As Edwin Diaz carved through the St. Louis Cardinals in order on Monday night to secure the Mets' 4-3 victory -- and bounce back from Sunday's blown save -- two things stood out.
First, it was the continued uptick in the velocity of Diaz's fastball.
Second, it was Diaz's usage of the fastball, which has been down a bit this season and basically disappeared against the Rays on Sunday in Tampa.
The 3-2, two-out slider Diaz hung against Randy Arozarena on Sunday -- that was clubbed over the left field wall for a game-tying homer -- was one of 15 sliders Diaz threw in that outing, compared to just two fastballs.
Of the two fastballs Diaz threw on Sunday, one was a called strike and one was a swinging strike. But it was clear he favored the slider in a big way, and that over-reliance eventually did him in.
On Tuesday, Diaz took a different approach.
Of the 11 pitches he threw, six were fastballs and five were sliders.
All three swinging strikes Diaz induced against the Cards came on fastballs. The one called strike was on a slider, and St. Louis did not make any hard contact as Diaz retired the side on a strikeout and two soft ground outs.