- Picture: Newsday
You’re not gonna believe this.
The Mets allowed a run in the 1st inning.
Steven Matz allowed a solo homerun to Nolan Arenado, making the score 1-0. So in a dreadful home-stand where the Mets have never led at any point, they had another early hole to crawl out of.
The second inning started with a leadoff single by Chris Iannetta. After a passed ball by Tomas Nido, I was ready for football season. Surprisingly, Matz left that runner stranded in scoring position.
After that Matz was brilliant. He allowed a 4th inning walk to Trevor Story. He allowed a 6th inning to single to Charlie Blackmon, and that was it. Story and Blackmon both stole 2nd base but that’s a discussion for another day. Or every day where there’s a Met game.
That was the most encouraging thing though. Whether it’s the Jon Niese disease or difficulty pitching out of the stretch, Matz has had a tendency to implode in these situations. I absolutely loved his demeanor and body language last night. Maybe the meeting with Mickey Callaway will produce the Matz we saw in 2015 and parts of 2016.
Steven Matz pitched 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits. He walked a batter and struck out 5. Such a beautiful sight to see him attack this potent Colorado lineup all night.
Unfortunately, the Mets offense took the night off. They had a few chances, but missed opportunities and some bad luck ultimately kept them off the scoreboard.
The Mets would lose by a score of 2-0. The second run would be charged to the account of Robert Gsellman.
Gsellman gave up that 1 run in 2 innings of work, and it was not a good outing. He was able to limit the damage, which I suppose is encouraging, but he allowed 5 base runners.
Paul Sewald was great, striking out a batter in a clean inning of work.
Brandon Nimmo was in the lineup for a second straight night, starting in place of the struggling Michael Conforto. Nimmo did not record a hit, but did draw a walk and had an outfield assist.
Speaking of outfield assists, Yoenis Cespedes threw a runner out at home. Of course he did. That throw saved Robert Gsellman’s ERA, and kept the Mets within striking distance of the Rockies.
The Mets have now lost 5 straight games. They have lost 5 out of their last 6 series. They have not had a lead in any game played in this awful home stand.
Steven Matz was definitely the story of the night, and his outing was very encouraging, as the starting rotation has become a huge question mark.
The Mets will send Noah Syndergaard to the mound in the series finale against Colorado lefty Kyle Freeland.
