Cards have been tough for Harvey; road has been rough for Lackey
Teams don't often get the better of Matt Harvey. Only one has beaten him twice.
He'll try to knock off the St. Louis Cardinals for the first time in his career Monday night when they visit the New York Mets.
Harvey (5-1, 2.31 ERA) is looking for his first victory in three starts overall after winning his first five, though he's hardly been at fault for the brief drought. He's been backed by one run of support in each of the last three after getting 26 over his first four.
The Cardinals are the only team to give Harvey two losses, and of the 13 he's faced multiple times, they join San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the only ones he's yet to beat. He dropped both previous matchups, giving up four runs over 12 innings, though the Mets scored only one run in each game.
That was the case again Wednesday when he matched a season high with nine strikeouts in Wednesday's 2-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs, giving up three hits over seven shutout innings.
"We're gonna put up runs," he said after that game. "We're in a little bit of a rut right now, but, obviously, everybody goes through that."
Harvey proved to be right as New York's offense has woken up over the last two games, totaling 19 runs and 25 hits to beat Milwaukee twice following a season-worst five-game losing streak. The Mets (22-16), a big-league-best 15-4 at home, have also benefited from back-to-back gems. Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard each limited the Brewers to one run over six innings, helping the rotation recover after it posted a 5.02 ERA during the skid.
Curtis Granderson homered in both games, Michael Cuddyer had four RBIs in those wins and Eric Campbell went 4 for 8 following his call-up from Triple A Las Vegas. Lucas Duda doubled twice in Sunday's 5-1 win and is 11 for 30 with five doubles over his last eight games.
"Coming off the (14-1) win (Saturday), you don't want to have the quote, unquote hangover after scoring all those runs," Cuddyer told MLB's official website. "It's nice to have the luxury of all the pitching we have, because you can forget about yesterday and focus on today."
The Cardinals (25-12) had dropped five of seven prior to Sunday's 2-1 win over Detroit, going ahead on Kolten Wong's sixth-inning homer to maintain the best record in baseball.
Though they avoided being swept for the first time, they're struggling offensively, scoring 11 runs and going 4 for 26 (.154) with runners in scoring position over the last five games. Matt Adams is 2 for 33 in his last 11, dropping his average from .309 to .237.
John Lackey (2-2, 3.22) was plagued by walks in his shortest outing of the season Wednesday, giving up five free passes and two runs over 5 1/3 innings in a 2-0 loss at Cleveland on Wednesday. He has a 5.82 ERA and no quality starts in three road games, compared with a 1.63 mark in four home outings.
Lackey hasn't faced the Mets since 2008, winning 6-1 with the Los Angeles Angels.
Cuddyer, hitting .359 in his last 11 versus St. Louis, is 8 for 25 with four home runs off Lackey.
New York won four of seven meetings last season, allowing six runs in four games at Citi Field.
