Just Mets

The Mets lost the opener of their three-game series to the Phillies on Friday night by the score of 3-1 at Citizens Bank Park. Here are my takeaways from the loss…

An off-night for Matt Harvey.

He didn’t have his great fastball command today. It was up in the zone and it lacked a lot of electricity, and the Phillies were able to scratch a few runs against him. Ryan Howard singled in a run with two outs in the first, he then homered in the fourth, and Ben Revere drove in a run against Harvey with an opposite field single in the fifth.

It could’ve been one of those days for Harvey, but it could also have been the six days of rest he had since his last start. If it’s the latter, both he and the Mets need to figure out how to ensure he’s sharper for these widely spaced out starts. It’s bound to happen again this season, and it’s all meant to serve his best interests as they endeavor to get him through the regular season (and hopefully, the postseason) healthy and strong.

The thing is, he’s been so good so often for the Mets, that when he puts together a mere quality start, it seems disappointing. It’s going to happen, especially as he works through the process of the first year back from Tommy John Surgery.

The bats were silent.

It was a night the Mets offense needed to pick up their ace, and they failed in that endeavor.

It’s been a too frequent occurrence lately, but the Mets offense was just inept against Cole Hamels tonight, a guy this club usually handles pretty well. Yes, he’s their ace, but they gave themselves no chance against him tonight. They had a lot of poor plate appearances, swinging at way too much junk out of the zone (a lot of which weren’t remotely close). They didn’t work particularly deep counts, didn’t get down a sac bunt, and so here we are.

At some point, the offense has to be able to support this phenomenal pitching staff. Yes, they’re missing David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud, but in fairness, a lot of the veterans haven’t exactly stepped up either. It’s been brutal to watch at times – it’s going to have to change soon…

Other notes from Friday:

The Mets bullpen worked two scoreless innings – they now have a 2.69 ERA as a group this year.

John Mayberry Jr. went 0-for-3 with a strikeout against Hamels. He is now 3-for-22 against left-handed pitching this year.

With his 0-for-4 tonight, Juan Lagares is 0-for-his-last-13 with a walk, dating back to Sunday.

The Mets were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position on Friday.

The Mets are now 5-8 on the road this season.