Harvey’s Wallbangers Nip Bud Early and Often in Mets’ 6-3 Win Friday Night
It was only 5 hits that Bud Norris allowed against the Mets… with Casey Kelly yielding another 3 through 7 innings… but it seemed every mistake made was cashed in by the visitors: walked batters were cashed in. An errant throw (Norris) resulted in a run. And those hits…. there were enough mistake pitches also hit hard in the process: 2 homers and 2 doubles for a team that’s suddenly gotten their hitting gloves on in recent days.
In their 6 games prior to showing up in Atlanta, the Mets have gone 4-2, but scored 6, 5, 6, 5, 11, and 4 runs. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for error for the Braves, now averaging 3.5 runs per game (tied for 23rd in MLB with 57 runs). Matt Harvey wasn’t great, but was good enough at damage control: he gave up 7 hits in 5 innings, walking just 1 and K’ing 5. Atlanta could have knocked him out early, though. In the second inning with 2 runs already in, runners on 2nd/3rd with 1 out, he got Norris out via a bunt, then struck out Nick Markakis – probably the most important K of the night. If Nick even singled, that would have tied the game.
The biggest help Harvey received was from CF Yoenis Cespedes, who threw out Nick Markakis on a play that nearly made it 5-3 in the 5th inning. 100 mph pitch, 90 mph hit, and 93.5 mph return throw. This might have been the throw of the night around baseball if not for Yasiel Puig’s adventure in Denver.
After that shut down – the best rally Atlanta had after scoring twice in the second – the rest went without much fanfare.
Silver linings: A.J. Pierzynski going 3-for-4, getting up to 1,999 career hits, Mallex Smith‘s RBI double, Adonis Garcia‘s 3-for-5 night and a solid single for Freddie Freeman to end his otherwise forgettable 1-5.
Here’s your box.
Next: About the Infield... after further review...