Mets' Harvey Set To Face Strasburg In Marquee Matchup At Citi Field
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Time to head home and warm up.
A frigid road trip for the Mets came to a miserable end Thursday when Jon Garland and the Colorado Rockies completed a three-game sweep with an 11-3 victory at Coors Field.
It was a disruptive trek for New York, which went 3-5 on what was supposed to be a 10-game swing. Wintry weather wiped out Sunday's series finale in Minnesota, and heavy snow that hit Denver forced a pair of postponements this week and a frosty doubleheader on Tuesday.
"This has been a tough trip," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We're glad it's over and we know the weather's going to start changing, soon start getting baseball weather. We've got to start taking BP like we normally do and get back on our schedule."
New York finally returns to Citi Field to face the Washington Nationals on Friday night, with Matt Harvey set to pitch against Stephen Strasburg in a marquee matchup.
"I don't think there's any question Matt gets up for it," Collins said. "He loves the big stage."
Harvey (3-0, 0.82 ERA) traveled back home Thursday ahead of the team.
Harvey struck out nine in eight innings in his last start Saturday. His no-hit bid was broken up with two outs in the seventh when Justin Morneau homered.
"I'm glad they've got another good young pitcher coming along that's showing a lot of promise," said Nationals manager Davey Johnson. "That's interesting, and I'll look forward to it when Friday comes."
Strasburg (1-2, 2.95) has lost two straight starts, though he was dominant in a pair of wins at Citi Field last season.
It all adds up to a great matchup in Queens. Especially with the Nationals riding a franchise-record eight-game road winning streak.
"I don't necessarily want to be like anybody else that I'm pitching against," said Harvey. "I want to be my own guy, an individual. Obviously, that's not knocking (Strasburg) in any way. He's one of the best in the game. But for me, I play on the New York Mets. I wear the number that I wear. It's about winning in this clubhouse and winning in New York -- that's what's most important."
Will Harvey make a statement tonight against the Nats? Sound off in the comments...
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