MILWAUKEE -- For Matt Harvey, it hasn't been a slow progression back to form. It has instead been a sudden change from searching for answers to mowing down opponents.
Harvey continued his quick turnaround by limiting the Brewers to just one run on two hits with eight strikeouts over six innings in New York's 2-1 win in 11 innings on Friday.
"Matty was really, really good," manager Terry Collins said. "He just ran out of gas. He was good again. We are certainly on the upswing with that. That's good to see."
Nearly three weeks ago, Harvey's ERA was 6.08. He's allowed just two earned runs over 20 innings in three starts since, lowering his ERA to 4.66.
Harvey began his string of three strong starts by holding the White Sox scoreless over seven innings on May 30. Then, on June 5, he surrendered just one run over seven innings against the Marlins.
He took another step forward on Friday. Although the fastball velocity wasn't in the upper 90s, his secondary pitches were sharp. That led to eight strikeouts, the second most he's had in an outing this season.
"The fastball wasn't obviously coming out as great as it has been the last couple of starts, but I pretty much had everything else working," Harvey said. "I was able to keep them off balance and get us through six innings."
Harvey retired the first six batters on Friday, four of them on strikeouts. He allowed just four baserunners in his six innings. The only hit that left the infield was a one-out triple by Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the fifth.
After Ramon Flores plated Nieuwenhuis with a sacrifice fly, Harvey struck out three of the final four batters he faced.
"I feel much better," Harvey said. "You obviously put two [good starts] together and you want to continue doing everything you can to stay with what you've been working on. It is definitely positive to put a couple together and really start feeling good."
There's little question that the success of the Mets will rely heavily on the success of their talented rotation. Having Harvey seemingly over his puzzling struggles left Collins smiling after what was a frustrating game offensively.
"His confidence is really starting to come back," Collins said.