Dark night at Citi Field

Three years ago, Squawker Lisa and I were at the first matchup of Matt Harvey vs. Stephen Strasburg. Met fans chanted “Harvey’s better,” and he was that night. Last night, we were there again as Met fans gave Harvey a new serenade – boos.

Only two days ago, I wrote that it was Murphy’s Law in reverse as everything went right for the Mets in their opener with the Nats. Last night, Lisa was able to get us Empire Suite seats, which were really great even before the complimentary Shake Shack burgers showed up. But as for the Mets, it was Murphy’s Law in its usual state, starting with Daniel, who homered in the first inning to put the Nats up for good. Harvey pitched the worst game of his career, giving up 9 runs (6 earned) and not making it out of the third. The Mets made one costly error and misplayed another ball in that inning. As for the hitting, yes, they had to face Stephen Strasburg after facing Gio Gonzalez and Max Scherzer in the previous two games, but in the first big series of the season, the Mets scored just four runs in three games.

I cheered for Murphy when he first came up, but after his homer, no more cheers for him. But no boos either, and certainly no boos for Harvey. I don’t know what it sounded like on TV, but they were loud during the inning and when Harvey left the mound.  And it shouldn’t have happened. It’s way too soon to boo one of your own players, someone who was a big part of getting the Mets to the World Series a short time ago.

Harvey famously did not want to come out of Game 5 of the World Series and it may have cost them the clinching game. I hope Met fans are not holding this against him the way Carlos Beltran’s called strike three to end the 2006 NLCS seemed to overshadow the fact that he was actually a really good player for the Mets overall.

Harvey may have used up a lot of the fans’ goodwill with his diva act last year about limiting his innings during the playoff push. But he did end up ignoring pitching limits, so I can’t hold the earlier circus against him.

During the offseason, some predicted that the Mets going deep in the postseason could have a negative carryover effect for the Mets young pitchers in 2016. Now Harvey and deGrom have diminished velocity. At least deGrom is still pitching well. Harvey claims he is healthy, so let’s hope that is the case.

In 2012, the Nationals had the best record in baseball at 98-64, but they shut down Strasburg before the playoffs and got knocked out by the Cardinals in the NLDS. The Nationals haven’t been near the World Series since.

2012 was also the year that Johan Santana pitched the Mets’ first and only no-hitter. But after throwing 134 pitches, he hasn’t been the same since. I was ecstatic at the time that the Mets finally got a no-hitter, but we’ll always wonder if it might have been better to pull Santana early.

But there’s no question that when the postseason is on the line, you’ve got to go with your best. Unlike the Nationals, the Mets do have a recent trip to the World Series.  But after getting outscored, 16-4, in the three-game series, the Mets at this point don’t look like the more likely candidate to get back to the Fall Classic this year.