harvey in what could only be described as an electrifying performance by the young Cuban right-hander who struck out a career-high 14 batters in 7.0 scoreless innings.
Pitching:
Matt Harvey followed up his last outstanding start with another solid effort, the only flaw was giving up an RBI single to J.T. Realmuto in the 5th inning to give the Marlins the only run they’d need to avoid being swept by the Mets.
Though he only struck out three batters in the game, Harvey walked none and allowed just four hits in his 7.0 innings of work. Harvey tossed 104 pitches, 70 of them for strikes and he lowered his ERA to 4.95 for the season. It was nearly two runs higher two starts ago.
One big takeaway for me was seeing Harvey fire two strong innings to close out his performance after being tagged for a run in the fifth. Nice job by Harvey, who averaged 95.6 on his fastball today and is certainly moving in the right direction.
Antonio Bastardo pitched a scoreless 8th inning, allowing just a harmless single to Ichiro Suzuki, but then picked him off when he tried to steal second.
Offense:
Not much to speak of offensively for the Mets who were only able to muster four hits against the Marlins, including singles by Alejandro De Aza, Michael Conforto and James Loney, and a first inning double by Curtis Granderson.
Notes:
Yoenis Cespedes who has been bothered by a sore hip, came in as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning and flied out to Ichiro Suzuki in shallow right field.
The Mets were shutout for the fifth time this season and struck out a season high 15 times against Fernandez and the Marlins.
The Mets are now 22-5 when they score four or more runs and 8-19 when they score three or fewer.
Up Next:
The Mets begin a three game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday at PNC Park. Steven Matz (7-1, 2.60) will duel against fellow southpaw and former Met Jon Niese (5-2, 4.36) in a 7:05 PM matchup.
