NEW YORK -- The last few weeks have left Matt Harvey and the Mets searching for answers, and his stellar performance in Monday's series opener might have provided one. Harvey gave up just two hits and struck out six en route to the Mets' 1-0 victory over the White Sox at Citi Field.
New York's Opening Day starter had been in the midst of the worst tailspin of his career, and a 1-4 record with a 7.56 ERA in the month of May was the result. Through it all, though, the Mets remained confident that Harvey would figure it out, and on Monday, at least for one day, he did.
While Harvey had it going, so did Chicago starter Jose Quintana, who allowed six hits over seven innings while striking seven. Quintana, however, made a key mistake: serving up a leadoff home run to Mets second baseman Neil Walker in the seventh on a 90-mph four-seam fastball.
After giving up six runs in two innings over the weekend against the Dodgers, Jeurys Familia put that series behind him by setting the White Sox down in order in the ninth to pick up his 17th save of the season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Third time's the charm: Harvey entered Monday's outing having allowed a .509 average when facing a batter for the third time. In the seventh, it seemed like that trend would continue after the 27-year-old walked Adam Eaton to lead off the inning and followed that up by surrendering a single to Jose Abreu. Melky Cabrera advanced the runners on a sacrifice bunt, but Harvey managed to escape the inning unscathed after getting Todd Frazier to pop out and J.B. Shuck to ground out. More >
Don't mess with the Melk-man: Asdrubal Cabrera connected for a one-out single to left off of Quintana in the sixth inning, but tried to turn it into a double. Melky Cabrera would have none of it, firing a strike to second baseman Brett Lawrie to nail Cabrera.
Quintana deserved better: There wasn't much difference between the dominance of Harvey and Quintana on Monday, but it was Quintana who lost for a fourth straight start. He got beat on the Walker home run, but managed to pitch out of more trouble by stranding two in the seventh. Quintana's ERA sits at 2.13 through 11 starts.
WHAT'S NEXT
White Sox: Mat Latos (6-1, 4.06) will be pitching on seven days of rest when he takes the mound on Tuesday night at Citi Field at 6:10 p.m. CT. The right-hander has a 9-4 record with a 3.93 ERA over 21 Interleague starts.
Mets: Steven Matz (7-1, 2.36 ERA) enters his start against the White Sox on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. ET having won each of his last seven outings, posting a 1.13 ERA over that span. In two career Interleague starts, the left-hander is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA.
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Scott Merkin has covered the White Sox for MLB.com since 2003. Read his blog, Merk's Works, follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin, on Facebook and listen to his podcast.
Troy Provost-Heron is a reporter for MLB.com based in New York. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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