The Mets fell back to .500 in spring training play this afternoon in Jupiter, Florida today, losing to the Marlins by a score of 6-2.
Pitching
Matt Harvey took the mound for the Mets in his third spring start, after a promising outing last week. This afternoon didn’t go as well for the righty, who allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits over just 3.1 innings. He was removed from the game after throwing 67 pitches.
Harvey got beat up a bit by former Met Matt den Dekker, who drove in three runs. One came in the second on a run-scoring single while den Dekker added two more with a double in the third. JT Realmuto put the first run of the game on the board in the first with a sac fly to center that scored Dee Gordon.
Harvey’s fastball was sitting at 92 to 93 miles per hour throughout the afternoon, a few ticks below what he was throwing last year. Asked after the game when he’d be throwing his upper-90s fastball again, Dan Warthen said after the game to expect it at the “end of May,” according to Newsday’s Marc Carig.
The Marlins tacked on two more runs against Rafael Montero in the sixth when Miguel Rojas drove in a pair with an RBI single, giving the Marlins a 6-0 advantage.
Offense
On the the other side, Justin Nicolino got the nod for Miami, and had no trouble against a mostly silent Mets offense. Nicolino scattered three hits over three scoreless frames.
The Mets tried to mount a comeback late in the game, but could only muster up two runs against Miami reliever Dillon Peters. Luis Guillorme drove in a run on an infield single that scored Dominic Smith in the seventh. Phillip Evans added an RBI-groundout in the eighth, but it was not enough, as Peters closed out the game and got the three-inning save.
Only two Mets scratched out multiple hits today: Guillmore and Tim Tebow, who was 2-for-3 in what is likely his last spring appearance.
Michael Conforto went 1-for-3 with a double, the only Met with an extra base hit on the afternoon.
Up Next
The Mets head to West Palm Beach tomorrow at 1:05 to face off against the Nationals, where Steven Matz will face off against Gio Gonzalez.
