Mets vs. Marlins Recap: Harvey runs out of steam, Mets don't run out of fail

Although the Mets had an obvious advantage in the starting pitching department today over the Miami Marlins, New York failed to score any runs against Marlins righty Tom Koehler. Miami, on the other hand, cashed in with a couple of clutch singles against Matt Harvey in the sixth inning to get the win, 3-0.

The problem for the Mets wasn't a lack of scoring opportunities. They had five hits and five walks against Koehler during the six innings that he pitched. That's almost two baserunners per inning! In the first, Justin Turner hit a one-out double but failed to score because David Wright popped up and Ike Davis struck out. The third inning saw the Mets load the bases with two outs only to have Davis pop out.

Things only got more tantalizing from there. In the fourth inning, Juan Lagares hustled his way to a triple with just one out, but he was stranded after Omar Quintanilla hit a line drive straight at Logan Morrison at first base. Matt Harvey would fly out to end the threat completely.

New York was right back at it in the fifth, though. Turner walked with one out and Wright singled to bring up Marlon Byrd in a juicy RBI situation, but Byrd's center field line drive was miraculously snagged by rookie center field Jake Marisnick. The phenom then relayed the ball to first to retire Wright for the double play.

While all this was going on, Harvey was dominating the Marlins like he's capable of doing. His torched Miami with his fastball/slider combination to record seven strikeouts in the game's first five innings. He even punched out Ed Lucas on a curveball that seemed completely unfair because of how well his best two pitches were working. The only player to reach base safely for Miami in the first five innings was Koehler, who singled in the third.

Then the sixth inning happened. Despite Koehler's success against Harvey at the plate, he was pinch-hit for by Juan Pierre, who singled though the right side to get Miami off to a good start. Rookie outfielder Christian Yelich followed with a single up the middle, and Pierre reached third easily. Harvey caught a break, though, when the next batter Adeiny Hechavarria shot a line drive right at Omar Quintanilla for the first out of the frame.

Harvey wasn't out of the woods yet, though. Giancarlo Stanton was up next, and the two superstars battled for seven pitches before Harvey finally triumphed by getting Stanton to chase a slider on a full count. That made for two outs, but just like in every inning ever, it wasn't enough. Morrison hit a 2-1 changeup through the right side of the infield to bring Pierre home and break the scoreless tie. What a bummer.

The RBI single appeared to be a drag on not only Mets fans, but Harvey as well. He followed the big hit by plunking Ed Lucas to load the bases. Then Donovan Solano worked a full count before lacing a slider into right-center field and bringing home two more runs. Harvey Day was over early.

While Scott Atchison and Gonzalez Germen made sure the Marlins didn't score for the rest of the game, the Mets were similarly ineffective against Miami's pen. New York only managed two baserunners total in three ininngs against A.J. Ramos and Steve Cishek, and the game ended with the Mets being shutout for the first time since May 25.

SB Nation Coverage

* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Fish Stripes Gamethread

Win Probability Added

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Big winners: Juan Lagares +7.5%, Justin Turner +6.3%
Big losers: John Buck -18.5%, Eric Young Jr. -11.2%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Matt Harvey strikes out Giancarlo Stanton to record a key out in the sixth inning, +10.3%
Teh sux0rest play: Logan Morrison hits a single to drive in the game's first run in the sixth inning, -17.6%
Total pitcher WPA: -4.6%
Total batter WPA: -45.4%
GWRBI!: Morrison's RBI single in the sixth inning