(SportsNetwork.com) – New York Mets fans have waited a long time for this.
Matt Harvey returns to Citi Field on Tuesday when the Mets continue their
three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Harvey, of course, missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John
surgery and hasn’t stepped foot on the mound in Flushing, N.Y., since Aug. 24,
2013.
“It’s been long,” Harvey said. “It took a while, but I’m glad I’m finally
here.”
The electric right-hander didn’t disappoint in his first start back from the
injury on Thursday against the Washington Nationals, as he scattered four hits
and struck out nine over six scoreless innings to get the win
“When you’ve got a No. 1 guy that you can run out there and you know that,
hey, we give him two to three runs a game and he’s going to win 20 games — we
got that animal,” manager Terry Collins said. “He’s going to change the
dynamic of what our club is all about.”
Harvey may be in line for another strong outing, as he is a perfect 4-0 in
five starts against the Phillies with a 1.08 ERA in five starts.
New York won its home opener on Monday, as Jacob deGrom and three Mets
relievers combined on an seven-hit shutout in a 2-0 victory.
DeGrom (1-1), the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, picked up his first win of
the season, allowing seven hits, striking out three and walking one over 6 1/3
innings. Carlos Torres, Jerry Blevins and Jeurys Familia didn’t allow a hit
over the final 2 2/3 innings to secure the win for New York.
“That was a lot of fun,” said deGrom about getting the home opener start. “I
was looking forward to it… Early on I realized I didn’t have my best stuff
and I managed my way through it.”
Juan Lagares and Travis d’Arnaud drove in a run apiece for the Mets, who have
won all four of their games during the day.
“I thought we hit the ball pretty hard today,” said Collins. “We have to
continue to go out and put good swings on the ball. We have some good
offensive players here.”
Freddy Galvis went 3-for-3 for the Phillies, losers of two in a row. Cody
Asche added two hits for Philadelphia, which was shutout for the second time
this season.
Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Harang (1-1) suffered the tough-luck loss. The
right-hander allowed just one run on four hits in six innings, striking out
one and walking two.
On Tuesday, Philadelphia will turn to righty David Buchanan, who was battered
by the Boston Red Sox his first time out. Buchanan failed to make it past
three innings and was rocked to the tune of six runs and seven hits. He also
walked four batters and absorbed the loss.
“That inning can’t happen,” Buchanan said of his six-run third inning. “Two
outs, no runs have scored yet. You’ve got an open base and you end up walking
a guy. You deserve what’s coming if you keep doing that.”
In three starts versus the Mets Buchanan is 0-2 with a 3.38 ERA.
The Mets won 13 of 19 from the Phillies last season.
