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Matt Harvey Falls Apart as Mets Lose Series to Washington

By Michael Papandrea

May 19, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Jayson Werth (28) and Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy (20)celebrate after Murphy
May 19, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Jayson Werth (28) and Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy (20)celebrate after Murphy /
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The New York Mets dropped the rubber match of the series to the Washington Nationals, thanks in part to a few defensive mishaps and another poor Matt Harvey outing.

The New York Mets couldn’t seem to do anything right on Thursday evening as they were blown out by the Washington Nationals by a final score of 9-1. The loss puts the team 2.5 games behind Washington in the NL East and raises more questions for the team’s struggling starting pitcher Matt Harvey.

In the first inning, with Harvey on the mound, Daniel Murphy came to the plate against his former teammate for the first time. With a runner on first and two outs, Murphy was able to crush a hanging curveball to center field for a two-run home run to give the Nats the early lead. Harvey was one strike away from ending the inning without any runs scoring, but he failed to make his pitch like he has for much of the season.

In the third inning, Bryce Harper would collect his first career hit off Harvey to end the longest active hitless streak between a batter and pitcher at 0–21. The hit would put runners on the corners with one out and Murphy coming to the plate. After Harper questionably stole second base, the Mets decided to walk Murphy in hopes of getting Ryan Zimmerman to ground into an inning-ending double play.

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Zimmerman would roll over a slider and hit the ball slowly to Cabrera at short. Had Cabrera successfully converted the transfer from his glove to his throwing hand, the inning would have likely been over with the slow running Zimmerman. Unfortunately, Cabrera picked a poor time for his second error on the season and was unable to get an out as the ball floated past his hand and into the short outfield grass on the transfer.

Next up was Anthony Rendon, who would hit the ball hard and off the glove of the leaping Michael Conforto in left field. The play would be scored as a double rather than an error, but it would plate another two runs to put the Nats up 5-1. Next up was Mets killer Wilson Ramos, who would drive in two more runs with a hard hit single to left. Danny Espinosa would follow that up with a single to center, making way for the opposing pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, to come the plate.

Strasburg would hit a soft chopper to David Wright at third, who would throw to first for the second out of the inning, passing up on another potential inning-ending double play. Now there were runners on second and third for Ben Revere, who would bring in both runs with a triple. 9-1 Nationals.

After 2.2 innings of work, Harvey was taken out of the game – walking back to the dugout with his head down as a chorus of boos rained down on him from the fans at Citi field.

Strasburg was not getting any cheers either, as he gave up just one run through six innings while striking out 10. His record has improved to 7-0 as he has been one of the most improved pitchers this season.

The silver lining of this game would be the Mets bullpen who didn’t give up any runs in their combined 6.1 innings of work. They continue to be one of the best bullpens in the league, as they came into the night with the lowest ERA of any bullpen in the National League.

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The Mets next series presents an opportunity for the team to get back on track, as the 18-23 Milwaukee Brewers will be traveling to Citi Field. After that, the Mets will head to Washington for their second of six series against the Nats.

Thoughts

While the loss was not totally Harvey’s fault, he will not be able to hide behind the poor defense that played behind him tonight. He was surrendering plenty of hard hit balls as he gave up nine runs, six earned, in the shortest outing of his career. The old Harvey would have shown up for a big rival match, but we have not seen the old Harvey this year. His ERA is now 5.77 on the year.

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I don’t think the Mets will do anything crazy (like send Harvey to Triple-A) but it will be interesting to see if the Mets dare to roll him out there in five days for a second straight start against Washington. Terry Collins did not indicate what the plan will be in his post game press conference, but skipping it should be heavily considered at this point.

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