New York Mets rookie southpaw, Steven Matz, put forth another gutty performance in the Mets’ 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Matz picked up his fifth consecutive victory and is now 5-1 on the season with a 2.86 ERA.
Matz, 24, did not have his best command but was able to get through six innings of work while only allowing two runs. He gave up six hits while walking one and striking out five. He was able to put up another quality start, further distancing himself from that first start of the season in which we will no longer speak of.
“Today was one of those days where I kind of had to grind a little bit,” Matz said. “I didn’t have my best stuff out there but I was still able to throw all my pitches and mix up my pitches, which helped me out.” (Newsday)
The lefty only had one mistake on the night, which ended up sailing out of the park for a two-run shot by Trayce Thompson in the fourth. It would be the only runs the Dodgers would see on Monday night. Catcher, Kevin Plawecki, is impressed by where Matz currently is with all of his pitches in the early going.
“He’s really not only throwing one or two pitches well,” Plawecki said. “He’s throwing all four really well. When you’ve got a four-pitch mix working like he does with the command that he shows, it’s going to be a good outing.”
Matz continued the trend of Mets pitchers raking at the plate as of late. He contributed a two-out, RBI double down the left-field line in the sixth. It would be the third consecutive game now that a Metropolitan pitcher has had an extra-base hit.
