For the first time in nearly 20 months, it's Harvey Day at Citi Field.
New York Mets ace Matt Harvey will take the mound at the ballpark in Flushing, Queens for the first time since an Aug. 24, 2013 game against the Detroit Tigers.
Following that outing, Harvey underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL on Oct. 22, 2013. Now, Flushing's "Dark Knight" is back to battle the division rival Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.
"I don't want to make a story about it, but it's obviously exciting to be home," Harvey told ESPN New York.
Harvey received the loudest cheer during introductions at the Mets home-opener on Monday, but it was Jacob deGrom who shut down the Phillies, extending his scoreless streak to 11.1 innings after shutting out Philadelphia for 6.1 frames en route to a 2-0 victory for the "Amazin's."
Harvey, 26, made his season debut last week in Washington, D.C., shutting out the Nationals through six innings and striking out nine. Still, he threw 90 pitches and felt he should be more efficient on Tuesday.
"I definitely can be a little bit more fine," Harvey said. "For me, I think 90 pitches through six innings is not good enough. If I'm throwing 90 pitches, I'd like to at least get into the seventh."
Harvey had a memorable 2013, starting the All-Star Game at Citi Field and pitching to a 9-5 record with a 2.27 ERA and 191 strikeouts before the injury caused him to miss the final month of the campaign and the entire 2014 slate.
Now, he's returned and he's happy to take the mound at Citi Field with the Mets looking to improve to 5-3 on the season with a win over Philadelphia (3-4).
"We've had our first start, our first go-around as a starting staff this season," Harvey said. "We're into the mix of things. Tomorrow is another game. Obviously it's nice to be at home again and pitch in front of the Mets fans. We're already excited about playing in front of them. It's obviously an important homestand for us. We have a lot of games at home. And we're excited about being back."
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