On Sunday afternoon the New York Mets and Miami Marlins will play the rubber match of their three-game series at Marlins Park.
Making his long awaited return to the Mets rotation is rookie left-hander Steven Matz (2-0, 1.32) who will oppose right-hander Jarred Cosart (1-4, 5.36) for the Marlins in a 1:10 PM matchup at Marlins Park.
Steven Matz is making his third major league start today and first since July 5. He was on the Disabled List from July 10 to September 1 with a partial tear of his lat muscle. In four rehabilitation starts, Matz went 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA and 13 strikeouts.
Matz became the fifth pitcher in Mets history to receive the win in each of his first two career games, joining Dick Selma (1965), Gary Gentry (1969), Roger McDowell (1985) and Mike Pelfrey (2006). Matz has 14 strikeouts over his first two major league games, the second-most in Mets history, behind Matt Harvey, who had 18 strikeouts in his first two major league games.
Mets Starting Lineup
- Curtis Granderson – RF
- Yoenis Cespedes – CF
- Michael Conforto – LF
- Wilmer Flores – 2B
- Kelly Johnson – 1B
- Juan Uribe – 3B
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Kevin Plawecki – C
- Steven Matz – LHP
The Mets wrap up their series with the Marlins today. Matz finally returns to the Mets this afternoon after being shutdown after his second start. The rookie went 2-0 in his first two MLB starts holding opponents to 2 ER over 13.2 innings, which is a 1.32 ERA, while striking out 14 batters. He did well in his rehab starts and is ready to get back on the mound (and the Mets are ready to have him back). He has never faced the Marlins in a major league game before and has never seen anyone on their roster in a major league game before.
Jarred Cosart will get the start for the Marlins. He is 1-4 this year over 9 games and 8 starts with a 5.36 ERA, and not performing at the level he was last year when he went 13-11 with a 3.69 ERA over 30 starts. He has not pitched in the majors since July 4th where he was sent down after allowing 7 ER over 1.2 innings to the Cubs. However, he managed to make two starts against the Mets at the beginning of the year. He first allowed 5 ER and 7 hits over 5.1 innings and he later allowed no runs over 8.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Cosart:
- Granderson 0-9
- Murphy 2-9
- Flores 4-8, 2B, HR
- Lagares 3-7
- Cuddyer 1-6
- d’Arnaud 1-5
Let’s Go Mets!
