The Dark Knight returned to flushing. The New York Mets (5-3) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (3-5) by a score of 6-5 on #HarveyDay. While Matt Harvey wasn’t as dominant as he was a week ago in Washington D.C. However, he still had a quality start, pitching six innings while giving up three earned runs and striking out eight.
It was a bizarre game that had a little bit of everything. A few hit batsmen and the electricity of the crowd gave the game a feel of the old Mets-Phillies rivalry from years past.
Harvey gave up a solo home run to Chase Utley in the first inning, his first home run given up in over 60 innings. Utley would homer again later in the game against LHP Sean Gilmartin. The Mets battled back with a couple hits in the first inning that was capped by an RBI single off the bat of Michael Cuddyer plating Curtis Granderson.
The Mets added on in the second inning. After David Wright popped out with the bases loaded, Lucas Duda smacked a bases-clearing double down the right-field line. Duda would smack another double and draw a walk later in the game. He also played fantastic defense all night.
Michael Cuddyer would get hit with a pitch in the hand in the second inning which would force him to exit the game. The x-ray came back negative. Wilmer Flores was also hit on the hand earlier that inning.
Harvey plunked Utley square in the back later in the game, going after the Phillies unofficial leader and strongest offensive player. While Harvey didn’t have his best stuff tonight, he did display the intangibles. He fought with runners on base, got outs when he really needed them, and was able to find a way to keep his team ahead.
In that same inning, Travis d’Arnaud was called on a catchers interference call which loaded the bases. Terry Collins, who had already argued a few other plays earlier in the game, came out and was fed up. He was eventually tossed from the game.
Later in the game, the Mets finally took advantage of their newly constructed right-center field wall. Daniel Murphy smacked a solo shot over the wall, a home run that Gary Cohen noted wouldn’t of gone out last year.
In the bottom of the 8th, David Wright singled and stole second base. On the play, he seemed to tweak something in his leg and it was announced that he pulled his hamstring. He tried to stay in, but took himself out of the game a few pitches later. Anthony Recker pinch-ran for him and would stay on to play third base for the 9th inning.
Jeurys Familia earned his third save on the night, but not before giving up a solo home run to former-Metroplitan Jeff Francoeur.
Terry Collins noted in the post game interview that it looks like the Mets will have to “make a move” now. The way he spoke about Wright, it did not sound good.
On Deck
The Mets will square off with the Phillies again Wednesday in the final game of the series at 7:10 p.m. Jonathan Niese will matchup with Jerome Williams.
PS: Thank you to my brother @harrisdecker for the awesome Dark Knight graphic used on this post.
