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CLEVELAND -- For four innings, Matt Harvey dominated the Cleveland Indians. For two innings, the Indians dominated Harvey, and the Indians' dominance prevailed as they beat Harvey and the New York Mets 7-5 on Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field. "For four innings that guy was carving us up," said Cleveland manager Terry Francona of Harvey.
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But Harvey lost it quickly, much to the consternation of his manager.
"I'm worried about how he cruises and then it disappears fast," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "It's hard to explain. I don't have an answer."
The Indians got RBI from six different players and Josh Tomlin pitched an economical five innings to anchor the win.
Tomlin (1-0) gave up one run and four hits with six strikeouts and no walks. He was removed from the game after the fifth inning because of a right hamstring cramp.
Cody Allen pitched the last 1 1/3 innings to pick up his third save of the season.
Harvey (0-3) retired the first 13 batters he faced, but once the Cleveland hitters figured him out, the runs started to come.
"Nobody is more frustrated than I am. A lot went wrong," Harvey said.
With the Mets leading 1-0, Carlos Santana drew a one-out walk in the fifth inning, the first Indians hitter to reach base. Harvey retired the next batter for the second out, but Santana stole second and scored the tying run when Jose Ramirez doubled over the head of center fielder Alejandro De Aza.
"That was right into the wind. He hit it really well," Francona said.
Juan Uribe followed with a single, scoring Ramirez and giving the Indians a 2-1 lead.
Cleveland struck for three more runs in the sixth, knocking Harvey out of the game. Rajai Davis led off with an infield single and then stole second base. Jason Kipnis drove a double into the gap in left-center field, scoring Davis to make it 3-1.
A sacrifice bunt by Francisco Lindor moved Kipnis to third. Mike Napoli followed with a single, scoring Kipnis and extending the Cleveland lead to 4-1.
Napoli advanced to second base on a wild pitch, and after Santana drew a walk, Yan Gomes sliced a single to right field, scoring Napoli and giving the Indians a 5-1 lead.
Harvey, who struck out the side on 10 pitches in the first inning, pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up five runs and six hits with four strikeouts and three walks. He was baffled by how he seemed to lose his effectiveness so quickly.
"I felt like I was cruising, but I couldn't keep it together. I've just got to flush this one," he said.
"He was pounding the zone early, but then started to get behind in the count, and wasn't able to make pitches like he did earlier," Collins said.
Harvey sailed through the early innings as he and Tomlin had their way with hitters in the shadows of Progressive Field caused by the late afternoon start.
New York took a 1-0 lead when Curtis Granderson, leading off the first inning, hit Tomlin's third pitch of the game over the right field wall for a home run. It's the 36th career leadoff home run by Granderson.
"I made a bad pitch to a good hitter," said Tomlin, who was making his first start in 17 days, but quickly settled into the game after the home run. He retired 12 of the next 15 batters he faced.
"He gave up the one run early, but then he held it right there, even though he was cramping up from the third inning on," said Francona of Tomlin.
The Indians added two insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Lindor and an RBI single by Napoli. Those runs became even more important in the eighth when reliever Bryan Shaw gave up a three-run homer to Cespedes and a solo homer to Neil Walker that cut the Cleveland lead to 7-5.
The Mets have hit seven home runs in the first two games of the series.
Shaw gave way to Allen, who got the last four outs of the game.
NOTES: Mets RHP Jacob deGrom has been placed on the family/medical emergency list due to health complications with his newborn son. deGrom will be on the list from three to seven days. To replace deGrom on the roster, the Mets recalled OF Eric Campbell from Triple-A Las Vegas. ... Mets RHP Jeurys Familia was given a day off Saturday. He had appeared in four consecutive games as closer. Filling in at closer on Saturday was RHP Jim Henderson. ... Indians RHP Tommy Hunter pitched one scoreless inning of relief for Triple-A Columbus on a rehab assignment Friday. Hunter has been on the disabled list since the start of the season following offseason core muscle surgery.
