Game #122: Padres 4, Mets 3

New catcher, same story on Harvey Day.

Matt Harvey's great start was once again wasted as the Padres tied it in the 8th and won it in the 9th to hand the Mets a 4-3 loss and a disappointing series split.

The Bad Stuff:

• See post-Harvey's departure (i.e. Chris Denorfia's run-scoring single after a double against Gonzalez Germen in the 8th, Will Venable's walk-off homer off Pedro Feliciano in the 9th).
• See also: lack of hitting (i.e. six hits in the whole game, 2-6 with RISP, five left on).
• Travis d'Arnaud was identical on Sunday to his debut on Saturday, going 0-2 with two walks and allowing a passed ball.

The Good Stuff:

• See Matt Harvey, usual outing (i.e. 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 86 P).
• Things looked great at the start when Justin Turner tripled and came home on Marlon Byrd's double.
• Wilmer Flores's sac fly in the 4th doubled Harvey's cushion.
• Omar Quintanilla doubled with two outs in the 7th, forcing Terry Collins to pinch-hit Andrew Brown for Harvey. The moved paid off as Brown blasted a shot off the wall in center field to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.

Final Analysis:
We all act like we're shocked and disappointed at this result of a Matt Harvey start, but to be honest, did we expect anything different? I think I'm more surprised when Harvey does win than when he doesn't. Whatever plagued the New York offense during R.A. Dickey's starts in 2011 is acting in full force against Matt Harvey in 2013. What more is there to say?

MM

Game #120: Mets 5, Padres 2

When (if?) one thinks of Petco Park, "hitters' haven" is not a word commonly used in description. No one told that to the Mets last night.

(NYDailyNews.com)

Marlon Byrd and Ike Davis(!) went for back-to-back in the 3rd and Daniel Murphy's two-run shot in the 4th sealed it for Jonathon Niese and the Mets, who knocked off the Padres 5-2.

The Good Stuff:

• New York got on the board with Eric Young's RBI groundout in the 2nd, but the real fireworks started in the 3rd as Marlon Byrd took Ian Kennedy deep to center field for his 19th home run of the year (one shy of his career high from Texas in 2009). On the very next pitch, Ike Davis connected for only his second longball since leaving Las Vegas.
• San Diego got one back in the bottom of the 3rd on a solo shot by Will Venable, but Daniel Murphy's two-run blast in the next half inning all but assured the Mets' triumph in the sudden launching pad of Petco Park.
• The hitting champion of the night for the Mets, who managed 12 hits off Kennedy and company, was the unlikely Anthony Recker, who went 3-3 with a double and a run after being thrust into the starting lineup due to the (finally) imminent arrival of the Baby Buck. On Saturday night, Recker will likely take a back seat for Travis d'Arnaud's much-anticipated major league debut.
• All the offense was more than enough for Jonathon Niese, who went six innings and allowed a single run on six hits, walking one and striking out nine, including an impressive six in his first two frames.
• LaTroy Hawkins returned to action to nail down the save.

The Bad Stuff:

• The Mets may have put up five runs but probably should have managed more, hitting 2-8 with RISP and stranding 10.

Final Analysis:
Now there's the Jon Niese we all know and love. After a good-not-great return to the rotation the last time around, Niese showed flashes of the brilliance he has shown capable of. And like the last time, he was given enough offense (including an encouraging swing from Davis) to nail down the W that has so alluded Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler in 2013. It's good to have our lefty back.

MM

Game #119: Mets 4, Padres 1

He may not have received the W, but Zack Wheeler was a winner in every other way in San Diego.

Wheeler struck out 12 Padres in six innings of work and Marlon Byrd's two-run double in the 8th put the Mets over the top in their 4-1 win on Thursday night.

The Good Stuff:

• Zack Wheeler put on his best Matt Harvey face, allowing a run on seven hits in six frames with a walk and a dozen strikeouts (also like Harvey, the offense got nothing behind him and he didn't factor into the decision). The single walk was Wheeler's only free pass in his last two starts.
• Tied 1-1, Mike Baxter pinch hit to lead off the 8th and did what Baxter does best: get on base, this time via a hit-by-pitch. After stealing second, San Diego elected to walk Daniel Murphy intentionally to bring up Marlon Byrd. Big mistake: Byrd lined a double to the wall in right, scoring both runners and make it 3-1.
• John Buck's solo homer in the 9th added one more run for a cushion and made Gonzalez Germen's 9th inning job easier; the save he earned was the first of his career.
• Scott Atchison tossed a 1-2-3 7th to vulture the W.

The Bad Stuff:

• Eric Young went 0-4 as his struggles continued; Young is batting .180 since the All-Star Break.

Final Analysis:
The two biggest things holding Zack Wheeler back in his first couple months in the majors were his lack of control and lack of a putaway pitch. He seems to have found them. Watch out, National League.

MM

Game #3: Padres 2, Mets 1

A common refrain of mine whenever the Mets score a bunch of runs is to say, "Hey now, pace yourselves! We might need those runs later!" Usually this is just a little blip I include in the Bad Stuff on days when there wasn't any Bad to speak of. After the blowouts of the past two games, however, that mantra carries more weight than usual.

John Buck's 9th-inning home run was too little, too late, as the Mets wasted a strong outing by Dillon Gee and a chance at a season-opening sweep, falling to the Padres 2-1.

The Bad Stuff:

• After scoring 19 runs over games on Monday and Wednesday, the New Yorkers ran out of gas against Eric Stults and the Friar bullpen, only managing five hits and striking out a whopping 14 times.
• The worst culprits of this sudden zombie syndrome at the plate were the most important part of the order, as the tandem of David Wright, Ike Davis, Marlon Byrd, and Lucas Duda combined to go 0-12 with 10 Ks (Daniel Murphy pinch-hit in the 6-hole in the 8th inning, striking out to give the 3-6 hitters 11 Ks on the afternoon.
• Jeurys Familia fell well short of potential during his stint in the 8th, walking Chris Denorfia, allowing him to go to third on a Yonder Alonso single, and bringing him home with a wild pitch in the next at-bat. The only out he got was a foul-out to first of Jedd Gyorko, bringing his season ERA "down" from infinity to a less-than-infinite 27.00. The good news? He's got nowhere to go but down. Probably.

The Good Stuff:

(NYDailyNews.com)

• Dillon Gee looked impressive in his first start since before last year's All-Star Break, allowing one run on three hits in 6.1 innings with three walks and four strikeouts in 93 pitches. Those three hits were concentrated during a brief lapse by Gee, coming consecutively in the 4th inning.
• The Mets' five hits were also concentrated into just two batters, as Justin Turner went 3-4 with a double in his first action of 2013, while John Buck continued to impress, going 2-4 with a monstrous home run off San Diego closer Huston Street in the 9th.

Final Analysis:
Gee showed no signs of rust after returning from a potentially serious blood-clot last July. With the bottom part of the Mets' rotation in question, it will be especially important to have consistency from the top three starters. Though the sample size is admittedly small, the body of work of Gee, Matt Harvey, and Jonathon Niese is so far outstanding.

Buck saved the home team from an embarrassing shutout, proving to be the MVP of the Mets' position players in the first series of 2013. Look for an extended piece on his importance on RisingApple.com soon.

Starting a second straight season with a sweep would have been nice, but all-in-all the opener was a successful one for the Mets, who will look to add to their momentum by thrashing the feckless Fish this weekend. With series against the Marlins, Phillies, Twins, and Rockies coming up, the Amazin's should be expected to at least finish the month of April with a winning record.

MM

UPDATE: Here is that extended piece: "John Buck: Placeholder or Tenant?"

Game #2: Mets 8, Padres 4

The awkward off day did nothing to deter New York's early-season power serge. If anything, it helped to kickstart the power behind three of its most important youngsters.

Matt Harvey picked up right where he left off in 2012 with a sensational start, and monumental home runs from Lucas Duda and Ike Davis provided the spark for the Mets, who held off the Padres late to win 8-4.

The Good Stuff:

(NYDailyNews.com)

• In the last start of his rookie season, Matt Harvey tossed a brilliant one-hitter against the Phillies. In the first start of his sophomore season, he was even better, turning in 7 one-hit shutout innings with just two walks and a whopping 10 strikeouts on 94 pitches.
• Unlike Harvey's 2012 finale, the New York offense got him a steady supply of run support throughout the game.
• Lucas Duda opened the scoring with a two-run rocket shot in the 2nd inning that reached the Pepsi Porch in a hurry.
• Duda managed another extra-base hit, a double, in the 4th inning, coming home three pitches later when John Buck took Clayton Richard to the opposite field for his first home run in a Met uniform, which made it 4-0.
• In the bottom of the 5th, David Wright chopped a hard groundball into the left field corner, scoring Daniel Murphy from first to make it 5-0. The Captain went to third base on the throw, meaning it would only take slumping Ike Davis a flyball to score.
• Well, ol' Ike hit a flyball all right. One that kept flying, and flying, and flying...all the way to the Shea Bridge. The Home Run Apple did its thing for the third time, and after an RBI single by Buck to score Marlon Byrd later in the inning, the Mets had a resounding 8-0 lead.

The Bad Stuff:

• Just like in Harvey's last start, however, the New York bullpen threatened to derail the whole shebang. Greg Burke let the shutout get away in the 8th inning and San Diego got three runs in the 9th off 40-year-old LaTroy Hawkins (albeit only one was earned)
• Hawkins's two unearned runs came as consequence of Ruben Tejada's second error in two days. He made up for it with a nice play to end the game.

Final Analysis:
What else is there to say about Matt Harvey? We're watching an ace develop right before our eyes. With Johan Santana out of the picture and the title of Team Ace up for grabs, Harvey could have it secured by the end of the summer. Lucas Duda has such potential at the plate; it was extraordinarily encouraging to see Big Dude get not just one but two extra-base hits. His Pepsi Porch home run would've been the talk of the town if not for Ike Davis's Shea Bridge moon shot in the 5th. Ike struggled mightily on Opening Day, so it was nice to see him get off the schneid.

The first two games of 2013 have gone about as well as they could have for the Mets: the starters have been locked in, the bullpen hasn't fallen apart yet, and the offense has been on a tear with 19 runs in two games. New York can do a lot for its early-season momentum by finishing off the Padres tomorrow afternoon.

MM

Game #1: Mets 11, Padres 2

Hope springs eternal for everyone on Opening Day, but for none more so than the New York Mets, and in their 52nd ever Game #1, they added another notch into their baseball's-best belt.

Collin Cowgill's grand slam provided the exclamation point on Jonathon Niese's strong starting effort, and the Mets built on an already strong Opening Day tradition with an 11-2 victory over the Padres.

The Good Stuff:

(NYDailyNews.com)

• Jonathon Niese's first pitch of the new year resulted in a hard single by Chris Denorfia, one of two baserunners in the inning for San Diego, but Niese got out of the jam unscathed. The makeshift rotation frontrunner would not surrender much more on the afternoon, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 6.2 innings, walking a pair and striking out 4 on 101 pitches.
• New York's first run of 2013 came the way so many did in 2012: clutch hitting and pure hustle. With John Buck on first after a two-out walk in the 2nd inning, Ruben Tejada slashed an Edinson Volquez fastball into the left field corner. The burly catcher barreled his way around the bases, charging towards the plate on orders from Tim Teufel. The throw home was well off-line as Buck slid home, scoring on Tejada's double. It was the first of many runs for the home team on this day.
• In the 7th, a man named Collin had a fever, and the only prescription was more Cowgill. With two down and runners everywhere, the leadoff center fielder took a 2-2 fastball from Brad Brach and really explored the space in left field (there will be many, many more of these). Cowgill was hustling so hard he didn't even notice the umpires had signaled for a home run; it took him until third base to start his glorious trot. All it meant is the New Yorkers got their 11th run across the plate all the more faster, turning what was already a blowout into a bona fide laugher and a good time all around for the Citi Field sellout crowd of 41,053.
• Other offensive highlights on the day included:
• Birthday boy Daniel Murphy (2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI)
• Newly-minted Captain David Wright (1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB)
• Outfield acquisition Marlon Byrd (2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI)
• Buck, Tejada, and Niese (2 hits, 1 RBI each)
• The Mets' bullpen combined for 2.1 hitless inning of relief, as Brandon Lyon finished off the 7th, Scott Atchison blew through the 8th, and Scott Rice struck out two in a 1-2-3 9th, his first major league action after 14 long years in the minors.

The Bad Stuff:

• Ike Davis and Lucas Duda combined to go 0-7 with 5 strikeouts. Davis accounted for 4 of those Ks, sparking worries he may regress into his first-half mode from 2012.

Final Analysis:
The Mets' Opening Day dominance continued in their 52nd season, as they improved to 34-18 in seasons' first games, good for a far-and away league-best .654 winning percentage. Terry Collins got his team to play with hustle and intensity as they took care of business against a weaker Padres squad. Sure, it's only one game, and the team probably won't stay in first place much longer, but as I've said before, all that matters is the New York Mets won today. All they have to focus on, as do we, is winning tomorrow. If we all can do that, this supposed lost season will become an Amazin' one.

MM