Matz pitches six scoreless innings as Mets blank Marlins
MIAMI -- 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 Mets added two in the eighth on RBI singles from Yoenis Cespedes and James Loney.
Three New York relievers -- Hansel Robles, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia -- each pitched a scoreless inning. It was Familia's 35th save of the season, which leads the majors. It was also his 51st consecutive save, which ties Jose Valverde for third in baseball history.
The win allowed the Mets (52-45) to take two out of three games in this weekend's series. The Marlins (53-45), who are second in the NL East, lead the Mets by a half-game.
Matz (8-6), who had been 0-5 with a 4.79 ERA in his previous nine outings, turned things around by striking out six and allowing just four hits and two walks. He got eight ground ball outs and four fly-ball outs.
Perhaps the biggest out he got came in the fifth. With runners on the corners and two outs, Matz retired Giancarlo Stanton on a broken-bat grounder to shortstop. Stanton had entered the game with impressive career numbers against Matz -- 3-for-5 with two homers.
This time, though, Matz won the battle, allowing him to lower his ERA to 3.36 by the end of the day. Given the concerns over bone spurs in Matz's left arm, this was a big performance for the Mets.
The same could be said for Marlins right-hander Jose Urena (1-2), who lowered his ERA from 6.23 to 5.34. Urena went six innings, allowing four hits, no walks and one run. In his two starts since returning from Triple-A New Orleans, Urena has allowed two runs in 11 1/3 innings.
On Sunday, his one big mistake came on the pitch to Reyes, who slugged his two-out, opposite-field triple to left-center. That drove in Michael Conforto, who had singled.
Conforto, starting his first game in center field in the majors, made a diving catch going to his left on the first Marlins batter of the game, Miguel Rojas.
The out set the tone for a game in which few batters had success. That included Marlins pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki, who struck out on four pitches in the seventh inning. Suzuki remains four hits shy of the 3,000 milestone.
NOTES: Normally a corner outfielder, New York's Michael Conforto earned his first major league start in center. ... Miami gave Miguel Rojas his first career start at first base, a position he hadn't played in the majors before this season. ... The Mets rested slumping 2B Neil Walker and started Kelly Johnson. ... Marlins 2B Dee Gordon, who is due back from an 80-game performance-enhancing-drugs suspension on Thursday, is hitting .176 (3-for-17) during his minor league rehab stint at Triple-A New Orleans. He also has two steals in five games. ... Next up, the Mets start a nine-game homestand with a series against the St. Louis Cardinals that starts Monday. ... The Marlins continue their 10-game homestand by starting a series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. ... New York will retire the No. 31 jersey of ex-Mets C Mike Piazza on Saturday prior to their game against the Colorado Rockies.