Watch: Harvey booed off field after career-worst start

Matt Harvey's season took a disastrous turn for the worse Thursday when the New York Mets right-hander was booed off the mound at Citi Field after allowing a career-high nine runs over just 2 2/3 innings.

The underwhelming start, the shortest of Harvey's career, spoiled a highly anticipated showdown with Washington Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. During his two-plus innings of work, Harvey was hit early and often. He surrendered eight hits - including a two-run blast to former Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy - and issued a pair of walks before being removed to a chorus of boos from the Queens crowd after just 20 batters faced.

Six of the nine runs were earned, ballooning his ERA to 5.77 across nine starts.

Harvey's recent struggles have been accompanied by a dip in velocity, perhaps a symptom of faulty mechanics the right-hander said were "progressively getting worse as the game goes on" in his last outing. Last year, Harvey's average four-seam velocity was over 96 mph while reaching a top speed of 100.2 mph. Those readings are down nearly 2 miles per hour this season, respectively, according to Brooks Baseball.