THE RUNDOWN
The two young righties duked it out on Sunday, but as good as Matt Harvey was, Jose Fernandez and his 14 strikeouts edged him out for the 1-0 Marlins victory.
PITCHERS’ DUEL
In a sign of what was to come, Fernandez struck out Alejandro De Aza to start off the game, the first of the 14 Ks that the Marlins ace would put up on Sunday. De Aza wouldn’t have the worst day on the team, as he was one of just four to get on base, but he’d fall victim to another nasty Fernandez curveball in the third inning. After an Asdrubal Cabrera groundout, Curtis Granderson doubled to center field, but Neil Walker then became the second of many on the day to succumb to Fernandez’s curveball when he failed to check his swing and ended the inning.
Harvey then made quick work of the Marlins, getting Ichiro, Martin Prado and Christian Yelich to line out, ground out and strike out in order. Harvey would only strike out three batters all game, but he only allowed four hits and walked none, helping him keep his pitch count down and get through seven innings on 104 pitches. Harvey wasn’t as dominant as he was last time out, when he needed only 87 pitches to roll through seven shutout innings and accumulate six strikeouts against the White Sox. However, he let the Mets defense, ranked eighth in defensive efficiency in baseball, help him out against a much stronger Marlins lineup by TAv.
By contrast, Fernandez was in peak form. He set down all 12 batters in order from the second to the fifth, seven of whom went down on strikes. Almost nobody could get around on that curveball, as De Aza, Cabrera, Granderson, Walker and James Loney all fanned on the pitch. After Fernandez made him look silly diving for an 85 mph Uncle Charlie, Cabrera let forth an expletive for all watching at home to hear—we feel the same way, Droobs. We feel the same way.
Michael Conforto also got caught looking at a 95 mile-per-hour fastball low and away to start off the second inning, but he did manage to get a hold of a curveball to lead off the fifth, sending a deep drive out to right field. However, Ichiro made this pretty insane play, making you wonder how many other 43-year-olds on the planet can do this:
Harvey might not have been as visually appealing, but he still did a solid job through the first four innings, allowing just one hit—a harmless single to Derek Dietrich—in the second inning.
THE MARLINS COME ALIVE
The most consequential part of the game would prove to be the bottom of the fifth. Dietrich—who had the best game of any hitter on either side—hit a double on a changeup that Harvey left up and over the plate. JT Realmuto followed that up with a single up the middle on a 94 mph fastball to drive Dietrich in for the 1-0 lead. Harvey got Adeiny Hechavarria to hit into a fielders choice and then made a nice play on a squibber off the bat of Fernandez to end the inning, but the damage was done.
THE METS GIVE SOME VITAL SIGNS BUT DON’T MAKE MUCH OF IT
Harvey would just allow one more hit—a single to Christian Yelich in the sixth—the rest of the way. The Dark Knight also collected two of his strikeouts, including one of Derek Dietrich in the seventh on a slider, during his last two innings of work.
Meanwhile, the Mets mounted their biggest threat of the entire game in the seventh inning. Other than Granderson’s double in the first inning, the Mets hadn’t had much luck against Fernandez, aside from a fluke drag bunt single by De Aza in the sixth that Realmuto just couldn’t handle. After Granderson and Walker struck out swinging on curveballs, Conforto singled to right field. Loney poked another through the infield to Ichiro to drive Conforto to third base. In trouble for the first time, Fernandez turned to what had made him dominant all afternoon, and threw his 39th, 40th, 41st and 42nd curveballs of the game to Wilmer Flores, who struck out swinging on the last of those pitches and ending the threat.
With David Phelps in to pitch in the eighth, the Mets were able to at least get bat on ball a bit more, but Rene Rivera, Yoenis Cespedes and De Aza still went down in order. Antonio Bastardo replaced Harvey in the eighth, and there was some activity after Ichiro hit a single, but was picked off to end the inning.
It looked to be over in the top of the ninth against Marlins’ closer AJ Ramos, who came out throwing a little harder than his usual 92 miles per hour, and indeed it was. With two outs and two strikes, Walker did give a brief flicker of hope with a deep drive to center field, but Marcell Ozuna easily put it away just in front of the warning track.
NOTES
-Harvey’s strikeout of Justin Bour in the second inning was the 500th of his career
-Jose Fernandez’s 14 strikeouts tied a single-game high.
-No batter on either side drew a walk the whole game.
-Cespedes was able to work through a right hip injury that kept him out of the lineup to pinch hit in the eighth.
-Juan Lagares has a sprained left thumb and is heading back to New York to get it checked out.
-The Mets will continue the road trip by flying up to Pittsburgh to face Jon Niese today for the first time since he left Queens.
Photo credit: Steve Mitchell – USA Today Sports