The Mets defeated the Diamondbacks by the score of 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field. Here are my takeaways from the win…
A fun #HarveyDay.
It was all about Matt Harvey on Saturday, literally.
Harvey got off to a rough start, but he really kicked it in gear starting around the third inning. He was struggling with the command of all of his pitches early and didn’t really found the feel for his off-speed until the seventh inning, but he found pinpoint control with his fastball and lived on it for the rest of the afternoon.
Once again, he didn’t have it at 100 percent on Saturday. But the difference between today and last Saturday when he didn’t have it was he had that fastball command and didn’t have to hang his hat on his curve and slider with the risk of hanging those pitches. That allowed him to survive and keep the Mets in this ballgame today.
He gave the Mets the lead with a fifth inning, two-run home run off of Patrick Corbin (watch), another pitcher still working his way back from Tommy John Surgery. The Mets and Harvey didn’t look back at that point, and went on to seal a really nice and very important win.
A power surge.
Including Harvey’s home run, the Mets hit two more home runs which accounted for all of the Met runs today. Lucas Duda hit his second home run in as many days in the fifth inning, and then Ruben Tejada – yes, Ruben Tejada – smoked a solo home run in the sixth inning.
The Mets didn’t hit home runs for the better part of a month, but the last three days have featured some, and some big ones at that. Duda’s home run on Friday and Harvey’s home run on Saturday helped secure two consecutive come-from-behind wins.
The Mets have to have that ability to score runs in bunches, and that comes with extra-base power which they’ve featured over the last three days. If this lineup is firing to at least better than it was over the month prior, this team isn’t going to lose a lot of games with this pitching staff down the stretch.
A very important series win.
The Mets have now won three consecutive series against three tough teams. But now, they’ve won the season series against the Diamondbacks, meaning if the two finish the season tied for the second wild card, the Mets will play Arizona at home for the play-in game. What’s more, if the Mets and Diamondbacks finish with equal records and win the wild cards, the Mets get the home game for the play in game.
It’s these little things which can prove absolutely crucial in a season, especially when it comes to the postseason.
Now, the Mets need to go for the jugular tomorrow, get a sweep and head into St. Louis next weekend on a super high note…
Mets pitching has held Paul Goldschmidt hitless in this series – he is 0-for-7 in the first two games of this series.
Harvey’s home run marks the first time the Mets have had more than one pitcher hit a home run since 1997 when Rick Reed, Mark Clark and Armando Reynoso went deep.
The Mets are now 33-5 when scoring four or more runs, 38-3 when leading after six innings, 38-3 when leading after seven innings, and 40-1 when leading after eight innings.
Jeurys Familia recorded his 26th save with a scoreless ninth inning – he’s the fastest Met ever to reach 26 saves in a season.
The Mets now have 21 come-from-behind wins in 2015.
The Mets are 31-14 at home – the 31 home wins are tied with the Cardinals for the second-most home wins in the National League.
Just Mets 