Harvey Wins Another One 3-2 Over Cubs

The old Milwaukee Braves (or were they still in Boston?) had a saying. “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain”, was their battle cry. The Philadelphia Phillies once won 54 games in a season when Steve Carlton won 27. It appears we have another one of those with Matt Harvey and the New York Mets. Harvey is 5-0 while the Mets are 17-24. When Harvey is on the mound, the Mets are one of baseball’s best teams. When he’s not pitching they are just barely a cut above the Miami Marlins and Houston Astros.

Yesterday against the Cubs, Harvey gave up 2 runs on three first inning hits and an error. That would be all Chicago would get on the day as he pitched into the eighth inning. To top things off, he came up with Rick Ankiel on second with two outs in the seventh and his manger, Terry Collins sent him up to hit. H0w many pitchers don’t get pinch hit for in that situation? Not many.

He came through with the game-winning RBI on a single. Daniel Murphy and David Wright homered for the Mets in the game yesterday in an otherwise great outing from Edwin Jackson.

The Mets are a baseball bettor’s dream. All we need to do is check and see who the starting pitcher is. If it’s Harvey, bet on the Mets. If not, bet on the other team. You will win almost every time with that recipe.

The Mets have some decisions to make. Do they send slumping first baseman Ike Davis down to the minors? Davis is hitting .160 so far this season. He broke out of an 0-24 slump with a single in yesterday’s game. Rumors are he has this series to bust out or he is going down. The Mets also have one of the top pitching prospects in Triple A in Zach Wheeler. He has been mowing them down in Las Vegas. Wheeler and Harvey and pray for rain?

At this point, the Mets have nothing to lose by bringing up prospects. They are only competitive on days Harvey starts. They have given guys like Davis, Murphy, and Duda enough of a look. It’s time to call up some guys like Matt den Dekker, Travis d’Arnaud and Wilmer Flores and see what they can do. In the meantime, keep picking against them except when Harvey pitches.