Matt Harvey is human, but he’s still impressive.
The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Mets 3-2 in a run-of-the-mill Sunday afternoon baseball game, but even in defeat, Harvey was the story. He entered the game with a sterling ERA of 1.28, and as a result, the eyes of the baseball world focused on Citi Field from the moment he climbed the mound.
Harvey tossed 7 innings of 2-run ball, but he struck out “only” 4 Pirates on the day, and left the game with the score dead-locked at 2-2. Clint Barmes touched up the Mets starter for a 3rd-inning, solo home run, but the story for the Pirates was their own gem of a pitching performance from the unlikely source.
Jeanmar Gomez, making only his 3rd start of the year (8 appearances) held the Mets offense to just 1 run over 5 innings in out-dueling Harvey. Gomez had to be removed after just 65 pitches as a result of calf tightness, but his performance stood on its own, and with a little help from his offense, he led Pittsburgh to the win.
It’s almost frightening to see a 7-inning, 2-run performance grab the headlines in a loss, but Matt Harvey has been that electric in his first 8 starts of the 2013 season. Pittsburgh will claim the win (giving them a very solid 21-16 record), but the Mets have their “ace” of the future, and they’ll be holding on to that hope despite some lackluster (14-20 this season) results.