Harvey Shines as Mets Trounce Phillies 4/8

Tonight the New York Mets (5-2) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (2-5) by a score of 7-2. Matt Harvey (2-0 0.64 ERA), once again stole the show in his second start once again going 7.0 innings. Harvey fanned 9 Phillies while only allowing one run. Harvey now has 16Ks in 14 IP all while just allowing 1 earned run. 

As good as Harvey was, there was one minor down spot. Harvey walked the leadoff batter several times in the game, though was never hurt by this as he dug deep and found a way to push forward. Harvey set the tone for the game in the first inning by striking out Ryan Howard on a 99MPH fastball to end the inning. 

The Mets then used that momentum and struck first in the top of the second as John Buck launched the 3-run homerun to right field to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Wright and Duda had RBI singles respectively and Tejada added a two RBI single of his own. The Mets called upon Josh Edgin to finish game, and he allowed 1 run in two innings while striking out one. 

Daniel Murphy added two hits tonight and seems to be locked in as he is now up to .308 AVG on the year. John Buck’s 3 RBI now gives him 12 on the year and the NL lead. Things will be interesting if Buck remains hot as everyone knows the Mets have someone waiting in the minors to jump in and take his spot. 

Centerfield was once again a black-hole of offense as Nieuwenhuis and Cowgill went a combined 0-5 with 2Ks. Maybe it is time Valdespin saw an opportunity to prove he is the one who should be out there. Looking ahead, the Mets will face off against the Phillies for game two of their three game series as Dillon Gee will face Cliff Lee tomorrow at 7:05pm.

Pregame: Mets at Phillies 4/8

Tonight the New York Mets (4-2) will travel to Philadelphia to face the Phillies (2-4) for their first road game of the season.

Pitching Matchup:

Matt Harvey (1-0 0.00 ERA) will be on the mound for the Mets and the Roy Halladay. Harvey was phenomenal for the Mets in his first start striking out 10 batters in seven innings of work while not allowing a run. Harvey said his goal was to work later into games this season and with the Mets bullpen struggles it might be need for Harvey to get the W tonight. Last year against the Phillies Harvey pitched 13.1 innings in two starts. He went 1-0 with 13K in those starts.

For the Phillies Halladay’s (0-1 13.50 ERA) first outing was not up to his standards but there were some bright spots. Halladay only pitched 3.1 innings, giving up 5 runs, walked 3 and gave up 2 HRs. The lone bright spot was Halladay fanned 9 batters in his outing. Halladay’s struggles have been well document to start this season. With a terrible spring training and his fastball down a few MPH maybe all the innings he has pitched are finally catching up to him. Over the last 10 years against the Mets, Halladay is 9-2 2.86 ERA and 68K in 85 innings

Line-Ups:

New York Mets	Opponent
Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF	Ben Revere CF
Daniel Murphy 2B	Jimmy Rollins SS
David Wright 3B	Chase Utley 2B
Ike Davis 1B	Ryan Howard
Marlon Byrd RF	Michael Young 3B
Lucas Duda LF	Domonic Brown LF
John Buck C	Laynce Nix
Ruben Tejada SS	Humberto Quintero C
Matt Harvey RHP	Roy Halladay RHP