Harvey returns

I know what I can do. The Mets believed in me, and they know what I can do too.”

Mets fans — though limited to 8,035 people at 20% Citi Field capacity — applauded Harvey multiple times in his return. Once, when he first took the hill in the bottom of the first inning. Harvey responded with a tip of his cap. Then again when he dug into the box for his first at-bat in the second inning. Catcher Tomas Nido allowed an extended ovation by holding off Walker's pitch. The Mets played Harvey's old walk-up song, “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” when he stepped up to the plate.

There was no tip of the cap from Harvey — even though the crowd was once again on its feet for the former Mets ace — after he surrendered seven runs in his first start at Citi Field since the Mets designated him for assignment and later in 2018 traded him to the Reds.

He walked off the mound with his head down and settled into the opposing dugout with an even keeled, yet reflective, expression.

“Coming off the field with an ovation like that, it brought a lot back and it was very special to me,” Harvey said. “Something I'll never forget.

“It was hard. This is a very special place to me. I'd like to say I gave everything I had here. Especially in that 2015 run, it was really something special. I left it all out there for everybody — for our fans, for the teammates. That was a big year for us as a team and for the city of New York. Those memories definitely came in when I got some cheers and got the standing ovation.”

Harvey has played for four other teams since his final start for the Mets on May 3, 2018, against the Braves. The right-hander was a shining star for the Mets — culminating in a 3.66 ERA over six seasons in Queens — that fizzled out in his final years in orange and blue.