The New York Mets (34-26) defeated the Milwaukee Brewers (28-33) by a score of 2-1 at Miller Park on Friday evening in extra innings.
Pitching:
Matt Harvey was on the mound tonight and ladies and gentleman, Harvey looks to be back to his old self. This may have been Harvey’s best start yet and it is now his third straight stellar effort. Harvey went six innings, allowing one run, walking two, and striking out eight. Harvey’s overall velocity and bite on his off speed pitches have returned.
Harvey got himself into a little bit of a jam in the bottom of the fifth inning. Old friend Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a line drive triple off the right field wall with one out in the inning. After an Aaron Hill walk and runners on the corners, Ramon Flores hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in Captain Kirk to score the Brewers only run of the night.
Hansel Robles came in to pitch the seventh inning in a tie game and walked a bit of a tight rope. Robles had runners on the corners but would ultimately get out of it.
Antonio Bastardo came in to pitch a much needed 1, 2, 3 eighth inning. Bastardo had given up seven runs in his previous seven appearances.
Jim Henderson, who pitched three years with the Brewers, was called on to go through the teeth of the order in the bottom of the ninth. In what must have been an emotional outing, Henderson got himself into major trouble by allowing runners on second and third with one out. Luckily, next up for the Brew Crew was Captain Kirk, who is notorious for his big strikeout numbers during his Mets days. Well, strike out he would, as Henderson was able to get a huge K and the second out of the inning. Henderson then got Aaron Hill to ground out to preserve the 1-1 game.
Henderson would start the bottom of the tenth but he would be removed with a blister issue. With a short pen and a runner on first, Blevins came in and cleaned up the mess to keep the Mets pushing on.
Finally with the lead in the bottom of the eleventh, Jeurys Familia, who was the last reliever available in the pen, came in and pitched a dominant 1, 2, 3, inning. Familia has now recorded 37 straight saves and is 21 for 21 on the year.
Offense:
Junior Guerra kept the struggling Mets offense at bay for most of the night.
After the Brewers had just gone up 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Yoenis Cespedes rocketed a solo home run to left center field to tie the game at the top of the sixth. Cespedes has certainly shown signs of breaking out over the last few games as he looks to end his mini-slump.
In the top of the ninth inning and the game knotted at one, the Mets had an excellent opportunity to take the lead. Asdrubal Cabrera worked a walk on four pitches to leadoff the inning. Wilmer Flores, who has been very hot lately, hit a perfectly timed ground ball single to right field to put two runners on with nobody out. Fresh over from the Braves, Kelly Johnson rapped a single into right field to load the bases with nobody out.
Amazingly, the Mets were not able to score after a Kevin Plawecki pop up, a Neil Walker strikeout, and a Curtis Granderson groundout. The Mets are now 29th in baseball in hitting with runners in scoring position.
In the top of the eleventh, with the score still tied at 1-1, Asdrubal Cabrera lead off with a single. Wilmer Flores came through again and laced a double into left field to put runners on second and third with nobody out. After an intentional walk to Kelly Johnson to load the bases, Kevin Plawecki AGAIN popped up for the first out of the inning.
Matt Reynolds finally delivered by lining into a force out at second in a bizarre play in which the Brewers tried to get Kelly Johnson out twice. A run would finally come home.
Notes:
Kelly Johnson was activated today and got the start at second base. Ty Kelly was demoted to AAA to make room. If that wasn’t confusing enough, Kelly took Kelly’s 55 number as well.
Travis d’Arnuad was the DH in a rehab game in Port St. Lucie tonight and went 1-5. TDA is expected to start catching Saturday.
On Deck:
The Mets will play their third game of a four game series with the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow afternoon at Miller Park. The game has a start time of 4:10 PM. Logan Verrett (4-3, 3.22 ERA) will look to keep the Mets going against righty Wily Peralta (3-7 6.79 ERA). Peralta currently has the highest ERA in baseball amongst qualifying pitchers.
