For three innings Friday night, Matt Harvey hardly could have been better. Nine Marlins up, nine Marlins down, six by strikeout.
Fears of a "dead arm" after his poor last outing seemed dead wrong. Hopes of a special night at Citi Field began to take root.
But then Dee Gordon bunted the second pitch of the fourth inning toward third base for a clean single. Bunting to break up a perfect game or no-hitter late in the game is taboo under baseball's unwritten rules, but what about in the fourth inning? Is that OK?
Even if Harvey wasn't annoyed, the tiny hit seemed to unnerve him.