Steven Matz Improves as Mets Beat Nationals 2-0, Tie Series

Steven Matz improved to 7-1 and fired eight shutout innings to lead the New York Mets to a 2-0 road victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday afternoon. The Mets have now tied their series with Washington 3-3.

Steven Matz Improves as Mets Beat Nationals 2-0, Tie Series

The 24-year-old rookie left-hander, who now has a 2.36 ERA and is 11-1 in 14 regular-season games in his career, gave up no runs and four hits in eight innings, and had seven strikeouts.

“Somehow being in New York this year, I think [Matz] has gone a little bit under the radar with some of the other guys we have,” Mets Captain David Wright said. “But that was about as dominant a performance as I have seen this year. That’s a very good lineup, a very good team and to come in here on the road and dominate, that’s impressive and we needed it.”

Wright hit a solo homer in the first inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead at Nationals Park. The third baseman, who took Tuesday night off as part of his management for spinal stenosis, finished the series with two home runs.

Mets starting right-hander Matt Harvey, 27, had struggled recently, allowing nine runs in 2 2/3 innings in the loss against the Nationals last Thursday at Citi Field, then giving up five runs in the Mets’ 7-4 loss to Washington at Nationals Park on Tuesday.

Matz allowed a single to Michael A. Taylor leading off the third inning– he was caught stealing second– and then steamrolled into the eighth. He retired 16 consecutive batters starting in the third inning before Cliff Robinson singled with two outs in the eighth.

“I just feel really comfortable on the mound,” Matz said. “The main thing is with my command, and if you can command the fastball it makes your life so much easier.”

Catcher Rene Rivera’s RBI single in the seventh gave the Mets an unearned run that pushed their lead to 2-0. Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy also committed a fielding error on Mets third baseman Eric Campbell’s grounder that put runners on the corners with one out. The Mets’ Matt Reynolds, who entered the game in the first inning after Venezuelan shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera left with back spasm, recorded his first major league hit, a single leading off the fifth.

By the bottom of the eighth, Mets manager Terry Collins could have brought in already-warm closer Jeurys Familia, but he ultimately stuck with Matz.

“We had Jeurys ready, and I know Jeurys gets Bryce [Harper} out,” Collins said after the game, “but I think when you have a young player, there are certain situations where you’ve got to challenge him. That’s one of them.”

The Mets (27-19) and the Nationals (28-19), who are NL East rivals, will next face up again on June 27 at Nationals Park. The Nationals are first in the division, and the Mets are second.

“It’s just two good teams,” Wright said. “Hopefully we can beat these guys on a consistent basis, but I don’t foresee this being a one-sided affair this year. I think we’re evenly balanced.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 11:  Steven Matz #32 of the New York Mets pitches in the second inning against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on April 11, 2016 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.  (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)