Wednesday night, the Braves enjoyed the debut of their new starter on the mound, Bartolo Colon. The 43-year-old, 20th-year veteran outplayed his old teammates in New York, as he only gave up one hit and one run over six innings, while also retiring six batters. Atlanta tied the season series with the 3-1 win.
Matt Kemp led the offense. He went 3-for-5 and had an RBI double with the bases loaded in the 12th inning, which eventually led to the final score. The production was timely since the Braves’ other key hitters – Freddie Freeman, Nick Markakis, Ender Inciarte – combined to go 1-for-15 on the plate. They will obviously have to perform better moving forward, particularly the latter two, who were also 0-for-8 in the season-opener.
Atlanta will tap another newbie on the team for tomorrow’s starting pitcher duties, longtime St. Louis Cardinal Jaime Garcia. The oft-injured hurler is slowly being healthy, as seen with his 20-plus starts in each of the past two seasons, where he compiled a 20-19 record with a 3.70 ERA. Additionally, Mets’ batters collectively batting .267 against him (31-for-116).
Jacob deGrom, who underwent surgery in his throwing elbow last September, did well in his first regular season start since the operation. He only allowed two hits and one walk in the six innings he pitched, while striking out six.
Like the Braves, offense was hard to come by for the Mets in the contest. The core of Yoenis Cespedes, Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Neil Walker were a sour 1-for-18 with only two walks.
In trying to get back to the win column, the Mets will be eyeing Matt Harvey for a lift. “The Dark Knight” is keeping everyone in the dark as to which type of year he’ll be having. After great comeback year in 2015 from a Tommy John surgery, where he finished with a 13-8 card and a 2.71 ERA, he only won four of his 14 credited starts last year, and compiled an awful 4.86 ERA.
Harvey threw for 22.2 innings versus the Braves in 2016, drawing 11 earned runs on 30 hits and five walks, He struck out 17. Despite the lowly numbers, he should still be feeling good about his chances, with Atlanta’s batters only having a career .217 BA opposite his pitches (20-for-90).
The Mets are 11-9 in Harvey’s last 20 starts at Citi Field.
Writer’s Prediction
Harvey continues his great showing versus the Braves’ batters, allowing the Mets (-155) to be in a good position to win.
