Just Mets

The Mets shutout the Dodgers by the score of 8-0 this afternoon at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Here are my takeaways from Sunday’s win…

Meet the Matz, again.

There were no hangovers, no slips, no trouble for Matz on Sunday. He was steady, smooth, crisp and utterly dominant of a very, very good Dodger lineup in a place that’s very difficult to win in for visitors.

He was dazzling with his fastball and breaking pitch today, moving them in and out over both corners leaving the Dodger hitters mostly clueless throughout the afternoon. They managed two meaningless singles against him in six innings.

He looks so poised and he is fantastic at repeating his delivery pitch after pitch. He has a free and easy delivery, which makes his fastball look even harder than he’s throwing it.

Most importantly, Matz delivered a win the Mets absolutely had to have. But that’s what the good ones do.

A hit parade.

The Mets scored three runs in the fourth inning. Yes, you read that right.

They got an RBI groundout from Steven Matz, his fifth RBI of the year. Then an RBI double by Curtis Granderson, an RBI infield single by Wilmer Flores. It almost seemed impossible, but the Mets actually did all of that in one inning.

Then in the seventh inning, the Mets scored three more runs thanks to a Ruben Tejada run scoring single and a two-run triple off the bat of Juan Lagares (it was a gift – Yasiel Puig lost the ball in the sun).

In all seriousness, the Mets really don’t need to have superstars 1-8 in the lineup. With this pitching staff, they need only just enough offense to win on a regular basis. They didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard today, but they executed when they had to and took advantage of the opportunities which were given to them.

That’s all they have to do. Now, if only it were so easy, of course…

A weekend to remember for Wilmer Flores.

Just a tremendous weekend for the Mets now second baseman. Wilmer Flores had a career-high four hits and two RBI on Sunday, and he went 10-for-13 in this series.

He raised his average from .233 to .258 this weekend.

It hasn’t been easy for this kid at all this year. He was put in a position to fail at shortstop, struggled as expected, and while he had hit for power through this weekend, he hasn’t been great at the plate overall.

But this certainly is a weekend to remember for Flores, and hopefully it serves as a springboard for him to have a strong second half and energize this offense.

A badly needed series win.

Its no easy task to come into Los Angeles and win a series, especially when faced with the challenge of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke in back-to-back games to open the series. But the Mets overcame the challenge and out-pitched Los Angeles in the two wins they notched this weekend. It was a huge success for these Mets, who need to find some way to get their season under control and steer it back in the right direction. They’re off to a good start on the road trip – now they need to take this quality of play with them north to San Francisco, another difficult challenge for the Mets.

Matz has 14 strikeouts in his first two outings. It’s the second most number of strikeouts in franchise history over a pitcher’s first two starts. Matt Harvey has 18.

Logan Verrett pitched three shutout innings of relief of Matz, and recorded his first big league save.

The Mets racked up 15 hits on Sunday, their second highest total in a game in 2015.

Lucas Duda went 0-for-5 on Sunday – he is now 19-for-his-last-115 at the plate.

With his 0-for-5 at the plate, Michael Cuddyer is 5-for-his-last-50 at the plate.

This series win against the Dodgers marked only their third winning series on the road this season. The last one came May 8-10 against Philadelphia, and their first was the opening series against the Nationals April 6-9.