The New York Mets (52-45) defeated the Miami Marlins (53-45) by a score of 3-0 this afternoon at Marlins Park. However, if the Nationals hold on to beat the Padres the Mets won’t gain any ground in the standings today.
Pitching:
Steven Matz toed the rubber for the rubber game this afternoon against the fish, and turned in a very strong outing, going six innings, allowing zero runs on only four hits and striking out six.
With the win, Matz improves to 8-6 on the season. The lefty’s last win before this came almost two months ago, May 25th against the Nationals.
The biggest hurdle Matz had to overcome today came in the fifth inning. With a 1-0 lead, Matz put runners on first and third for Giancarlo Stanton, who has a track record of killing the Amazin’s.
Luckily, Matz got Stanton to ground out to end the frame.
The Mets bullpen was impeccable today, as Hansel Robles, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia finished off the game respectively and kept the Marlins at bay the rest of the way.
Offense:
The Mets got on the scoreboard first in the third inning. Jose Reyes tripled – his 101st as a Met – and drove in Michael Conforto on the play. This would prove to be all the Mets would need today, but they did plate a couple insurance runs to give the aforementioned Familia some breathing room.
In the eighth inning, Alejandro De Aza struck out but reached first on the play due to a dropped ball. Curtis Granderson walked after Jose Reyes struck out, and Yoenis Cespedes plated the second Mets run with a single.
The next batter, James Loney also drove in a run with a single as the Mets kept the merry go round going.
Asdrubal Cabrera grounded into a fielder’s choice later in the inning that would have plated the fourth Mets run should the call have stood, but the play on the field was reversed as the safe call at the plate proved to be an out.
Three was more than enough however, as Familia pitched a 1,2,3 ninth to secure the win.
On deck:
The Mets return home tomorrow to start a three game series with the Cardinals. Noah Syndergaard (9-4, 2.43 ERA) takes on Carlos Martinez (9-6, 2.83 ERA) for game one. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM.
