Mets Blanked By Braves in Series Opener

Friday, August 10, 2012

Final Score: Atlanta Braves: 4 New York Mets: 0

Mets Blanked By Braves in Series Opener

The Mets were unable to build off of a great performance by R.A. Dickey Thursday afternoon, getting shut down by the Braves Friday night 4-0.  A difficult second half of the season continues for the Mets, as they are going in the wrong direction in the standings getting closer to the cellar than the top.

It was a highly anticipated night in Queens as Matt Harvey was making his debut at Citi Field.  The air was quickly taken out of the stadium as Jason Heyward hit a two-run homerun in the top of the first inning.  That homerun would prove to be all the Braves would need to defeat the Mets tonight. 

Harvey had some jitters, evident by the five walks he surrendered, but had a solid outing otherwise.  The finish was strong for Harvey, who retired the last nine batters that he faced.  Harvey was also hit by a come-backer in the right thigh by Freddie Freeman in the third inning but was able to stay in the game.

Harvey got back to what he does best in throwing his fastball tonight.  For whatever reason, he had started to wander away from his fastball in San Diego, relying more on his off-speed pitches.

Harvey’s final line was six innings pitched, surrendering two hits and five walks resulting in two earned runs to go along with three strikeouts.  It was a solid but not great outing for Harvey who received no support from the offense tonight.

Josh Egdin would surrender another two-run homerun later in the eighth inning, this time off the bat of Dan Uggla.

Paul Maholm was able to shut the Mets offense down, throwing a gem in surrendering only three hits and striking out five.  Maholm ended the hitting streak of Ruben Tejada at a career high 14 games.

Jason Bay continued where he left off at after being notified of his cut in playing time by going 0 for 3, dropping his average to .152.

Next up for the Mets is a Saturday night game which Johan Santana (6-7, 3.98 ERA) will make his return from the DL against Kris Medlen (2-1, 2.37 ERA).  Santana is likely to be on a 90 pitch limit, meaning the Mets bullpen could be in for a full day of work and needs to step up.   

Mets Salvage Last Game of Series vs. Marlins

Thursday, August 9^th, 2012

Final Score: Miami Marlins: 1 New York Mets: 6

Mets Salvage Final Game of Series vs. Marlins

The Mets were finally able to end their losing streak at Citi Field Thursday afternoon, defeating the Marlins 6-1.  This was the first win for the Mets at home since July 7^th against the Chicago Cubs and ended the eight game losing streak they were on at home.  The losing streak matched the sixth longest one in Mets franchise history. 

R.A. Dickey pitched like the ace he has been all season, throwing a masterful complete game.  It was the fourth complete game on the season for Dickey.  The only blemish for him was a solo homerun given up in the fourth inning to Justin Ruggiano. 

Dickey surrendered only five hits resulting in the one earned run with no walks and 10 strikeouts.  It was Dickey’s sixth double digit strikeout game of the season, giving him 166 strikeouts on the season against only 36 walks. 

Dickey is looking to become the first 20 game winner for the Mets since Frank Viola in 1990, notching his 15^th win of the season this afternoon, tying him with Jered Weaver for the MLB lead.  Dickey, even with the Mets struggles, is right in the hunt for the NL Cy Young award also with a 15-3 record and 2.72 ERA.

For the Mets at the plate Andres Torres shined.  Torres finished the game 3 for 3 with a walk, finishing a single short of hitting for the cycle.  Multiple Mets also had multi-hit games, with David Wright, Mike Baxter, and Josh Thole.

Ruben Tejada was also able to add two hits, upping his hitting streak to a career high 14 games.

The Mets were able to cool of Jose Reyes, who had his 26 game hitting streak ended Thursday afternoon.  Reyes also made a blunder in the field in the 4^th inning that enabled the Mets to retake the lead for good.

Next up for the Mets is a series against the rival Atlanta Braves.  Matt Harvey (1-2, 3.86 ERA) will be making his Citi Field debut against newly acquired Paul Maholm (9-7 3.75 ERA).