The New York Mets (19-11) defeated the San Diego Padres (13-19) this afternoon by the final score of 4-3 to split the four game series with the Padres. For a full boxscore recap follow the link below…

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_05_08_nynmlb_sdnmlb_1#game=2016_05_08_nynmlb_sdnmlb_1,game_tab=box,game_state=Wrapup

Game Notes:

• Matt Harvey pitched his best game of the season pitching 6 innings and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. Harvey struck out 10 batters and walked 2. Harvey was also 2-3 at the plate with a run scored.
• Yoenis Cespedes was 2-4 with a solo HR.
• Asdrubal Cabrera was 2-5 with 2 RBI’s.
• Eric Campbell was 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
• Jeurys Familia pitched a clean 9th inning and received his 10th save of the season.

There you have it folks, the Mets are now in first place in the NL East with this afternoon’s victory and the Nationals loss. Today’s game was by no means any easy as the Mets were able to squeeze themselves out of some tough situations. There was no situation bigger however than Antonio Bastardo bailing the Mets out of a bases loaded, no out scenario, in the bottom of the eighth inning unscathed. Bastardo was able to strike out Derek Norris, have Melvin Upton Jr. pop out to Lucas Duda, and strike out Alexei Ramirez in that order, to protect the Mets one run lead. The Mets bullpen has been as formidable as it has ever been in recent memory, and it played a huge part in today’s game to preserve the Mets lead. The Mets bullpen leads the league with a 2.53 ERA. 

Matt Harvey looked as good as he has all season, as hit fastball was hitting 97 mph, and he seemed to be attacking hitters consistently this afternoon. Harvey ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth, which has been his achilles heel all season, but he came out of the inning maintaining the lead. Harvey’s big  mistake came on a 2-run home run allowed to catcher Christian Bethancourt, but he was bailed out of the inning by a throw that nailed Andrew Cashner at home plate trying to score on a Jon Jay double, to prevent further damage. All in all Harvey seems to righting the ship slowly every start, and today was the most electric we’ve seen him all season. Let’s hope today’s results translate to a big month of May for The Dark Knight. 

The Mets are now scheduled to play in one of their most anticipated series of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is a rematch of last year’s hard fought NLDS that went all five games. There is also the big question surrounding the Mets, as to whether they will retaliate towards Chase Utley after last year’s dirty slide that broke Ruben Tejada’s leg. The Mets are also scheduled to face three left-handed pitchers in this series, which includes Scott Kazmir, Alex Wood, and Clayton Kershaw. The Mets have had their fair share of struggles facing southpaws this season, so this series will definitely present a challenge to break out of that funk. It will be an exciting four game series with plenty of intrigue!

• The Mets will take a bus down to Los Angeles as they begin a four game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers tomorrow evening. First pitch is scheduled for 10:10 pm et. and can be seen on SNY.

• Steven Matz (4-1, 2.83 ERA) will take on former Mets left-handed top prospect Scott Kazmir (2-2, 5.68 ERA).