Talk about gutting it out.

New York Mets starter Steven Matz matched a career high by throwing 120 pitches through six innings leading the Mets to a 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. (box score) He also struck out 10 for the second time in his career. He mixed his pitches beautifully all night, yet his out pitch was his curve as eight of his ten punch outs were courtesy of the curveball.

In his final inning, he left two runners on base to keep the game tied at three. Seth Lugo pitched two strong innings as he retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth. Edwin Diaz closed things out in the ninth to secure the victory.

A story in this game was home plate umpire Mike Winters who had an inconsistent strike zone all night long. Things came to a head in the fifth after some questionable calls to Amed Rosario (and others), Winters turned to the Mets dugout and ejected manager Mickey Callaway.

Pete Alonso continued his torrid hitting from the seventh inning on as he hit his 21st home run of the year in the seventh to give the Mets a little insurance.

But this game will be remembered by a strong outing by Steven Matz who more than deserved his fifth win of the year.

Offense

The Mets managed nine hits against the Rockies on Saturday.

New York faced Rockies’ pitcher Jon Gray. He’s had an up and down career since entering the majors in 2015. Gray last pitched against the Mets in 2017. Overall, this is his fifth start against the Mets with a 1-1 record and a 9.72 ERA.

The Mets scored first in this game in the bottom of the second. Todd Frazier was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. After Amed Rosario struck out, Carlos Gomez belted a home run to right-center to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. The homer was Gomez’s second of the year.

After the Rockies tied the game in the top of the third, the Mets retook the lead in the bottom of the frame. After two men were out, Michael Conforto walked and moved to third on a single by Wilson Ramos. Todd Frazier then singled to right to score Conforto to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.

The Rockies tied the game again, but the Mets took their third lead of the game in the sixth. Wilson Ramos led off with a double and was moved to third on a single by Todd Frazier. Amed Rosario hit into a double play, but that scored Ramos to give the Mets a 4-3 lead.

The Mets got a little breathing room in the seventh. Rookie sensation Pete Alonso led off the inning with his 21st homer of the year. That leaves him only five home runs behind Darryl Strawberry‘s rookie record of 26. The solo shot extended the Mets lead to 5-3. Alonso now is second in the Majors in home runs trailing only Christian Yelich who has 23.

Ramos, Frazier, and Gomez each had two hits for the Mets in the game.

Pitching

Steven Matz started for the Mets tonight. He came into the game with a 10.80 ERA in the first inning of his games pitched but tonight he had no trouble in the very early stages of the game.

After Charlie Blackmon, who was coming off the injured list, grounded out to start the game, Matz proceeded to strike out five of the next six Rockies he faced over the first two innings.

Matz ran into trouble in the third as the Rockies sent seven batters to the plate and tied the score. Tony Wolters walked to open the inning and was sacrificed to second by Gray. The Rockies, who are hitting .280 with runners in scoring position as a team, showed why as they got RBI singles by Blackmon and Nolan Arenado to tie the score at 2-2. Arenado came into the game with an impressive record against Matz. Prior to this at-bat, the MVP candidate was five for fourteen with four homers against the Mets’ southpaw.

Colorado tied the game in the fourth as the e-word (error) reared it’s ugly head again. After a base hit by rookie Brendan Rodgers, Wolters followed with a single to right. Conforto threw the ball to third to try to get Rodgers, and Frazier then threw wildly to second in an attempt to get Wolters who was trying for second. The Mets’ 46th error of the year allowed Rodgers to score and tie the game at 3-3.

Matz struck out two more in the fifth and two more in the sixth inning for a total of ten strikeouts for the game. His final line was: 6 IP, 6H, 3R, 2ER, 10 K, 2 BB 120 pitches. The 120 pitches tie a career-high for Matz and that was the second time he’s thrown that many pitches. He last threw 120 pitches on August 6, 2016.

Seth Lugo entered the game in the seventh and pitched an impressive inning striking out Trevor Story and the red-hot David Dahl. He pitched a one-two-three inning in the eighth getting his third strikeout.

Edwin Diaz came in and worked around a single for the save, his fourteenth.

On Deck

The Mets and Rockies conclude their three-game series in a Sunday afternoon matinee with first pitch at 1:10 PM. Noah Syndergaard (3-4. 4,83 ERA) will start for the Mets. On Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants. Noah was visibly upset about being removed from the game after 6.2 innings and 103 pitches. The Mets ended up losing that game in ten innings, 9-3.

Right-hander Jeff Hoffman (1-2, 7.29 ERA) will pitch for the Rockies. Last out, he lost to the Chicago Cubs giving up five runs in six innings.

The game will be televised on SNY and broadcast on WCBS 880-AM.