Mets' Steven Matz: 'I'm not going to panic about a first-inning issue'

Matz gives up three runs in loss to D-Backs

6/2/2019, 11:50 PM
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Mets LHP Steven Matz isn't concerned about his first-inning struggles after he allowed three runs in the opening frame of Sunday's 7-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.

"It's just baseball. Sometimes it goes in waves, you go through streaks," said Matz, who gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings. "I'm just going to go out and continue to attack. Today, I didn't do that. I'm not going to panic about a first-inning issue. I'm going out there to execute pitches, that's what it comes down to. If I don't execute a pitch, I get hurt. That's what I did today: I got hurt early."

Matz surrendered two homers in the first inning, a leadoff homer to Ketel Marte and a two-run blast to Eduardo Escobar, putting the Mets in a 3-0 deficit before even recording an out.

Yet Sunday was hardly the first time Matz has struggled early.

Back in April, Matz allowed all eight batters he faced to reach base and score in a 14-3 loss to the Phillies. Overall this year, Matz has allowed 16 runs (12 earned) in the first innning, an ERA of 10.80.

"I'm not looking at it as, 'Ah, shoot, my first innings are I'm in trouble,'" said Matz, who settled down by retiring nine of 10 hitters between the first and fourth innings. "I'm just looking at poor pitch execution."

Matz fell behind 2-0 in the count before serving a 92 mph sinker that Marte launched 482 feet to left-center field. He fell behind in the count 2-0 to Tim Locastro, who singled on a 2-2 sinker. And while Matz got ahead of Escobar 0-2, he couldn't put him away, as his 79 mph curveball was hit over the left-field fence.

"I think today I just made a couple of mistakes in the first inning," Matz said. "I don't think it's a first-inning thing; I just think I made some mistakes in the first inning."


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