ATLANTA -- Poor Matt Harvey. The Dark Knight took a scoreless effort into the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday at Turner Field. However, an anemic Mets offense again offered him no support. So when Harvey surrendered a two-out double to Ryan Lavarnway, then an RBI single to pinch hitter Pedro Ciriaco in the seventh, the New York Mets ace ended up on the losing side of a 1-0 defeat to Atlanta. Even lacking Freddie Freeman for the entire series with a wrist injury, the Braves (35-35) swept the Mets (36-35) in the three-game set. Despite entering the start with a 5.07 ERA, Julio Teheran limited the Mets to one hit in seven scoreless innings. The Mets’ losing streak now stands at a season-high-matching five games. They dropped to 10-24 on the road and 1½ games behind the first-place Washington Nationals in the NL East. Teheran held the Mets hitless until Wilmer Flores’ leadoff single in the fifth -- a common recent occurrence. In addition to being no-hit by San Francisco Giants rookie Chris Heston on June 9, Sunday’s futility marked the third time in a week the Mets did not muster a hit until the fifth inning. On Monday at Citi Field, Blue Jays left-hander Mark Buehrle held the Mets hitless until Lucas Duda’s leadoff double in the fifth. On Thursday at Toronto, R.A. Dickey surrendered his first hit on a leadoff double in the fifth by Juan Lagares. The Mets’ second hit came on a two-out double by Eric Campbell in the eighth against Nick Masset, which snapped Campbell’s 0-for-18 skid. Ex-Met Dana Eveland entered and struck out pinch hitter John Mayberry Jr. to strand Campbell. The Mets placed two on with none out against Jim Johnson in the ninth, but Michael Cuddyer grounded into a game-ending double play. Harvey (7-5) tossed a season-high 115 pitches in 6 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits. Harvey ran his scoreless streak to 13 innings before Lavarnway doubled to the top of the wall in left field with two outs in the seventh. Ciriaco then deposited a single into center field. Lagares’ throw was up the first-base line and Lavarnway essentially scored uncontested. What’s next: The Mets take a day off before completing their three-city trip with three games against the Milwaukee Brewers. Jonathon Niese (3-7, 4.21 ERA) opposes right-hander Mike Fiers (3-7, 4.50) in Tuesday’s 8:10 p.m. ET series opener at Miller Park.
|