Ever since Steven Matz threw a one-run, six-inning start to kick off his 2020 campaign, it has been all downhill. And that trend continued on Saturday night against the Phillies.

The lefty allowed six runs on five hits and three walks over 4.1 innings in the Mets’ 6-2 loss down in Philadelphia. Though his pitches looked sharp, especially his breaking stuff, Matz’ fifth inning that saw five runs go across the board turned a solid start into another head scratcher.

“When you have results like this a few outings in a row, in your head you’re like ‘I gotta change something. Something’s gotta be different,’” Matz told reporters via Zoom. “So that’s the battle for me. I really do think I improved a lot on my stuff today, command of the ball. Like I said, that fifth inning I made two good pitches and two base hits and then two hard-fought at-bats by those two guys. They drew a walk and, you know, it’s really frustrating.”

The results haven’t been there for Matz, but he is trying to remain positive throughout this funk. As mentioned, his location and command look good. His curveball has the bite that he wants on it. There’s just a little bit of bad luck and not being able to get out of those jams when it does happen. That’s when you see the blowup innings like the fifth against the Phils here.

Manager Luis Rojas chalked it up as “another tough outing,” and he and his staff will need to figure out what could help Matz turn the ship around.

“At this point, that’s how we’re looking at it and this just happened. So as a staff, like we’ve done in the past, we’re gonna get together and talk to see what’s best for Matzy and what adjustments he can make when he gets the ball,” he said.

Looking at the positives is always good, and what professionals do when things aren’t going the way they want. But Matz knows that a 9.00 ERA to his name after this one isn’t at all what his team needs.

“Trying to stay positive, trying to take the positives out of it but I just got to execute better,” he said. “I gotta give the team a better chance to win. It’s unacceptable.”

Granted all goes according to plan rotation-wise, Matz won’t have an easy opponent the next time he gets the ball, with the Yankees coming to Citi Field. If there was a time to reverse the tides, that outing would be it.

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