Matt Harvey has had better stuff, and better velocity, but he’d never had a complete game or a shutout. That is until last night, when the Mets’ All-Star ace got both in a 5-0 domination of Colorado, taking yet another step forward in what already is becoming a historic career.
In a nine-inning performance that was ruthlessly efficient, befitting Shark Week, Harvey (9-3) was machine-like in his precision. He faced just three batters over the minimum, allowed no walks and just four harmless singles, and even overcame a line drive off the kneecap to blank the Rockies.
“It’s awesome. As a starter pitcher it’s what you shoot for every time. To do it here do it at home [was fun],’’ Harvey said. “That’s something I’ve been trying to do all year, go out there and eat up innings. … It’s fun to throw strikes and watch the defense work.
“Nine innings, that’s where you want to go as a starter, whether I struck out 10 or zero or one. Nine innings with a bunch of zeroes, that’s all that matters.’’
Harvey had pitched nine shutout innings of one-hit ball on May 7 vs. the White Sox, but the Mets didn’t pull out a 1-0 win until the 10th, after he departed. This time, thanks to Harvey’s efficiency, manager Terry Collins letting him come back out after throwing 90 pitches through eight frames and rookie Wilmer Flores’ three-RBI insurance double in the eighth. Harvey he closed the deal.
“I told the coaches it’s a win-win situation,” Collins said. “If he pitches a shutout, he needs to know how to do it. … To have that beast that wants to go out there and pitch the ninth, especially with a 5-0 lead, they’re unique, and it’s good to have one.
“He’s special, there’s no other way to put it. He’s got all the tools, all the credentials, the stuff, the makeup. He doesn’t have to have his greatest stuff every inning. He went out at 80, 85 percent and said I’m going to make pitches and see if I can get some outs, and that’s what he did.
“If he got himself in trouble and he needed to go get to 98 [mph], it was there. … Last week in Miami he had better stuff, but when he got to 100 pitches he was worn out working so hard because he was throwing 97, 98. I thought [he did a great job].’’
Harvey was clinging to a 2-0 lead thanks to RBI singles by shortstop Omar Quintanilla and catcher John Buck off Colorado’s Jhoulys Chacin (10-6). But in the eighth, Flores — who had an inauspicious debut Tuesday when he went 0-or-4 with an error — came up with the bases loaded and cleared them with a double off Manny Corpas.
Collins sent Harvey back out for the ninth to applause from the 27,581 at Citi Field.
“He deserved to go back out there. We can on another night cut him short an inning here [or] there. But you don’t have many opportunities to pitch shutouts,’’ Collins said. “I’ll worry about making up those innings later. But right now he deserves it. I’ve sent him out there a lot of times where we haven’t had enough runs for him or we didn’t hold the lead for him. He deserved to go out there.”