The Dark Knight Rises, 10 Years Later: Start #22

Here at Amazin’ Avenue, we’re marking the 10-year anniversary of Matt Harvey’s transcendent 2013 season by spending the year looking back at each of Harvey’s amazing 26 starts that season, one by one, on the anniversary day of each start. We’ll re-live one of the best pitching seasons in Mets history, start-by-start, from its zenith to its tragic end.

We continue today with his 22nd start on the road against the Marlins. You can read about his last start here.

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Matt Harvey basically took no prisoners in his 2013 season. He was dominant nearly every time out. There was seemingly nobody that could get the best of him...except for the Miami Marlins.

The Marlins were discernibly not a good team. Even though they were no longer on a 1962 Mets pace like they were in the early part of the season, they were still just 42-65, a comfortable 23 games under .500 with one of the worst offenses in the league coming into the game on August 1. But for some reason, every time Harvey went to South Beach, he struggled.

In his first start in Miami, Harvey only allowed one run, but surrendered seven hits and two walks, and had to toss 121 pitches just to get through 5.1 innings. In his second start down there in June, Harvey actually got roughed up for four runs and 10 hits in just five innings, which remained, to this point, the only start all season that Harvey had failed to record an out in the sixth inning in.

He had a third crack at it in this start, his last one in Miami for the season. He was on a roll to start the second half, but could he keep it up against the pesky Fish?

Well, he started off really well. In fact, he retired the first eight hitters before the opposing pitcher, Tom Koehler, singled off him in the third.

No matter, Harvey got through the inning without any trouble, and got through the fourth and fifth innings without allowing any more hits as well. Miraculously, against the annoying Marlins in Miami, Harvey was through five shutout innings, having allowed just one hit to the pitcher and no walks with seven strikeouts.

Could this be it? With his pitch count at a reasonable 79, could Harvey finally have a signature start in Miami and go deep into the game?

Well, it’s the Marlins. So I think you know the answer to that question.

Trying to keep the game tied at zero, because of course he didn’t get any run support, Harvey went back out for the sixth. He finally allowed his second hit of the game to a pinch-hitting Juan Pierre, who led off the inning. Then he allowed another hit to Christian Yelich, which moved Pierre to third. He’d get a little lucky on a lineout to short, and then struck out Giancarlo Stanton for a big second out.

But then the going got rough. Logan Morrison bounced a ball past a diving Daniel Murphy and into right field for an RBI single, on Harvey’s 100th pitch of the game, and his 21st of the inning.

Harvey’s 101st pitch of the night was a 95 MPH fastball that tailed inside and hit the batter on the hands to load the bases. Most managers would have pulled their starter here after a laborious inning was now getting out of hand, and signs that his command was wavering.

Not Terry Collins. Harvey was left in to throw nine more pitches to Donavon Solano, culminating in a hanging slider that Solano poked into RF for a hit to score two more.

The Marlins now led 3-0, and that finally signaled the end of the line for Harvey, after 110 pitches on the night and 31 pitches in the sixth, and he gave way to Scott Atchison.

Atchison struck out the next hitter to end the threat, but the damage was done. Harvey had allowed three runs and failed to deliver a quality start, just the fifth time he had done that through his 22 starts to that point, and the third time against the Marlins. It was also the first time in the second half that Harvey allowed more than one run against him in a start.

The Mets had no offense in this one at all, and they lost 3-0. Harvey took his third loss of the season, and his ERA was raised to 2.21. His Cy Young hopes took a rough hit with this one. Despite starting off like gangbusters in this one, Harvey failed to exorcise the demons of Marlins Park.

Baseball reference box score