Just Mets

The Mets lost their third game in a row to the Cubs, this time by the sore of 2-1 tonight at Wrigley Field. Here are my takeaways from tonight’s loss…

Matt Harvey did all he could do.

What a performance tonight on a night when the Mets badly needed a win. It was a classic #HarveyDay in which he dazzled with his electric fastball and breaking ball, racked up the strikeouts, and got the big outs when he needed it. This was very likely Harvey’s best start of the season to date, and certainly his best start since he defeated the Yankees in late April.

He induced two big double plays – one in the second and one in the seventh – which helped him out of jams and kept his pitch count down in the process.

He still can’t bunt, but if that’s the worst part about Matt Harvey’s game, I’ll take it.

He came up big and made the one measly run stand up, which is what aces do. Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t support his magnificent effort – they only gave him one run, and Carlos Torres promptly gave up the lead in the eighth inning thanks to a double from Addison Russell and an RBI single by Dexter Fowler.

It’s disappointing, because he pitched his heart out, and gave the Mets everything he could to try and deliver for him.

Same old story with the offense.

I don’t even know what to say about it at this point. Yes, they’re without Juan Lagares, Travis d’Arnaud, and David Wright. But,the ace pitched with as much guts as anyone can have, and once again, they were more or less uncompetitive yet again tonight.

They just don’t do anything, and when they do get on-base, they are as station-to-station as they’ve been over the last few years. It feels like they need four hits to score a run, and most of the time it seems fortunate when they actually get a hit.

It’s painful to watch. I know they’re without three big bats, but something has to change at this point. It’s a joke.

Bullpen usage.

I don’t know why Terry Collins stuck with Carlos Torres for as long as he did. It was obvious he didn’t have it in the eighth inning when he gave up the lead, yet he was left in to pitch the ninth. He had both lefties, Erik Goeddel, plus Jeurys Familia he could have used even in the eighth inning. Yet, he stuck with an ineffective Torres.

I know the bullpen is short with Buddy Carlyle being out, and it may not have mattered anyway since the Mets can’t hit, but why live and die with Torres when there are still arms available?

Heartbreaker of a loss.

Put the first two takeaways together, and that equates to a big heartbreaker at the end. Hands down the worst loss of the year for this club.

I’m not one to get concerned, but what’s been happening, outside of a handful of games over the last three weeks, is very worrisome….

Other notes from Wednesday:

The Mets have lost three in a row, and 11 of 18 since their 11-game winning streak.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts – he is 3-for-34 with 14 strikeouts to start the season.

The Mets have scored five runs in three games in this series.

The Mets fell to 17-1 when leading after seven innings.

The Mets went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.