In his last start, the Mets’ bullpen coughed it up in Chicago and Matt Harvey got a no-decision in a loss to the Cubs. Tonight, Jeurys Familia blew his first save opportunity of the season, but the Mets regrouped to win, 2-1, in 14 innings.
Tonight was the third straight start in which Harvey failed to win his sixth game.
The Mets, playing in their first extra-innings game of the season, won it when the struggling John Mayberry Jr., drove in Eric Campbell on a bases-loaded, pinch-hit infield single. By this time, Harvey was long time gone with an ice-pack on his valuable right arm.
Familia, who had been perfect, was shaky in the ninth. The Cardinals put runners on the corners on Yadier Molina‘s hit-and-run single and Jason Heyward followed with a sacrifice fly to right.
The Mets had a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth, but Michael Cuddyer struck out to end the inning with two runners on.
BULLPEN OVERALL STRONG
Yes, Familia was off, but overall the Mets’ bullpen still got five scoreless innings from Hansel Robles, Erik Goeddel, Alex Torres and Carlos Torres.
DEFENSE ENABLED HARVEY TO STAY IN
Harvey came out for the eighth inning despite throwing 97 pitches. This is how it should be with Harvey. If the game is close late, this is when you push the envelope with Harvey, who was greatly aided by double plays in the fourth and seventh innings.
Wilmer Flores started an inning-ending double play in the fourth when he made a diving, back-handed stab of a sinking line drive. Flores also took part in a double play in the seventh.
Take away those two plays and Harvey would have been forced to pitch to at least another two hitters. That would have pushed him over 100 pitches and he would have been out of the game.
Harvey struck out nine for the second straight game.
DUDA BEATS SHIFT TO DRIVE IN RUN
Sometimes the Cardinals are too smart for their own good. With Curtis Granderson on third and Lucas Duda at the plate, the Cardinals put on shift that almost defied belief as they had the third baseman hold the runner and put everybody else on the first base side of the infield.
However, if you’re going to employ that shift, you have to pitch inside but John Lackey left the ball out over the plate and Duda grounded it up the middle. With a normal shift, the shortstop would have been in position to field the ball.
GOOD DEFENSE SAVES HARVEY RUN IN FIRST
Cuddyer saved the Mets a run in the top of the first when he cut off Jhonny Peralta’s double from going all the way to the left field wall. Had Cuddyer not cut off the ball, Matt Holliday, who reached on an error by third baseman Eric Campbell, would surely have scored.
Lackey put down the Mets, 1-2-3, in the bottom of the first.
By the way, Milwaukee centerfielder Carlos Gomez, who was hit in the head by a Noah Syndergaard fastball Sunday, homered in his first at-bat tonight in Detroit.
METS GET POSITIVE INJURY NEWS ON WRIGHT, D’ARNAUD
The Mets got some positive injury news today regarding David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud. Wright, on the DL with a pulled right hamstring, was on the field today resuming baseball activities.
“The big thing now is to see how he [feels when he] wakes up tomorrow,’’ manager Terry Collins told reporters prior to Monday’s game.
D’Arnaud, on the DL with a fractured finger, swung the bat today for the first time.
Collins did not speculate on when they will return, and also offered no timetable for relievers Bobby Parnell and Vic Black, who are on rehab assignments at Single-A St. Lucie.