Mets used to give a wrestling belt to the player of the game. Travis d'Arnaud said too many teams were copying it so now they use this: pic.twitter.com/63xkwt0d7V
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) April 7, 2017
New York Mets C Travis d’Arnaud had a royally great game tonight against the Braves, so his teammates crowned him the ‘King of Queens.’
You know that feeling of empowerment that overtakes you when a royal crown graces your head for even a moment?So does New York Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud.
After falling down 1-0 to the Atlanta Braves on a Matt Kemp home run in the top of the fifth — as Matt Harvey was beginning to formulate a gem in his first start of 2017 — d’Arnaud cracked an 0-1, 75 mph curveball out of the hand of Jaime Garcia for a double, scoring Jay Bruce in the bottom of the fifth frame.
That clutch extra-base hit started the Mets rolling for the rest of the night, as they eventually won 6-2.
The win marked the end of the Mets series with the Braves, as they took two of three to open their season at Citi Field.
Other leading performances included a 1-for-4 night for Wilmer Flores, whose two-run shot put the game ultimately out of reach for Atlanta in the latter half of the sixth, as well as an incredibly encouraging start for Harvey after coming off of offseason surgery to help alleviate his thoracic outlet syndrome.
The righty garnered the win after throwing 6.2 innings, allowing three hits, no walks and two runs, while striking out four.
Although d’Arnaud wears the crown on this evening, expect Harvey to be there as well this season if he can continue to look like his old self again.
