Mets vs Rockies Recap: The Dark Knight dominates

Matt Harvey was brilliant and Juan Lagares had three hits as the Mets shut out the Rockies 4-0. Daniel Murphy, Michael Cuddyer, and Wilmer Flores also had multiple hit games. For Harvey, his eight shutout innings lowered his ERA to 2.61 and got him his eleventh win.

The Mets' offense had some frustrating at-bats throughout the first five innings. Lagares led off the game with a double but didn't move any further. Lagares again reached second base in the third inning after he and Daniel Murphy singled, but a strikeout and a pop-up ended the threat. Wilmer Flores doubled in the fourth, but that threat ended when Rusin struck out Harvey. By the time Travis d'Arnaud singled to push Cuddyer to second in the sixth, the Mets were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Tejada quickly changed that with a single to right, scoring Cuddyer and giving the Mets the lead. They tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning, again getting to the Rockies' bullpen. Cuddyer's single and stolen base were followed by walks to d'Arnaud and Tejada, setting the stage for a rematch of last night's Boone Logan-Curtis Granderson matchup. Granderson again got the better of Coloardo's lefty specialist, walking to drive in a run. Lagares then promptly lined a ball on one hop off the left field wall to drive in two more runs and give the Mets a 4-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Harvey was cruising through the Rockies' lineup. Before Ben Paulsen's seventh-inning double, Colorado didn't have a hit leave the infield. Harvey only struck out four but walked none, and he was clearly befuddling opposing batters all night. The Harvey who had a 10 K/9 and was arguably the best pitcher in baseball hasn't made his way back to the Mets just yet, but the current version has been plenty effective. The results he's delivered are very impressive for any pitcher in his first year back from Tommy John surgery.

Eric O'Flaherty came in for the ninth and pitched much more effectively than he had in his previous Mets outings. He induced a weak ground ball from Charlie Blackmon and gave up a double to Jose Reyes. But he then closed the door by getting the red hot Carlos Gonzalez to ground out and inducing a fly ball from Nolan Arenado.

The win was the Mets' fortieth at home this year. They are 9-2 in their last 11 games and 14-8 since the All-Star break. With the win and the Nationals' loss to the Dodgers, the Mets have a 2.5 game lead in their division. Washington faces Clayton Kershaw tonight, and Jacob deGrom starts for the Mets against the Rockies.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Purple Row GameThread

Win Probability Added

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Big winners: Matt Harvey, +40% WPA; Ruben Tejada, +19% WPA; Juan Lagares, +9% WPA
Big losers: Juan Uribe, -12% WPA; Yoenis Cespedes, -10% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Ruben Tejada singles to drive in Michael Cuddyer in the sixth, +19.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Matt Harvey strikes out in the fourth, -5.1% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: 52% WPA
Total batter WPA: -2% WPA
GWRBI!: Ruben Tejada