Mets Game Recap: Hamels stymies Mets as Phillies win, 3-1

The Flushing Nine traveled down to the City of Brotherly Love to begin a 3-game weekend series against the Phillies.

The Real Deal, Matt Harvey climbed the hill for the Amazin’s, and was opposed by Philly southpaw and Mets antagonist, Cole Hamels.

Philly took an early 1-0 lead in the 1st, but the Mets tied the game in the 4th inning.

A long ball off the bat of Ryan Howard in the bottom of the 4th was the turning point of the game.

The Mets were limited to 5 hits and were fanned 11 times by 3 Phillies pitchers en route to a 3-1 defeat in Philadelphia.

Mets Starting Lineup:

1) Curtis Granderson-LF; 2) Juan Lagares-CF; 3) John Mayberry Jr.-RF; 4) Michael Cuddyer-1B; 5) Daniel Murphy-3B; 6) Wilmer Flores-SS; 7) Kevin Plawecki-C; 8) Dilson Herrera-2B; 9) Matt Harvey-SP

Game Recap:

Cole Hamels’ first pitch of the ballgame was a fastball taken by Curtis Granderson for strike one.  Granderson struck out swinging, and the Mets were retired in order.

Matt Harvey‘s first pitch of the evening to lead-off hitter Ben Revere was a fastball down the middle for strike one.  After Revere was retired, shortstop Freddy Galvis stroked the Phillies first hit of the evening.  With 2-outs and Ryan Howard at bat, Galvis stole second base.  Howard then pulled a ball (into the Mets defensive shift) that was deflected by Daniel Murphy in shallow left, allowing Galvis to score from second.

• With 1-out in the top of the 2nd, Cole Hamels nailed Daniel Murphy with a fastball in the right thigh.

Leading off the top of the 3rd, Dilson Herrera lined a double into the left field corner, but was left stranded.  Matt Harvey fouled off a bunt attempt for strike three.  Granderson then popped out foul to the catcher Carlos Ruiz, and with 2-outs Juan Lagares looked at a curveball for strike three.

• Through 3 innings pitched, Matt Harvey threw 44 pitches, with 30 (68%) going for strikes.  He allowed one earned run on 2 hits and a walk, and fanned 2 batters.

With 1-out in the 4th, Michael Cuddyer singled, and took second base on a wild pitch.  With 2-outs, Wilmer Flores drew a base on balls.  Kevin Plaweck then laced a grounder into the hole at short that was kept in the infield to load the bases.  With Dilson Herrera at the plate, Cole Hamels unleashed another wild pitch that allowed Cuddyer to score from third.  The Phillies then elected to walk Herrera, and pitch to Harvey with 2-outs instead.  But, the Dark Knight fanned to end the threat.

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Leading off the bottom of the 4th, Ryan Howard deposited Matt Harvey‘s first offering over the left/center field wall to put the Phillies back on top by a run.

Matt Harvey pitched into more trouble in the 5th.  Carlos Ruiz led-off with a single, and was advanced to second by Cole Hamels.  Ben Revere‘s single scored Ruiz from second to make it a 3-1 Phillies lead.

• After 6 innings pitched, Matt Harvey ended the night throwing 86 pitches, with 58 (67%) going for strikes.  He allowed 3 earned runs on 6 hits and a walk, and fanned 4 batters.  He exited on the losing side of a 3-1 game.  His ERA grew from 2.41, to a 2.72 mark.  Terry Collins lifted Harvey for a pinch-hitter in the top of the 7th.

Cole Hamels retired 9 Mets in a row until surrendering a hit to pinch-hitter Anthony Recker in the top of the 7th.

Hansel Robles entered the game in relief of Harvey in the bottom of the 7th.

Sean Gilmartin entered the game in relief of Robles in the bottom of the 8th.  With 2-outs and a runner on first, Terry Collins summoned Erik Geodell from the bullpen.

Jonathan Papelbon entered the contest to close out the 9th for Philadelphia.  After Daniel Murphy reached on his first hit of the night, pinch hitter Lucas Duda looked at strike three.  Next, Kevin Plawecki swung through strike three.  Dilson Herrera then followed with a lazy fly to left to end the game.

Philadelphia wins the series opener 3-1, as Cole Hamels earned his second victory of the season over Matt Harvey, whom suffered his first loss of the season.

The Mets record now sits at 18-11, with a 5-8 record on the road.

Scoring Summary:

• Bottom 1st inning – With 1-out, Freddy Galvis singled, and stole second.  Ryan Howard‘s single scored Galvis from second.

• Top 4th inning – With 1-out, Michael Cuddyer singled, and took second on a wild pitch.  Wilmer Flores walked.  Kevin Plawecki reached on an infield single.  A wild pitch allowed Cuddyer to score from third, tying the game at one.

• Bottom 4th inning – Ryan Howard hit a lead-off home run.

• Bottom 5th inning –  Carlos Ruiz led-off with a single and was advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Hamels.  Ben Revere singled to score Ruiz from second to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead.

Final Score:

• Mets 1; PHILLIES 3

Highlights:

• The Mets and Phillies picked up where they left off, sort of.  Cole Hamels hit Daniel Murphy with a pitch in the 2nd.  The last time Matt Harvey faced the Phillies, he drilled Chase Utley in retaliation for two Mets batters previously hit by Phillies pitching.  The Dark Knight took no action this time.

• Wilmer Flores looked relaxed, and played smoothly at shortstop.

• Kevin Plawecki extended his hitting streak to straight 7 games.  He was 0 for 2 in throwing out attempted base-stealers.

•  Matt Harvey failed to get a bunt down in the 3rd inning, and then left a pair of runners in scoring position (his father is going to be upset!)  On the mound, the Dark Knight labored through each inning.  This 4 strikeout performance follows a 3 strikeout performance in his previous outing.  Matt will finally make his next start on regular rest, as opposed to the 5 days he’s been getting recently.  Harvey made 36 career starts prior to this season, and allowed a total of 12 home runs.  In 6 starts this season, Harvey has surrendered 4 home runs.  On a side note, he also failed to become the 4th pitcher in Mets history to win his first 6 starts of the season (Dick Selma, Dwight Gooden, Frank Viola).

• Today was Sean Gilmartin‘s 25th birthday.

Next:

5/9 – Saturday, 7:05pm; Mets @ PHILLIES

Jon Niese vs. Aaron Harang