Matt Harvey continued to be the weakest link in the Mets’ rotation on Tuesday night. Feeling under the weather and pitching in poor weather, Harvey allowed three runs in 5 2⁄3 innings to the anemic Braves and the Mets were one-hit by Matt Wisler and Arodys Vizcaino in a 3-0 loss before 27,356 at soggy Citi Field.
Harvey (2-4, 4.76 ERA) was sick on Monday, according to manager Terry Collins. But the Dark Knight had improved enough to face the Braves, who came in with a 6-19 record, including defeats in all four previous games with the Mets.
Atlanta had hit five home runs on the season, or four fewer than Mets second baseman Neil Walker. But Harvey gave up a fifth-inning home run to Mallex Smith to snap a scoreless tie and allowed two more runs before getting knocked out in the sixth.
The Mets’ homer-happy offense was stifled by Wisler, who didn’t allow a hit until Asdrubal Cabrera singled to center with one out in the fifth.
Wisler (1-2, 3.24) went eight innings. The righthander walked two, hit a batter and struck out four.
In his brief career, the 23-year-old Wisler is 3-1 with a 1.55 ERA against the Mets and 6-9, 5.08 against the rest of baseball.
Harvey, the Mets’ Opening Day starter, allowed eight hits, walked two, struck out four and threw two wild pitches in a 100-pitch effort.
The Mets had won nine of 10 — beginning with a three-game sweep in Atlanta on April 22-24 — and had hit 34 home runs in their last 16 games.
But it was the Braves who got on the board first in the fifth when Smith hit an opposite-field shot into the leftfield corner that was just fair and just over the orange home-run line.
Smith’s ball was originally ruled in play and went for an apparent triple as the ball caromed past Michael Conforto. But the umpires huddled and crew chief Gary Cederstrom called for a replay review. It took only 50 seconds to award Smith the first home run of his career.
Harvey had done his best to keep the game close. The Braves were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position in the first five innings.
In the sixth, former Met Kelly Johnson led off with a single and scored on A.J. Pierzynski’s double to the left-centerfield wall to make it 2-0. Pierzynski had two hits off Harvey and is 5-for-6 lifetime against him.
The Braves picked up another run in the inning when Pierzynski scored without a throw on a wild pitch. The slow-footer catcher had moved to third on a fly ball to center and was just safe as Yoenis Cespedes uncorked an impressive throw on the fly to David Wright. It was pretty much the highlight of the night for the Mets.
..... - Newsday