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| Photo Credit: Steve Mitchell, USA Today |
Steve Matz proved that last week was no fluke–he actually improved upon his Major League debut that put him on the national spotlight.
He shut out the potent Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for 6 innings, allowing only two hits, two walks while striking out eight batters to lower his ERA to 1.32. His 14 strikeouts through two appearances are second in franchise history behind Matt Harvey.
Additionally, he drove in a run with a ground out to second base, for his fifth RBI of the season–one more than David Wright.
The only inning he faced any sort of trouble was the first when he allowed a leadoff single to Enrique Hernandez and he also hit Adrian Gonzalez but he avoided any damage by inducing Yasiel Puig into a forceout.
The Mets broke the game open in the fourth inning with three runs–one on Matz’ ground out, then another on Curtis Granderson‘s RBI double and Wilmer Flores‘ single.
Although he dominated, he was lifted after the 6th inning due to his high pitch count (101) in favor or Logan Verrett. The right-hander threw three shutout innings to record the save and capture the rubber game for the Mets against the Dodgers.
The Mets improve to 41-40 on the season and will now travel to San Francisco for a three-game set.
There has not been an announcement in regards to his third start but it anticipated to be at Citi Field against the Arizona Diamonbacks on Sunday.
