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First the Mets lost Matt Harvey when he was forced out after seven innings with lower back tightness, the ace later saying he will be fine for his next start. Then the Amazin’s lost the longest game in team history — and the longest in the major leagues in the last three years — falling 2-1 to the Marlins in 20 innings yesterday at Citi Field.
Considering how sorry this season has become, another in a long line of defeats pales in comparison to an injury to Harvey. Though Harvey — long gone by the end of this 6:25 marathon — said he’s OK and will take the ball for his next start, these are the Mets, and he’s the one player they can’t afford to lose.
“As soon as I heard that, that’s a red flag. Goodness gracious, certainly if there’s one player we don’t need hurt, it’s Matt Harvey,’’ manager Terry Collins said. “We didn’t know if it’s his hip or his back, but it was getting tight. I said I’m sorry, that’ll be enough for [the] night.’’
Adeiny Hechavarria’s RBI single in the 20th dealt Shaun Marcum (0-7) — who allowed just one run in eight innings of relief — another loss, and Daniel Murphy’s warning track fly ball off Steve Cishek (2-5) ended the longest game in Citi Field history. But the real drama came in the top of the eighth, when Harvey threw several warmup pitches, and — after a mound visit from Collins and a trainer — got pulled from the game to raise the blood pressure of every Mets fan.
“It’s fine now,” said Harvey, who allowed just one run on Chris Coghlan’s fourth-inning sacrifice fly. “After the last pitch in the seventh I felt a little tightness in my lower back, around the hip area. It was just a matter of a little alignment in my hips. As soon as I came in and they worked on it, it popped right back into place. Everything’s fine and I’ll be ready to go for my next start.
“I’m good to go and there’s no major issue at all. The hips just got a little out of line. I don’t know exactly what they did, but a quick little pop and it was back into place. … It was a minor thing. It was never an issue. I could’ve gone back out there, but they felt it was time for me to come out.’’
Harvey said it happened to him while at the University of North Carolina, but yesterday he hoped it would loosen up before he went out to bat in the bottom of the seventh. It didn’t, and when he told the team, they quickly pulled him.
“It hasn’t happened in awhile,” said Harvey, adding he didn’t get any tests, and that two minutes of chiropractic treatment solved the issue. “We know what we need to do to [fix] that, and like I said, I’m ready for my next start,’’
The Mets got five shutout innings from Brandon Lyon, Bobby Parnell, LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Rice, Greg Burke and David Aardsma. They almost won in the 12th as Murphy tried to score on Marlon Byrd’s fly ball. He flattened Rob Brantly, but the catcher held on to right fielder’s Marcell Ozuna’s great throw to keep it tied at 1-1.
By the 13th, Marcum and Kevin Slowey — both initially scheduled to start yesterday before being skipped in the wake of Friday’s rainouts — were in the game. Marcum threw seven shutout innings until the 20th, when Placido Polanco, Brantly and Hechavarria hit consecutive one-out singles to give the Marlins the win.
In the end, the Mets were a team-record 0-for-19 with men in scoring position, and left 22 on base.
“The only thing you can do is hope somebody comes through with a hit,’’ Collins said. “We had lots of opportunities to win the game.’’