We had Marichal and Koufax, Seaver and Gibson, and Clemens
and Martinez, now we have Harvey and Strasburg. Scott Boras described last night’s pitching
duel between young firearms, Matt Harvey and Stephen Strasburg, as an
Ali/Frazier bout or Yahoo versus Google. For two 24 year olds who have combined for a
career wins total of just 29, the hype leading up to this game was insane, as
the start of a great rivalry.
Last night was not at all the pitching chess match it was
anticipated to be. The Mets rebounded from their weather ridden road trip with
the 7-1 victory. New York did not have
an issue in hitting Strasburg, exploding for 7 runs, including a huge first
inning, with the help of some sloppy Nationals defense. After losing in their first three meetings,
the Mets were finally able to beat the 6’4’’ righty. The highlight of the Mets
offensive attack, was two sets of back to back homeruns from the slumping Ike
Davis and Lucas Duda. In the sixth, the two connected for back-to-back shots
off Strasburg, as the Mets faithful broke into chants of “Harvey is better.”
Two innings later, the two did it again, this time it was off of Drew Storen,
and would put the game away.
Strasburg went six innings, yielding five hits for four
runs, two earned. Dropping to a 1-3 record, Strasburg struck out six, while
walking two.
Early on, it was visible that Harvey wanted it. Hitting 98
on the radar gun in the first inning, Harvey knew this would be war. According
to MLB Insider, Terry Collins called Harvey as being, “grouchy,” before the
game, saying, “When your manager walks up to you and
the first thing you want to do is bite his head off, you're a little bit on
edge."
Harvey literally sat hitters back down, not running into
trouble until the seventh inning. This inning gives an accurate description of
who Harvey is, and what he can do. After a signature Daniel Murphy error, in an
attempt to turn a double play, Harvey had the bases loaded with nobody out and
up by only three. First, Harvey struck out Kurt Suzuki. Next, he got Roger
Bernadina to pop out. To finish off the potential fatal inning, as well as his
night, Harvey forced a Denard Span groundout, avoiding danger.
Harvey struck out seven, but also walked three. Advancing to
4-0, Harvey yielded the Nationals’ only four hits of the night, as Scott Rice
and Bobby Parnell each worked a scoreless and hitless inning, in preserving the
victory.
There were not too many highlights for the Nationals
offense, mustering just four hits and one run. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was
not in the lineup due to a hamstring injury. Zimmerman’s replacement, Chad
Tracy, would drive in the only run for Washington.
Only one pitcher may have lived up the hype around last
night’s game, however it was just a preview of what this matchup could become
in the next fifteen years.
