Matt Harvey Struggles Again vs. Atlanta Braves

By Kenneth Teape | Jun 18, 2016

Jun 17, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey (33) reacts during the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Matt Harvey came back to Earth Friday night, losing for the second consecutive time to the Atlanta Braves.

It has been a struggle at times this season for Matt Harvey. He looked like a shell of himself in his first 10 starts of the season, registering a 6.07 ERA. There were rumors of the New York Mets contemplating a demotion for Harvey, or removing him from the rotation so that he could work on things and get back on track.

Harvey was able to talk himself into the rotation, and things looked to finally be clicking for him. After some disastrous starts, Harvey put together three strong outings in a row against the Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers.

Harvey looked more like his old self in those three starts, as he was throwing the ball harder and the results improved. He allowed only two runs in 20 innings, reaching the seventh inning of a game for the first time all season.

But, the hot streak came to an end Friday, as Harvey struggled against the lowly Braves. The Braves are one of the worst teams in baseball this season, but have had their fair share of success against Harvey. Prior to Friday, the Braves scored five runs in 10 2/3 innings against Harvey, piling up 15 hits and three walks.

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It was much of the same Friday, as Harvey couldn’t navigate through a Braves lineup that has only Freddie Freeman as a player that strikes fear into an opponent. The Braves got to Harvey on Friday for four runs in six innings, as they had seven hits and two walks.

Where Harvey struggled was finishing off innings. Three of the four runs the Braves plated against Harvey came with two outs in the inning. In the third inning, Ender Inciarte and Freeman hit back-to-back doubles with two outs, and then in the fifth inning Nick Markakis had an RBI single with two outs.

That was more than enough to knock off the Mets, whose offense went back to being punchless after scoring 17 runs in the last two days against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The only run for the Mets came in the first inning, as Curtis Granderson hit a leadoff double and scored later on a groundout from Yoenis Cespedes.

The Mets were unable to get anything going against their former farmhand, John Gant. Making his second career start, Gant mowed down the Mets with relative ease. After surrendering the double to Granderson to leadoff the bottom of the first, Gant didn’t allow a hit until Asdrubal Cabrera had a double in the sixth inning with two outs.

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Harvey will look to get back on track next week when he faces the Braves, this time at Turner Field, once again. The Mets will look to get back in the win column tonight when Steven Matz takes the mound against Aaron Blair.

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