In an otherwise dud of a baseball game, the one shining bright spot could be found celebrating in jubilation on the pitcher’s mound.

Jefry Yan, the 30-year-old rookie southpaw, was called back up to the majors shortly before Wednesday evening’s game and was immediately called upon for long relief after Xzavion Curry lasted just three innings.

Entering the game in the fourth, already down by a considerable margin, Yan retired the side in order. Then, he did it again, with a groundout, a lineout, and a flyout finishing off the fifth. The flamethrower re-entered the game in the sixth, for what would be his final inning, and absolutely dominated. He struck out Christian Encarnacion–Strand swinging, caught Samuel Basallo looking, and put Jeremiah Jackson back on the bench with a swinging strike three. Three batters, three strikeouts. Three innings, nine outs of perfection.

“I felt like I was getting better and better and I was just competing against each and every batter,” Yan said afterwards. “I felt as the game was going on, I was getting stronger and my confidence was getting better”

Additionally, he traded his usual jumping celebration for a more toned-down, but still effective, bend at the knee before shooting his left leg back up in triumph.

One of the largest wins from Wednesday evening was that Yan did not allow a single free pass. Yan struggled with walks in his first stint in the big leagues, surrendering 11 free passes in his first 13 games. However, his control was perfect on Wednesday.

“We sent him down and said ‘if it’s strikes, you’re gonna be a big leaguer for a long time’,” Mets Manager Andy Green said postgame. “Really can’t ask for more than three perfect innings.”

Whatever the change was, Yan seemed tremendously more confident on the mound. And that’s what he gave credit to postgame.

“First and foremost, it’s really the confidence,” he said. “For me, when I was first up here, I was searching a little bit, searching for the results. When I went back down, I said I’m going to go back to being myself. Now that I’m back up, I’m able to command my pitches.”