Propelled by great pitching and another good day on offense, the Mets (5-6) defeated the Indians (5-5) this afternoon in Cleveland 6-0 to take the rubber game of their three-game series.
Offense:
The Mets saw early success this afternoon against Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, knocking in three runs in both the first and second innings.
Curtis Granderson led off the game with a walk, which was followed by an Asdrubal Cabrera single. Michael Conforto came through with a run-scoring double to deep center, giving the Mets an early lead.
Two batters later, Lucas Duda finally came through with a hard liner to right field that drove in Conforto and Cabrera to put the Mets up 3-0 for Steven Matz.
Granderson once again got things started in the second, although with some help from Rajai Davis. Granderson his a ball to deep center which Davis lost in the sun, allowing Grandy to go all the way to third. Davis lost a few balls in the sun today and was booed by the home crowd.
Asdrubal Cabrera shocked everyone on the field, bunting Granderson home from third and reaching first base safely, making it 4-0. The next batter was Michael Conforto, who smacked another run-scoring double. Conforto was 2-for-3 on the day with those two doubles, bringing his slash line on the season up to .313/.421/.563.
The Mets were able to capitalize once more on Rajai Davis’ poor play in the outfield, as he lost a Yoenis Cespedes fly ball in the sun, netting him a run-scoring double. The Mets were only able to scratch out two hits after the second inning, but the 6-0 lead was more than enough for the pitching staff today.
Pitching:
Coming off a horrendous season debut in which he couldn’t make it out of the second inning, Steven Matz looked incredible today. The left-hander gave up just three hits and two walks on the afternoon, tossing seven scoreless innings.
Matz struck out a career-high nine batters on the afternoon, and had no trouble pounding the strike zone. He threw 62 of his 94 pitches for strikes.
He had everything working for him today including great command and good movement from his curve. This start has to be a big morale boost for him.
Hansel Robles, Jerry Blevins, and Addison Reed made quick work of the Indians, finishing the last two innings on just 21 pitches to close out the win..
On Deck:
The Mets begin a three-game set in Philadelphia tomorrow night with Noah Syndergaard (1-0, 13 IP, 0.69 ERA) facing off against Jerad Eickhoff (1-1, 12 IP, 1.50 ERA). First pitch is at 7:05.
