Mike dives into brand new spot
myself and letting my mechanics take over, not trying to muscle up,” said Matz, who improved to 8-6. “That is something I was fighting against and this time I was really focused on staying within myself and it really helped me out.”
The rookie left-hander from Long Island scattered four hits and struck out six.
He was 0-5 with a 4.73 ERA in his previous nine starts. In his six previous outings, Matz allowed at least one home run a game.
The bone spur, which will eventually require surgery, was also revealed during that stretch and forced Matz to pitch with discomfort.
But Sunday, he looked better than he had in months.
He worked around runners in every inning except his last. He faced Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton three times with runners on, including first and third in the fifth. But Matz battled and got Stanton to ground out to shortstop.
“Stanton came up with runners on a couple of different times and it was a matter of not giving in and not giving him that good pitch he can crush,” Matz said. “I think that was just kind of the separator today.”
It was a much-needed boost of confidence for Matz, but there was also some caution from the Mets.
“It was very, very encouraging,” Collins said. “His fastball really had late life to it. We saw a lot of swings and misses on his fastball. I thought his changeup and curveball and breaking ball he threw for strikes.
“He came off in the sixth inning and told (pitching coach Dan Warthen) he was tired and we know that can spell danger,” Collins continued. “So we got him out of there, but otherwise I thought he had a great game.”
And with the Mets trying to hang in a tight wild-card race, Matz chose the right moment to break out of his funk. GETTY/AP MIAMI — It was a heck of a way to celebrate his anniversary. Excited and a little anxious for his first professional start in center field, Michael Conforto made the defensive play of the game, a full-out diving grab of Miguel Rojas’ line drive to right-center.
“It’s a good way to kind of have that first play out there go down,” Conforto said. “I didn’t have time to think, just had to react. That’s what you kind of do as an athlete, just react and make plays out there.”
On the one-year anniversary of his majorleague debut, Conforto went 2-for-2 and played six innings in center field Sunday in the Mets’ 3-0 victory over the Marlins. That not only boosts his confidence, but also his team’s confidence that he will be able to handle the position they need him to play with Yoenis Cespedes nursing a strained right quad and unable to man center. That will be crucial for the Mets down the stretch and it was the reason Terry Collins threw him out there Sunday in one of the toughest outfields in the majors to patrol.
“He’s here because he can hit; if we don’t play him in center field we have no place to play him,” the Mets’ manager said before the game. “We’ve got to find out if he can do it. We’re not going to find out unless we run him out there…. If we can’t play him there, I don’t know what we’re gonna do with him.”
Conforto made that decision a little easier on Collins and the Mets. He certainly had a quick supporter in Mets starter Steven Matz, who could not believe Conforto made the play on Rojas’ ball.
“That was awesome, his first time out there in center and to make a play like that, it was awesome,” Matz said. “I didn’t think he had it, I didn’t think he held on, his arm was fully extended, but then I saw the ball in his glove.”
Collins also seemed to exhale when the big screen showed Conforto on the ground with his glove and arm raised off the turf.
“We both became very comfortable with it,” Collins said of seeing Conforto make that play. “I asked him when we took him out and he said he’s just got to get a little more used to moving around a little more from side to side, but he said he saw the ball off the bat good and those were certainly positive signs. A great way to start.”
More importantly, Conforto seems more comfortable at the plate after working in the minor leagues on his swing and approach. He used both fields to single twice Sunday, including a line drive to left in the third that set the table for the Mets’ first run. Jose Reyes tripled to score Conforto from third base and give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
“I am just trying get back to where I am and use the whole field,” Conforto said, “and taking what the pitchers give me.”
Conforto is 5-for-11 with a double since his return to the majors Monday. Collins said he was too good of a hitter not to figure it out.
In a year, Conforto has made his majorleague debut, gone to a World Series, was demoted to the minors and played two new positions – right and center field.
Sunday, he just sighed and called it all a “whirlwind.”