4/13 Game Recap: Matt Harvey Goes 6 2/3 innings with a No-No, Mets Win, 4-2

Ok.

Now I can move from the spot I was in for almost 7 innings.

The story in the first 4 innings was, “when are the Mets going to get Matt Harvey a run?” He was once again dominant, and kept us on the edge of our seats, not giving up a hit until 2 outs in the 7th, when the left-handed Justin Morneau ruined the no-hitter and the shutout, turning on an inside slider from the right-hander and blasting it high off the right field foul pole.

The Mets finally got him the runs he needed in the top of the 5th, starting it off with 7 straight hits to make it 4-0.

I began the game by jotting down the play-by-play in the body of this post. As it got farther and farther into the no-hit bid and I hadn’t generally moved from my spot on the couch, I knew that if he finished the no-hitter, the recap would look like the following, with a brief explanation prior to the 9-inning play-by-play:

Cowgill tries bunt for hit, but pitcher gets him at 1st.
Murphy ok with being out on strikes.
David strikes out.
Baxter in for defense in left.
Mauer groundout to 1st.
Willingham out by wright.
Morneau.

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

Bobby Parnell, who had yet to get a save opportunity, stumbled a bit in locking down his first, but held steady with the comfort of starting the 9th with a 3-run lead. The Mets won the game, 4-2.

Box score and Highlights here.

Highlights:

• Matt Harvey was once again Baller. Eight innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, 1 run, keeping the Twins hitless through 6 2/3 innings.

• The Mets started the 5th inning off with 7 straight hits: Marlon Byrd crushed it to the 2nd deck of left field for his 1st home run as a Met; Ike Davis singled to left but got thrown out trying to stretch it to a double; Justin Turner singled; Ruben Tejada doubled; Collin Cowgill got an RBI on an infield dribbler to 3rd; Daniel Murphy singled scoring Ruben; Twins pitcher Scott Diamond, coming back from off-season elbow surgery, was removed from the game; David Wright singled on the first pitch from reliever Josh Roenicke and off the pitcher’s leg, scoring Cowgill for the 4th run of the game; John Buck grounded out softly to shortstop, ending the hit streak at 7.

• Justin Turner led the hit barrage, going 3 for 4 with a run scored in the DH role.

• Daniel Murphy was the only other Met with a multi-hit game, going 2 for 4 with a run batted in.

• Collin Cowgill, David Wright, Marlon Byrd, Ike Davis and Ruben Tejada had 1 hit each.

• As stated before, Bobby Parnell was a bit shaky in his first save of the year, leaving a few over the plate and giving up a pair of doubles to the heart of the Twins lineup for their 2nd run of the game. Luckily, he buckled down enough for his 1st save of the year.

Thoughts:

I normally have many, and I…think I have lots right now…but against the standard Sam Maxwell way, I am speechless when it comes to saying more about Matt Harvey. And that’s basically all we’re concerned about regarding this game. So, let’s just listen to another Baller, Mets fan and Queens native Nas, while we saturate ourselves in the glory of another dominant Matt Harvey performance before the final game of the series tomorrow when Dillon Gee will take on Kevin Correia at 2:10PM EST (the game will most likely be rained out according to Gary and Keith.)*

LET’S. GO. METS.

*For someone who is speechless, that was quite the run-on sentence…

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