The Mets decided during spring training to have Matt Harvey start the third game of this season at Washington, and subsequently, the second home game at Citi Field, instead of Opening Day at either stadium.
Well, that second home game was Tuesday night. And Harvey didn’t disappoint, allowing three earned runs on five hits in six innings while striking out eight.
Did the much discussed and speculated reasoning — selling more tickets for the second game when a home-opening sellout already was expected — pan out?
The Mets drew 39,849 fans on Tuesday night for a 6-5 win against the Phillies. That’s the biggest crowd for the second home game of the season since Citi Field opened in 2009.
These are attendance figures for both the first and second home games for the Mets for the past 10 years (Note: The smaller Citi Field opened in 2009):
2015
Game 1: 43,947, a Citi Field record (Jacob deGrom)
Game 2: 39,849 (Harvey)
Change: -4,098
Percent: -9.3
2014
Game 1: 44,442 (Dillon Gee)
Game 2: 29,146 (Bartolo Colon)
Change: -13,296
Percent: -31.3
2013
Game 1: 41,053 (Jon Niese)
Game 2: 22,239 (Harvey)
Change: -18,814
Percent: -45.8
2012
Game 1: 42,080 (Johan Santana)
Game 2: 39,526 (R.A. Dickey)
Change: -2,554
Percent: -6
2011
Game 1: 41,075 (Dickey)
Game 2: 31,696 (Chris Capuano)
Change: -9,379
Percent: -22.8
2010
Game 1: 41,245 (Santana)
Game 2: 38,863 (John Maine)
Change: -2,382
Percent: -5.7
2009
Game 1: 41,007 (Mike Pelfrey)
Game 2: 35,581 (Oliver Perez)
Change: -5,426
Percent: -13.2
2008
Game 1: 56,350 (Perez)
Game 2: 47,127 (Pelfrey)
Change: -9,223
Percent: -16.3
2007
Game 1: 56,227 (Maine)
Game 2: 41,927 (Perez)
Change: -14,300
Percent: -25.4
2006
Game 1: 54,371 (Tom Glavine)
Game 2: 19,557 (Brian Bannister)
Change: -34,814
Percent: -64
