TC: Yo is set to go vs. Cards

TERRY Collins was left searching for answers Sunday afternoon after the worst start of Steven Matz’s young career, so the Mets manager turned to Dan Warthen in the second inning of an eventual 13-4 loss to the Rockies and asked the pitching coach to head into the clubhouse and review some video.

Maybe there was something mechanical that could explain Matz’s performance. The lefthander had allowed seven earned runs before departing with no outs in the second inning.

Warthen eventually returned and delivered his analysis. “Everything is down the middle,” he told Collins.

The answer was simple. But it was true. Matz’s command abandoned him Sunday, and the Rockies punished him for it.

“I don’t care how good your stuff is,” Collins said, “you can’t do that in this league.”

Three Rockies hits produced all seven RBI — an opposite-field single from Ian Desmond in the first, a double down the line by Trevor Story also in the first, and a three-run dinger from slugger Nolan Arenado in second. All three hits came on sinkers Matz left over the plate and up in the zone at 93 to 94 miles per hour, meatballs for talented majorleague hitters.

“It just wasn’t really sharp today,” Matz said. “I was leaving balls right over the middle of the plate, and they were hitting it.”

Matz allowed four runs in the opening frame before surrendering four straight hits to open the second, including Arenado’s home run. Mark Reynolds singled in the ensuing at-bat, and Collins trudged to the mound to remove Matz from the contest.

After Matz was roughed up for five earned runs over 4.1 innings against the Cardinals a week ago, the lefthander showed his frustration in the dugout, slamming his glove and hat after leaving the game. On Sunday, though, Matz was subdued. He walked slowly into the dugout and sat on the bench, staring ahead. Eventually Collins meandered over to give Matz a loving tap on the shin.

“It all happened so quick to be honest,” Matz said. “But the balls were just over the heart of the plate, and they were able to get their barrels to it. I was missing right over the heart of the plate.”

Matz — who pitched to a 2.12 ERA over his first five starts of the season — has now allowed 12 earned runs in his last 5.1 innings. The ace-like form he displayed after missing the first two months of the season with an elbow issue is nowhere to be found.

“It’s just not the way you write it up. It’s frustrating. But I got to flush it,” Matz said. “I got another start coming up in five days, and I got to prepare for that and try to learn from my mistakes here and just keep going.”

Collins said Matz was using his curveball and changeup effectively during his starts earlier in the season, particularly on June 28 and July 3. He hurled seven scoreless innings in each of those outings.

But on Sunday, Matz shied away from those pitches and instead tried to mix in his slider. The Rockies took advantage of that game plan. Charlie Blackmon’s double to lead off the second inning came on a slider, and so did D.J. LeMahieu’s single in the next at-bat.

Matz said he decided to throw more sliders because of the “scouting reports on guys.”

“I may need to get back to working that curveball and changeup more and trusting my stuff versus going to their scouting report and relying on that,” Matz said.

At his news conference Friday afternoon, Sandy Alderson said the Mets’ starting pitching has been “lousy” this season, and he’s right. After Matz’s performance Sunday, Met starters have compiled a 4.92 ERA in 2017, the fifth-worst mark in the majors.

Even with taking two out of three over the weekend, the Mets trail the Rockies by 9.5 games for the second NL wild-card spot.

If the Mets wind up out of the playoff race — which is looking inevitable at this point — inconsistent starting pitching should be at the top of the list of reasons for the disappointment.

The latest culprit is Steven Matz.

FOR NOW, the Mets have avoided a crisis with Yoenis Cespedes. The Mets outfielder sat out a 13-4 loss to the Rockies Sunday in the series finale at Citi Field after injuring his hip in the previous night’s 9-3 victory. But Terry Collins is confident Cespedes will be back in the lineup Monday when the Mets open a four-game set against St. Louis.

“I’ll check with him when he comes in tomorrow,” Collins said after the game. “I will put him in the lineup unless he has to take himself out.”

Cespedes was available off the bench Sunday. He was briefly in the on-deck circle with the Mets threatening to chip away at a sizable lead, but Collins opted not to hit him.

Curtis Granderson started in center field, and Michael Conforto moved from center to left to fill in for Cespedes, who reported some discomfort to Collins Sunday morning .

“He’s sore,” Collins said. “If I need him to play, he could play. We’ll give him a day to get some treatment and make sure he’s ready for tomorrow.”

Cespedes tweaked the hip while trying to make a sliding catch in the sixth inning Saturday night.

“Well, it’s frustrating,” Collins said of yet another Cespedes leg ailment. “But I’m just glad there’s nothing more serious because it sure looked a lot worse than it turned out to be, and we’re glad that it’s only going to be a day and not a week or a month.”