LDN - Sports

Masterful performance by Matz lifts Mets past Padres

[August 15, 2016] NEW YORK -- Terry Collins the baseball fan wanted to see New York Mets left-hander Steven Matz enter the ninth inning Sunday afternoon with a chance at completing a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. But Terry Collins the manager entrusted with protecting young arms began worrying about such a scenario much earlier in the game.

"Fifth inning probably -- he was cruising pretty good in the fifth and I just glanced at the pitch count," Collins said. "I looked up there and I saw 65 or 70 and I said 'Crap. Here we go again.'"

Padres shortstop Alexei Ramirez disappointed Collins the fan -- but eased the mind of Collins the manager -- by ending the no-hitter with a one-out single in the eighth off Matz, who was immediately lifted but still earned the win as the Mets beat the Padres, 5-1, at steamy Citi Field.

The "here we go again" Collins referenced was the agony he experienced June 1, 2012, when Johan Santana threw the only no-hitter in Mets history in a 6-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Santana, who missed the previous season due to shoulder surgery, threw 134 pitches -- tied for second-most in a game by any pitcher since 2012 -- and made just 10 more starts for the Mets that season. He underwent shoulder surgery again in 2013 and has yet to return to the majors.

Matz, who has undergone Tommy John surgery and is pitching with bone spurs in his left elbow, threw a career-high 120 pitches in his previous start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. Ramirez's hit came on Matz's 105th and final pitch.

"I was going to let him start the ninth, depending on what the eighth inning looked like," Collins said. "I wasn't going to visit the Johan Santana scenario again, I can tell you that."

But ...

"I was hoping he was getting to the ninth inning with a no-hitter," Collins said after the Mets (59-58) won their second straight game for their first "winning streak" since July 6-7 to remain 2 1/2 games behind the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the National League's second wild card.

"I wanted to see the energy in the crowd. I know how disappointed everybody is with the way things have happened, what's occurred this summer."

A buzz began to build within the crowd of 26,612 as Matz overcame a leadoff walk in the first inning to retire 14 straight batters. Solo homers by Wilmer Flores (second inning) and Neil Walker (fourth inning) provided a little cushion for Matz, who walked Derek Norris leading off the sixth but needed just nine pitches during a 1-2-3 seventh that ended with him at 95 pitches.

The Padres had just one suspenseful out in the first seven innings. Yangervis Solarte hit an opposite field flare to right field that Jay Bruce ran down in the seventh.

"I think once you get past that fifth inning, there's still no hits across the board I think that's when (he) starts to realize," Matz said.

Matz opened the eighth by striking out Jabari Blash on a 3-2 pitch before the right-handed hitting Ramirez poked a 1-2 pitch just fair down the first-base line,.

"I don't think, until Alexei hit that ball, we really squared up anything at all," Padres manager Andy Green said. "I think it was just one of those days where he was substantially better than us."

Matz walked off the field to a standing ovation. Afterward, he said he wasn't concerned over possibly exiting with a no-hitter intact.

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Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) leaves the field against the San Diego Padres during the seventh inning at Citi Field. The Mets won 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

"It really wasn't on my mind," Matz said. "The only thing on my mind was getting outs."

Right-hander Addison Reed entered allowed a two-out single to pinch-hitter Ryan Schimpf before stranding the baserunners. The Mets scored three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, as T.J. Rivera's two-run double capped an inning that began when Jose Reyes singled, stole second, took third on an error and raced home on a wild pitch.

The win was just the second in the last 13 starts for Matz (9-8), who struck out nine.

"He looked good to me," Mets catcher Rene Rivera said. "If we get that out there, instead of the base hit, I think he would have been fine to finish the game."

Solarte had an RBI single in the ninth for the Padres.

Padres left-hander Clayton Richard (0-2), who was making his first major league start since 2014, took the loss after giving up two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out three over five innings.

"There was nothing more you could have asked of him today," Green said of Richard. "He was outstanding."

NOTES: Mets SS Asdrubal Cabrera (strained left patella tendon) is expected to begin a rehab assignment this week and could return to the majors during the four-game series against the San Francisco Giants. That series begins Thursday. ... RHP Gabriel Ynoa, who threw a perfect 11th inning on Saturday, is the first Mets' reliever to win his major-league debut since Kenny Greer on Sept. 29, 1993. ... Padres RHP Tyson Ross (shoulder, ankle) tossed 46 pitches in the bullpen Saturday and is expected to throw batting practice before the game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. ... The Padres are the only major league team that has never thrown a no-hitter. They have been no-hit nine times.

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