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SALT LAKE CITY — The Dark Knight did not rise Saturday evening.
Los Angeles Angels pitcher and former MLB All-Star Matt Harvey struggled in his rehab start for the Salt Lake Bees against Round Rock, surrendering 8 runs on 8 hits in 2 2/3 innings at Smith's Ballpark. Harvey also walked two and struck out three over the course of 83 pitches before he was pulled with two outs and runners on first and third in the top of the third inning.
That carnage came after the righty pitched a perfect first inning. The Bees ended the frame down 8-0 to and lost the game to the Houston Astros’ affiliate, 19-5.
Harvey, who was an All-Star with the New York Mets in 2014, signed a 1-year, $11-million deal with the Angels last December. He struggled in 10 starts with Los Angeles before landing on the injured list with a back injury May 25. He posted a 7.50 ERA over 48 innings in the majors prior to the injury.
While the stats weren’t shining, Bees pitching coach Pat Rice said Harvey looked healthy and threw the ball well in the start that's meant more to get an injured major leaguer back in the flow of playing the game. In fact, Harvey said he “felt great” after his outing.
“There were a lot of balls (the defense) just didn’t get to. He threw the ball where he was supposed to throw it, it just didn’t turn out well,” Rice said. “I think in another scenario where we make those plays (we usually do), he probably breezes through four or five innings. We just weren’t able to make those plays for him.”
Harvey was not made available to media after the game. It’s unclear if he will pitch another game with the Bees before he returns to the Angels.
“For a rehab start, I think it went really well except for really the runs,” Rice added. “I thought his delivery was good. I’ll tell you what, he really commanded his pitches well. He had some balls that could have been strikes and their team did a great job laying off some really good pitches and I think he realizes this is a tough place to pitch no matter who you are.”
