WHO WON:
The ‘do everything well’ Mets
WHAT HAPPENED, MATT HARVEY TURNS IN A FINE START:
Yes, at the end of the day, that is what it was. Harvey didn’t deviate much from his earlier starts this season and he still missed plenty of spots, but ultimately his stuff was able to get the job done. He held the Pirates to one run — a Gregory Polanco home run in his second inning of work — and struck out four over six innings of work. There was a nice bite to Harvey’s slider most of the night, and he got five whiffs on it. When located well, hitters couldn’t do much with it. Of course, the opposite is also true: Polanco’s home run was a slider hung up in the zone. Sliders, they’re weird like that.
Did Harvey look like his pre-2016 self? No. But that is just something we have to get used to. With the Mets rotation decimated by injury, getting mid-rotation level Harvey production seems like the goal at this point. That is what he did on Sunday night, and it is a great building block going forward.
WHAT HAPPENED, HITS GALORE:
It didn’t much matter what Harvey did Sunday night, because the Mets were hitting the ball very well. They tagged starter Tyler Glasnow for five runs on eight hits, and reliever Jhan Marinez for two runs on four hits. Overall, the Mets knocked 14 hits — five for extra bases. Every hitter to come to the plate recorded a hit, with the exception of Juan Lagares, and only two hitters in the starting lineup didn’t score a run.
Maybe the Mets outfielders are starting to feel the crunch of a poised-to-return Yoenis Cespedes, but Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce both recorded three hits and have put together a solid week at the plate. It is creating a situation where Terry Collins will surely have four outfielders for three spots. Surely Michael Conforto and his above 1.000 OPS can’t be relocated to a bench role, and Bruce has also been good. Granderson seems like the odd man out, even though he has been playing better of late.
WHAT HAPPENED, PAUL SEWALD WITH MORE INNINGS:
Paul Sewald saw two innings in the game last night, and it appears Collins is starting to use him more often. This is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. On one hand, Sewald has been fantastic since being recalled at the beginning of May. He seems like someone who can help a bullpen in need of it. On the other hand, we have seen plenty of decent relievers overused, their ‘hot hand’ swiftly put out by the fireman role they are supposed to be assuming. Will Terry do this to Sewald? Who knows. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:
The Mets put run prevention together with run scoring, and the result was a 7-2 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It wrapped up a nice series win, as they look to inch back to the .500 mark.
WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:
The Mets are now 21-27 going into a seven-game homestand they kick off against the first place Milwaukee Brewers today. Robert Gsellman will square off against Matt Garza in the Memorial Day matchup.
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire – USA Today Sports