The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
METS MASH MARLINS
Steven Matz pitched seven innings and two relievers completed a sevenhitter to help the New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 8-0 on Wednesday night in Miami.
Asdrubal Cabrera and Curtis Granderson each hit a two-run homer in support of Matz (2-1), who allowed six hits, all singles, and one walk while lowering his ERA to 2.67 in four starts this year.
Matz’s performance gave the rotation a welcome lift hours after right-hander Robert Gsellman became the sixth Mets starting pitcher to go on the disabled list this season. Gsellman strained his left hamstring Tuesday.
Cabrera hit his seventh homer in the first inning, and Granderson connected for his 12th in the seventh and his eighth this month. The Mets have 50 homers in June, the most in a calendar month by any team since 2006.
Jose Reyes had three hits to hike his average to .202. The Mets have won four of their past five games while outscoring opponents 35-14.
Jeff Locke (0-4) allowed three runs, all in a 32-pitch first inning, but settled down to last 5 2/3 innings. He retired 12 in a row after his rocky start but fell to 0-3 with a 6.20 ERA in five career starts against the Mets.
Second baseman Cabrera and shortstop Reyes made fine defensive plays for New York, robbing Miami of hits, and the duo combined to turn two double plays.
Granderson led off the game with a walk, Cabrera followed with his homer, and Reyes added a twoout RBI single in the first.
Granderson homered off Justin Nicolino, making his first relief appearance of the year after being dropped from the rotation. TWINS 4, RED SOX 1 » At Boston, Adalberto Mejia pitched 5 2/3 innings in his second straight scoreless start, Max Kepler hit a two-run homer and the Minnesota Twins rebounded from two consecutive losses against Boston to beat the Red Sox.
Kepler also had an RBI single, and Miguel Sano added an RBI double to help the Twins improve to 24-11 on the road.
Mejia (3-3) allowed five hits, struck out three and walked one. On Friday night at Cleveland, the rookie left-hander held the Indians to two hits over five innings in a victory.
Brandon Kintzler got the final three outs for his 21st save.
Boston starter Rick Porcello (4-10) gave up four runs on six hits in six innings, striking out six and walking two. It was his 14th straight start going at least six innings, the AL’s longest active streak.