With runners on the corners and two outs in the fifth inning, Matz faced Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who had hit five homers in the past three games against the Mets.
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Steven Matz pitched six scoreless innings and Jose Reyes drilled a go-ahead RBI triple to lead the New York Mets to a 3-0 win over the Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon at Marlins Park.Reyes’ second triple since being activated on July 5 drove in the game’s first run.
The New York Mets have moved to within a half-game of second place, a position occupied by the Miami Marlins. “I thought his stuff was good. That’s what you kind of do as an athlete, just react and make plays out there”. I ended up getting there.
Today’s Player of the Game Award goes to Mets’ starting pitcher Steven Matz. Matz (8-6) struck out six while scattering four hits and two walks. Matz is 0-2 with a 7.07 ERA in three career starts against Miami.
“We’ve got to get the series”, Stanton said. “Seemingly everything I threw went down the middle, and I paid for it”. And we know that can spell danger. “That’s an area we have to get better at and hopefully in the next two months we will”. It was a great game. I shudder to think if he’d been working on a one-run lead what last night’s result would have been.
Mets RHP Jeurys Familia can tie Jose Valverde (51; 2010-11) for the third-longest consecutive saves streak in major-league history with a successful conversion in the finale. Eric Gagne converted an MLB-record 84 straight from 2002 through “04, while Tom Gordon converted 54 straight in 1998 and ’99”. On Friday, the Mets secured a 5-3 win.
“I just didn’t want to miss fat”, said Matz, who had fallen behind 2-0 in the count against Stanton. “Adam battled and we got back into the game”. “We’ve been good with those type of guys”.
“That’s a good way to have that first play out there, first everything, go down”, said Conforto, who celebrated the one-year anniversary of his major-league debut Sunday.
MIAMI-Sitting in his office before the Mets’ 3-0 win over the Miami Marlins on Sunday, manager Terry Collins gave a simple explanation for why he chose to start Michael Conforto in center field for the first time in his professional career.
When the Marlins inserted left-hander Mike Dunn in the seventh, Collins had Juan Lagares pinch hit for Conforto.
The win allowed the Mets (52-45) to take two out of three games in this weekend’s series.
James Loney added a two run homer in the ninth off Fernando Rodney with Yoenis Cespedes, who was hit by a pitch, aboard.
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Collins prefers not to use 35-year-old Curtis Granderson in center field at this stage of his career, which leaves Conforto forced to learn the position on the fly in order to get his bat in the lineup. He indicated that a key is not trying to pull the ball, which helps guard against his front shoulder flying open. Asdrubal Cabrera later came up to bat with the bases loaded and one out, but he hit a grounder to first, allowing Rojas to throw home for the force out. Gregg Jefferies holds the franchise mark for futility with an 0-for-37 stretch in 1990.
