A day after Zac Thornton dropped the H from the end of his first name, he picked up his first major-league W.
Thornton allowed three hits over six scoreless frames, struck out two and walked one in the 4-0 win Tuesday in front of 30,016 at Milwaukee. He upped his scoreless innings streak to 18, the longest by a Met rookie since Steven Matz‘s 19 in 2016. (The franchise record is John Maine‘s 26 in 2006.) The Mets (42-59) have won three of five coming out of the All-Star break.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a lift off the shoulders a little bit,” the lefty told Steve Gelbs of SNY on the field after dropping his ERA to 1.93. “I’ve always wanted to help this team contribute winning and I’ve made my mark now.”
Thornton, 24, threw 53 of 81 pitches for strikes in his fourth career start and had a stretch where he retired 13 in a row.
“Same guy,” Andy Green said. “Unafraid. Attacks. Went after every hitter. It’s just a good mix with aggression. And really good defense behind him today. A ton of great plays all over the field. In the outfield, at third. Just really solid defense. It’s fun to see.”
Thornton credited pitching coach Justin Willard and catcher Luis Torrens with game planning for the Brewers, who are fifth in MLB in runs scored, averaging a tick over five runs per game.
“You gotta keep them off balance,” Thornton said. “And we do just that with the cutter, get it in on the righties, get them uncomfortable, then all of a sudden you got a sinker right off that. Just learning … how and where I should throw my pitches in some different spots. It’s all a learning process.”
He was intense from the start: “I feel like I’m on everyone’s ass right away from pitch one. I’ve always been that way since I was a kid and I’ll continue to do that.”
While the Mets play out the string, Thornton, along with fellow rookies Nolan McLean, Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, offer hope for the future. Losing seasons can still be productive ones in the long term if players are developed.
