Mets roll past Indians as Steven Matz notches quality start
Greg Tartaglia
NEW YORK – The anticipation at Citi Field was for a Pete Alonso home run.
The big reaction was for a Michael Conforto homer.
Conforto broke a 2-all tie with his two-run shot (his 26th) in the sixth inning of the Mets' 9-2 win over Cleveland on Tuesday.
The right fielder picked up his sixth go-ahead RBI in the month of August. Entering the game, Conforto and Alonso were tied for the major-league lead in that category.
Alonso set the National League rookie record for home runs in a single season (40) Sunday in Kansas City. With a chance to tie the Mets' franchise record in the opener of a pivotal nine-game homestand, he finished 1-for-4 – but his two-run insurance double in the seventh still set off a raucous ovation.
"To beat Shane Bieber in the first game to start off this homestand, to energize the fans, put ourselves in good position to win a series against these guys is what we set out to do today," Conforto said.
With the Indians, Braves and Cubs bringing their own postseason aspirations to Queens in the upcoming week, New York could not have asked for a better start to the stretch. It stayed two games behind Chicago for the second NL wild card, tied with the Phillies at 65-60.
Lefty Steven Matz gave the Mets 6⅓ innings, allowed one earned run and struck out seven (six looking).
"Some of those pitches were right there on the edge," said Matz, who improved to 8-7 overall and 6-0 at Citi Field. "Especially on those curveballs, maybe guys were giving up on them a little bit since I wasn't throwing too many of them."
The bullpen regrouped from news of Robert Gsellman's season-jeopardizing torn lat muscle to keep the Indians off the board. Left-hander Justin Wilson came through with a pair of strikeouts to end the top of the seventh and strand the tying runs on base.
"We added on enough to where we could stay away from [Seth] Lugo and [Edwin] Diaz," manager Mickey Callaway said. "And now we're set up in a better situation [going forward], because our hitters are relentless."
Amed Rosario is real deal
Since moving to the leadoff spot in the wake of Jeff McNeil's hamstring injury, shortstop Amed Rosario is batting .571 (16-for-28).
His RBI double sparked a four-run bottom of the seventh, and he scored ahead of Alonso's double along with Joe Panik.
"The performance speaks for itself," Callaway said of Rosario beforehand. "The confidence is definitely getting greater and greater every single day.
"This kid, ever since I've met him, has come with a smile on his face and has worked incredibly hard and always had optimism," Callaway added. "He knows that he can be very good, and it's really starting to show."
J.D. Davis showed no effects of the minor calf injury that had cropped up. He returned to the lineup with a two-run homer off Bieber (12-6) in his first at-bat.
Pupil vs. mentor
Tuesday's game gave Callaway his first opportunity to manage against the team for which he was pitching coach from 2013-17.
The skipper has proven his prowess for working with pitchers in both organizations – Corey Kluber won the AL Cy Young Award twice under his watch before Jacob deGrom joined the NL club.
Sitting alongside Terry Francona taught Callaway some of the finer points of managing, especially when it comes to the pennant chase.
"You just have to keep a calm, relaxed atmosphere and allow [players] to perform to the best of their abilities," he said. "Tito probably does that better than anybody I've ever been around.
"It's something that he's excelled at, especially this time of year, and that's why his teams have been in the playoffs and have gone very deep at times."
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