The New York Mets snapped their seven-game losing streak at Citi Field on Tuesday night as they defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3.
Pitching
Steven Matz opened his night with an easy first inning, as he hit Austin Meadows with a pitch but rolled a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning.
Matz then went on a stretch over the second, third, and fourth innings where he retired nine in a row and struck out five of the nine batters he faced.
The Pirates rallied off four straight hits in the fourth to tie the game at two. David Freese rolled an opposite-field single to right, followed by an Elias Diaz double to left. Jose Osuna and Gregory Polanco then hit back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game.
With help from a running catch by Jose Bautista and a Jordy Mercer strikeout, Matz was able to battle back and limit the damage.
Matz bounced back nicely with a 1-2-3 top of the sixth. Matz retired the first two batters in the seventh, but Polanco dumped a 3-2 curveball over the right-field fence to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead.
Matz pitched well, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out seven over seven innings.
Anthony Swarzak struggled in the eighth, as he walked Austin Meadows and allowed a Josh Harrison bunt single before being pulled with one out.
Jeurys Familia was able to get Freese to roll into a fielders choice, but proceeded to walk Diaz to load the bases. Familia then battled back to get Osuna to ground out to second and end the inning.
Familia worked around a two-out hit and was helped out by a Bautista sliding catch in the top of the ninth.
Tim Peterson continued his success by retiring the side in order in the top of the tenth. He was awarded his first big league win.
Hitting
After Jose Bautista led off the bottom of the first with a single, an Asdrubal Cabrera two-out walk and a pair of wild pitches put runners on second and third. Wilmer Flores then lined a two-run single to left to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.
In the fourth Jose Reyes reached on a fielder’s choice, he advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then stole third. Steven Matz however, grounded out to strand him there.
Cabrera led off the sixth with a single, two batters later Kevin Plawecki was hit by a pitch to put two on and two outs. However, Jose Reyes flew out to end the inning.
Michael Conforto crushed a two-out solo shot to tie the game at three in the bottom of the seventh.
Leading off the eighth, Cabrera blooped a broken bat single, however after two lineouts and a strikeout he was stranded there.
Conforto drew a walk, and Frazier lined a single leading off the bottom of the tenth. After Cabrera popped out on a bunt attempt, Wilmer Flores struck again as he lined a walk-off single down the left field line.
Dominic Smith was handed the first gold sombrero of his career, as he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
On Deck
Zack Wheeler takes the mound against veteran righty Ivan Nova as the Mets look to take the rubber game of this three-game set at 7:10 at Citi Field. The game can be seen on WPIX11 and heard on 710 WOR.
