The much-anticipated return of Matt Harvey came with plenty of love and support, but the New York Mets had a winning streak to continue. Outside of a 1-2-3 first inning, Harvey and the Baltimore Orioles could not get anything going in the Mets 7-1 victory.
Matt Harvey received a standing ovation in his return to Citi Field. ? pic.twitter.com/scrkmX0lSP
— MLB (@MLB) May 12, 2021
The Mets fans gave Harvey the standing ovation he deserved, but the offense greeted him rudely. They tagged Harvey for seven runs and eight hits which forced Harvey out of the game in the fifth inning. Kevin Pillar opened things with a two-run triple in the second inning as he continues to fill in nicely for Brandon Nimmo. Speaking of fill-ins, Jose Peraza stepped in for Jeff McNeil and had a great game. Peraza delivered two singles, two RBIs and made a couple of tremendous defensive plays at second base. Dominic Smith‘s bat has suddenly become red hot as he went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Skywalker Leads The Way
Taijuan Walker continued his dominant season by throwing seven innings and keeping the Orioles to just one run. His three walks are deceiving because two came back-to-back in the second inning. Walker was a strike-throwing machine with 63 of his 97 pitches in the zone. When he gave up hard contact, he also benefitted from great defense through the diamond. Drew Smith made a powerful return to the big leagues by working an 11 pitch, 1-2-3 ninth inning, and reaching 97 mph with his fastball.
The win is the seventh straight, and they are building winning habits that were not prevalent in April. They went an incredible 7-for-10 with runners in scoring position, recorded three 2-out RBIs, and stole two bases. As the offense wakes up, they have climbed out of the cellar in MLBs offensive stats. Their average w/RISP is up to 21st, their team average is 12th, and their on-base percentage is 3rd.
The Mets get Thursday off as they head down to Tampa Bay to begin a nine-game road trip on Friday. David Peterson gets the start against Tyler Glasnow for the 7:10 p.m. ET start from Tropicana Field.