This had Harvey Haddix written all over it, but fortunately, the Mets were un-Mets-ian enough Tuesday night to pull out the victory, even if their pitcher didn’t get the win.
Matt Harvey went nine innings against the White Sox on Tuesday and struck out 12, with his attempt at a perfect game marred only by an Alex Rios infield single with two outs in the seventh. Despite Harvey pitching nine clean innings, though, the Mets couldn’t get a run across to back up the 24-year-old.
Finally, in the 10th inning, New York scored after Harvey left the game, getting at least the team win. (In the famous game pitched by Haddix, the Pirates pitcher labored into the 13th inning, retiring 36 straight batters, before his effort was undone by an error and a disputed hit. Pittsburgh’s batters carry much of the blame for not being able to score and reward a magical night from Haddix.)
Matt Harvey, Harvey Haddix, whoever — the Mets’ Harvey pitched a gem that looks even better when more advanced metrics are tapped.
“I mean, obviously, everything was working,” Harvey said after the game, according to The Associated Press.
What was even more impressive, though, was that Harvey put together his nine-inning wonder looking like a prizefighter. The right-hander got a nosebleed just before the game began and could be seen mowing down batters with blood trickling from his nose in the first inning.
Check out Harvey’s mug in the photo below.
