^Unfortunately, this guy came out dealing today.
The Phillies couldn’t get anything going against Matt Harvey
and the Mets as homers by David Wright and Juan Lagares propelled the Mets to a
5-0 victory Sunday afternoon.
The pitching matchup of All Stars Harvey versus Cliff Lee
looked like it would be a great one, and was for the most part, save for the
two innings in which New York scored all of its runs.
Harvey ran fastball after fastball by Phillies hitters in
the first, with the only baserunner coming when Chase Utley was hit by a pitch
with two outs. He was stranded there, however, when Domonic Brown struck out to
end the top half of the inning.
In the bottom of the first, Lee began with two quick outs on
the Mets’ first two hitters. David Wright then came up with two outs and hit a
ball just above the orange line on the left-centerfield wall. The umpires went
to replay to make sure it was a home run and not a double, but replay confirmed
that it hit the top of the fence above the line.
Former Phillie Marlon Byrd, batting fourth, made things
easier for the umps by hitting his home run into the second deck at Citi Field,
the third time in his last two starts that Cliff Lee had given up back to back
home runs (he gave up consecutive solo home runs twice against Washington before
the All Star break). Just like that, the Mets were up 2-0 with Matt Harvey on
the mound.
Harvey then continued to mow the Phillies down, setting them
down 1-2-3 in each of the next two innings, including striking out the side in
the third. Lee, though, pitched just as well in the second and third, settling
down to retire the next seven following Byrd’s homer in the first.
The Phillies managed a single off Harvey in the fourth, a
Chase Utley single for the team’s first hit, but stranded him as Brown struck
out again and Delmon Young flew out for the third out. In the bottom of the
inning, Lee ran into trouble as Wright led off with a single and, with one out,
Josh Satin reached on an infield single to third.
After John Buck flew
out for out number two, Lagares hit a fly ball to the same area as Wright did
in left-center, a ball that was also reviewed and, unfortunately, was also
called a home run, a three run shot that gave the Mets a 5-0 lead.
Harvey struck out the side again in the fifth, while Lee worked
a 1-2-3 inning of his own. In the top of the sixth, Harvey pitched around a
Michael Young 2-out single to hold the Phillies scoreless for the inning, while
Lee shrugged off two Mets singles to keep the deficit at five runs.
In the seventh, it was more of the same for Harvey, as he
struck out Brown to start the inning, allowed a double down the left field line
to Delmon Young, and retired Kevin Frandsen and John Mayberry, Jr. in his last
inning of the day. Harvey pitched seven innings, struck out ten, and walked
none while allowing no runs on three hits and a hit batter.
In the bottom of the seventh, Antonio Bastardo relieved Lee
and sat the Mets down 1-2-3, including strikeouts of the first two batters.
Scott Atchison relieved Harvey to start the eighth, and
allowed just one hit, a single by Jimmy Rollins, in a scoreless inning.
Jonathan Papelbon was put in for the bottom of the inning to
get some work in, and he retired the Mets in order to end the eighth. Atchison
returned for the ninth and struck out the first two batters before coaxing
Delmon Young into lining out for the final out.
Today wasn’t expected to be an easy win by any means, but
the home runs didn’t make it any easier. Truth be told, Lee was very effective
in the four innings he didn’t give up a run in, but the long ball did him in
again.
Harvey was as good as advertised, throwing 98-99 most of the
game. As the folks on Phillies Post-Game were kind enough to mention, the
Phillies swung and missed at 22 of Harvey’s pitches in seven innings. They were
simply overpowered. Harvey improves to 8-2, while Lee slips to 10-4 for the season.
The Phillies get an off day before traveling to St. Louis to
face the Cardinals Tuesday night. Johnathan Pettibone is scheduled to face
another touted young arm in St. Louis’ Shelby Miller at 8:15pm. The Phillies,
realistically, have to at least win two of three in each of the next two series
to really stay in the playoff hunt, especially with the non-waiver trade
deadline just ten days away.
