Both Matt Harvey and Patrick Corbin understand how lucky they are to be pitching when they go head-to-head in a game between the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks. They both started out as promising young rookies, making their All-Star debuts at the same time. However, they both sat out a full season last year when they underwent Tommy John surgery. While Harvey has been back since the start of the season, Corbin is just now making his way back to the mound.
Corbin will make his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery against the Mets. The Arizona pitcher has made one start since September 2013, giving up two runs and eight hits in five innings of play. In his career, he is 0-2 with a 6.46 ERA against the Mets.
"It's great to be back," Corbin said, via ESPN.com. "You have a lot of emotions going ... I just wanted to go out there and don't overthrow, throw a lot of strikes and I felt like I was able to do that."
Corbin will have some solid players backing him up. Paul Goldschmidt is currently leading the National League while batting .345 with 20 home runs and 69 RBIs. However, against the Mets he is batting just .178. Meanwhile, the Mets are hoping to get their bats moving, something that has not been happening recently. The team is battling .293 against Arizona which is their best average against any opponent. They have also been struggling to give Harvey any run support. He has gotten just four total runs in his last four starts while having a 1.46 ERA in the process.
Harvey is 7-6 with a 3.11 ERA since returning from Tommy John surgery. He is 2-1 with a 3.44 ERA in three starts against Arizona. Most recently he gave up two home runs while striking out nine in seven innings of play. Harvey would ideally like to get some run support in order to help his win-loss record. New York is looking to gain some momentum before heading into the All-Star break.
