The Mets got their collective butts kicked on Friday night. That whipping ended the Mets 11-game winning streak, and could have easily sobered them up from the high a 13-3 start could create.
They can thank Matt Harvey for bringing some more Kool-Aid to the ballpark on Saturday.
“We needed a big game and he responded like we thought he would,” Terry Collins said during his post game press conference on Saturday afternoon. “Today, with our best pitcher was huge for us and I thought the game was very important to win.’’
Harvey was utterly brilliant at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon. But not so much for his strikeout rate. After all, he “only” struck out seven batters in his 8 2/3 inning Picaso he painted at The Stadium on Saturday.
For it was his dominant command, efficiency, and ability to throw strike after strike to the powerful Yankee lineup.
He dazzled them with a blazing fastball inside, and kept them off-balanced with his newly discovered curveball on the other side of the plate.
His performance defined the art of pitching.
“The big thing for me was to try and start a new one. I knew there was going to be a lot of hype,’’ Harvey said after earning his fourth win of the year. “The biggest thing was the run support and being able to throw my curveball for a strike.”
And throw it for a strike he did. Harvey threw 21 curveballs, 13 of which were strikes, 9 of which were called strikes.
As dazzling as his fastball was, that curveball might have been his best pitch on Saturday and helped him stay efficient, thanks to being able to throw it for so many strikes. The Yankees game plan was not uncommon with what took place against Harvey in 2013. He has such incredible command that he simply cannot be waited out and pressured. He doesn’t fall behind, and it’s vital for the opposition to not end up in a two-strike count – he has held the opposition to a .122 average with 292 strikeouts in his career when he has a two-strike count.
Still, it didn’t matter, because Harvey was still able to induce quick outs earlier in the count on Saturday. The Yankees put 23 balls in play on Saturday and reached base only six times when they made contact.
Harvey got 26 outs on Saturday, but with the big lead and his pitch count approaching 110 after two Yankees reached base in the ninth inning, Collins had to pull the plug on Harvey Day.
“I wish I could have finished but there will be other times,’’ Harvey said afterwards.
“He deserved it in every way,” Collins explained. “This was his day and he needed to be out there. So I did the best I could to leave him out there.”
Collins wanted to let Harvey finish his masterpiece, but said he needed to pull Harvey, he explained, to protect his ace over the long haul.
“Matt, I can’t,” Collins said he told Harvey when he went to get him in the ninth inning. “As much as I want to, I can’t. This is what we’ve got to do.”
Harvey was so good on Saturday, he had Alex Rodriguez blown away, both at the plate and with his impression.
“That’s always fun, well, not too fun, to see a young pitcher come up. [Harvey] is awesome,’’ Rodriguez said, according to George King of the New York Post. “He threw 98 mph right by me.’’
Harvey recognized the importance of beating the Yankees, the team he grew up rooting for, on Saturday.
“We needed a win and to do it in this ballpark, I think it was really important for us to even out the series,’’ Harvey said. “Any time you are playing another New York team you want to get back in the series.”
For those that question whether or not the Subway Series means anything to the players – and Harvey in particular – that quote should provide some closure.
Just Mets 