The Mets (36-30) defeated the Blue Jays (34-32) by a score of 3-2 Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Pitching:
Matt Harvey looked like his 2013 self, finally putting it all together and delivering a dominant performance. He had command, velocity, and movement on all his pitches. He shut out the explosive Blue Jays over 7 innings, striking out 6 and walking none while allowing 4 hits.
He is looking stronger, keeping his fastball at 96-98 mph as opposed to the 95-97 we’ve been seeing in his last four starts. His slider was sitting at 89-91 mph and was very effective as was his curveball, however his change-up was really his biggest weapon this evening. Harvey was generating swings and misses and looked electric out there, earning the win, his 7th of the season. This could be the start that really turns his season around.
Harvey was relieved by Carlos Torres, who proceeded to walk the first batter and allow two subsequent hits. If it weren’t for a base running blunder by Kevin Pillar, who was run down between second and third base, the bases would have been loaded with nobody out. Josh Donaldson then came to the plate with runners on first and third and was walked, which signaled the end of Torres’ night. He went a third of an inning, allowing 2 earned runs on 2 hits and 2 walks.
Bobby Parnell entered the game with the bases loaded and one out and – gulp – Jose Bautista at the plate. Yes, I was biting my nails. He induced a sac-fly to right field which scored the Jays’ first run of the game. Then with two outs and runners on first and second base, Edwin Encarnacion singled down the left field line to score Jose Reyes from second base, slimming the lead to 3-2.
With Chris Colabello at the plate, Parnell realized his curveball was working and used it extensively to strike him out, ending the inning. He then stayed in for the save, going into the 9th inning with a 3-2 lead. Russell Martin led off the inning with a reputation of being very clutch, but Parnell got him to ground a 95-mph fastball to shortstop for the out. He then struck out Dioner Navarro with three straight beautiful curveballs and Navarro wasn’t even close. Ryan Goins was the Jays’ last hope, and despite working the count to 2-2, he flew out to left field to end the game.
Offense:
Darrell Ceciliani and Juan Lagares each recorded two hits, and Lagares stole a base as well. Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud also recorded base hits.
The second inning was big for the Mets, as Wilmer Flores led off with a double, his only hit of the day. Ceciliani followed him up with a single to put runners on first and third, then Ruben Tejada slapped an RBI single to score Flores. Then, with runners on first and second, Matt Harvey crushed an RBI double in the left-center field gap, extending the lead to 2-0.
The only other scoring occurred in the third inning, as a sacrifice fly off the bat of Wilmer Flores plated Juan Lagares for a 3-0 lead.
Notes:
Matt Harvey really looked good tonight, and missed a lot of bats. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
Jose Bautista hit a triple to right-center field, however it was a ball we’ve become accustomed to watching Juan Lagares run down out there. While it was a play virtually nobody makes, we’ve been so spoiled by his excellence we expect nothing less than perfection. I’m not worried, he’s still the best in my opinion.
Congratulations to Bobby Parnell for recording his first save since July 2013, plus it was his second five-out save in his career. His fastball started out around 91-92 mph, but towards the end he was consistently in the 93-95 range. He’s still working his way back from Tommy John surgery, so hopefully the velocity will return consistently soon.
The Blue Jays had won 11-straight ballgames before coming to Queens and losing two straight from the Mets, which is awesome.
On Deck:
The Mets will travel to Toronto to finish the 4 game split series. Wednesday night they will send Jon Niese (3-6, 4.24 ERA) to face off against Drew Hutchison (5-1, 5.75) at Rogers Centre, with a 7:07 start.
