Opting not to guarantee Gio Gonzalez a spot in their rotation may still haunt the Mets. The former Nationals southpaw, after a 14-day layoff, looked capable over five innings with his new team against the one he typically torments.
But more importantly to the Mets — for the time being at least — was the effort of their own left-hander.
Steven Matz gave them a chance to exhale, and avoid being swept at home. Going a season-high seven innings, Matz tamed the Brewers’ hot bats — they had scored 18 runs on 28 hits over the first two games of the series — and the Mets continued an early-season trend of scoring in the late innings, leading to a 5-2 victory at Citi Field Sunday afternoon.
“[Matz] was awesome today,” first baseman Pete Alonso said after the Mets snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 3-3 on their 10-game homestand. “He gave up a home run, but he was damn-near perfect.”
Following poor performances by projected co-aces Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, Matz delivered his second consecutive strong outing, and fifth solid start in six appearances this year, allowing two runs for his third victory. He surrendered just one extra-base hit, a two-run Mike Moustakas homer in the seventh, and didn’t walk anyone while striking out four in lowering his ERA to 3.68, by far the best of any Mets starting pitcher.
“If you look up there, it’s amazing he has an ERA that he does when he got no outs in a start and gave up that many runs,” manager Mickey Callaway said, referring to Matz allowing eight runs, six earned, on April 16 against the Phillies. “He’s pitched tremendously aside from that one start where he didn’t record an out.”
Without that implosion, his ERA is 1.84.
A Ben Gamel two-base error led to pinch-hitter J.D. Davis’ go-ahead single in the seventh, and backup catcher Tomas Nido, recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Syracuse after Travis d’Arnaud was designated for assignment, stroked a two-run double in the eighth.
“I’m glad the offense could come through and get him [a win], because he pitched great,” Davis said.
The Mets (14-13) started well against the 33-year-old Gonzalez, who entered Sunday 11-2 with a 1.75 ERA in 17 games at Citi Field, scoring in each of the first two innings on a Todd Frazier RBI single and Amed Rosario run-scoring double. Gonzalez signed with the Brewers over the Mets after opting out of his minor league contract with the Yankees. Unlike the Mets, the Brewers guaranteed him a spot in their starting rotation, and after the shaky start, he
settled down, facing one batter over the minimum over the final three frames.
Working ahead and mixing his pitches well, Matz (3-1) was even better. The defensively challenged Mets, entering the day last in the National League with 22 errors, supported him in the field, turning a pair of double plays to end innings. But with two outs and a runner on in the seventh, Matz hung a 2-1 slider and Moustakas parked it, ruining the shutout. Matz snapped at the new ball he received, and proceeded to retire Hernan Perez to finish his afternoon.
He wouldn’t be as upset 20 minutes later, after the Mets rewarded his effort by going back ahead, and eventually making him a winner.
“He did all those things we’ve been talking about: Getting ahead, controlling the count, executing his pitchers. He was tremendous,” Callaway said. “He just went out there and made pitch after pitch. He deserved to go seven, he deserved to get the win. He got both of those.”