Schwei's Mets Notes: Harvey's Hard Luck, A Rare Late Rally And More
By John Schweibacher
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The New York Mets recovered from a pair of disappointing losses to the White Sox last week with two straight wins against the Marlins before running into the hottest starting pitcher in the baseball.
Matt Harvey was the hard-luck losing pitcher Sunday as the Marlins' Jose Fernandez struck out 14 and combined with two relievers on a 1-0 win in the finale of the three-game series.
It was the fifth time in his career Harvey was on the losing end of a game in which he allowed just one run. Only Tom Seaver (seven) and Roger Craig (six) have suffered more such losses for the Mets in club history.
Combined with his seven shutout innings in the win last Monday, Harvey dropped his ERA from 6.08 to 4.95. Harvey's early-season struggles put him in danger of joining this list of the worst single-season earned run averages by Mets starters in club history (minimum 50 innings and 10-plus starts):
- Oliver Perez, 2009, 6.82
- Aaron Heilman, 2003, 6.75
- Dock Ellis, 1979, 6.04
- Pete Schourek, 1993, 5.96
- Dave Mlicki, 1998, 5.68
The Mets rallied with two runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to defeat the Marlins, 6-4, on Saturday. Coming into the game, New York had been 0-18 when trailing after seven innings in 2015.
Last season, the Mets were just 2-57 when they were behind heading to the eighth inning. On Aug. 7, the Mets rallied twice to defeat the Rays 4-3 after trailing 2-1 to begin the top of the eighth and again down 3-2 to start the ninth. The Mets' other win in a game they trailed through seven innings came on Sept. 9, when they scored three times in the eighth to erase a 2-1 Nationals lead in and went on to a 5-3 victory in Washington.
James Loney hit his 100th major-league home run and his first as a New York Met to give his new club the lead in the in its 6-2 win at Miami on Friday night.
Loney became the second player whose first homer for the Mets was the 100th of his career. On June 23, 1963, at the Polo Grounds, Jimmy Piersall hit his 100th major league home run off the Phillies' Dallas Green and celebrated it by running backwards around the bases. It turned out to be the only Mets homer for Piersall, who was released just over a month later. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, two other players connected for "century milestone" blasts with their first Mets' home run: Mo Vaughn (300th in 2002) and Gary Sheffield (500th in 2009).
The White Sox took the rubber game of their series against the Mets on Wednesday at Citi Field with a 2-1, 13-inning victory. Relief pitcher Matt Albers doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 13th inning to give Chicago the win.
Albers is just the third reliever to get an extra-base hit and score a run in extra innings against the Mets. Prior to Albers, the last time it happened was on Aug.19, 1987, when Scott Garrelts of the Giants doubled and scored in a four-run, 10th inning in a 10-6 San Francisco win at Shea Stadium.
The other instance was more memorable. That one came from the Braves' Rick Camp, who homered to tie the game with two out in the bottom of the 18th inning in an eventual 16-13, 19-inning Mets win in Atlanta on July 4, 1985.
The Mets staked Steven Matz to a 4-0 lead Tuesday night, but the rookie left-hander and the Mets' bullpen could not protect the lead as the White Sox went on to a 6-4 win over the Mets.
It was the first time this season the Mets lost a game they led after seven innings (they are now 29-1). The Mets were 74-6 in 2015 when leading after the seventh in the regular season, but lost games 4 and 5 of the World Series after being ahead going to the eighth inning. The last such regular season Mets loss of 2015 was on Sept. 6th in Miami when the Marlins hit solo runs in the eighth and ninth in a 4-3 victory.
Neil Walker's seventh-inning home run off Jose Quintana accounted for all the scoring in the Mets' 1-0 win over the White Sox on Memorial Day at Citi Field. It was the 28th time in club history the Mets won a game 1-0 with a solo home run, but the first time it occurred in an interleague game
Happy Recap: Addison Reed. Mets reliever has not allowed a run in last 13 1/3 innings, dating back to May 4. Reed has allowed 10 hits and struck out 18 during that span.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: No Captain. David Wright goes on the disabled list and will be out a minimum of six to eight weeks with a herniated disk in his neck.
