Allows 3 dingers, all on sinkers
The margin of error for a pitcher dueling against Max Scherzer is extremely slim. So when Steven Matz gave up back-to-back homers to Matt Wieters and Michael A. Taylor to begin the third and a two-run homer to Anthony Rendon in the sixth, that seemed like it was going to be too much for the Mets to overcome. And it was in a 7-2 loss to the Nationals Friday night.
All three homers came on sinkers, and the three home runs allowed were a career high for Matz, who lost his second start since returning from rehab for his elbow after a stellar season debut last Saturday. He allowed eight hits in seven innings, striking out four while not issuing a walk.
“For Rendon’s home run, I looked back at the video and I’ve got to tip my cap to him,” Matz said. “That ball was probably off the plate and he just somehow got it out of the park. Kind of the same thing for Taylor. But for Wieters it was just a ball right over the plate, first pitch.”
Matz has abandoned his slider. He hasn’t thrown it at all in his two starts back. He recently said he doesn’t feel it’s necessary to throw it, and he doesn’t want to risk it now that he feels healthy. He isn’t sure if the slider contributed at all to his elbow woes, but he’s not throwing it at the moment. Terry Collins was pleased with Matz’s outing. “The velocity’s pretty good. His breaking ball was pretty good,” Collins said. “I thought Steven, I thought he pitched good, I really did.”
The Mets certainly will need Matz to pitch well given the question-marks in their rotation. Matt Harvey was already one of them and he’s now on the DL with a stress injury to the scapula bone in his right shoulder; Noah Syndergaard (lat) isn’t coming back anytime soon; Seth Lugo had a good season debut but has a partial UCL tear; Robert Gsellman had a tough outing Thursday after three good starts; Zack Wheeler is being monitored closely after missing two seasons while recovering from Tommy John, and Jacob deGrom has had his struggles, though he’s coming off a complete-game victory against the Cubs.
Matz wants to make sure his bad pitches aren’t being left in the danger zone. “Just make better misses,” he said. “I’m missing kind of on the fat part of the plate right now.”