The Mets did not play so well after Matt Harvey's suspension

Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton has never quite been able to figure out Matt Harvey.

The New York Mets’ starter has stared down one of the game’s best power hitters 17 times and only allowed a hit twice with nine strikeouts. Stanton was going to get another crack at solving the Dark Knight on Sunday at Citi Field until the Mets decided to suspend him for three games at the last minute.

With that burden lifted, Stanton was free to torture the Mets’ replacement starter, Adam Wilk.

And that he did.

Stanton launched two home runs a combined 904 feet off Wilk as the Marlins torched the Mets, 7-0. Even worse, New York managed just one hit. That hit came during the first inning. It gets worse. New York drew just two walks and left 10 runners on base.

So, yeah. It was a long day in New York for Mets fans.

Wilk lasted just 3.2 innings giving up eight hits and six runs — including three home runs. In his shortest start of the year so far, Harvey still made it into the fifth inning. On Sunday the Mets ended up using four pitchers out of the bullpen.

Add the barrage of injuries New York is dealing with and it’s actually quite amazing it is only two games under .500.

And, yes, the standings say the Mets are second in the National League East, but that’s still seven games behind the division-leading Washington Nationals.

On the bright side, it’s only May. So things can get better. But with 130 games or so left in the season, there’s a lot of opportunities for it to get worse.

Let this be a lesson to not let your friends or family fall in love with the Mets.

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee