Las Vegas 51s: Steven Matz was human, yet effective enough to earn 5th victory of season

Steven Matz toed the rubber for the 51s Thursday night in Las Vegas against the Oklahoma City Dodgers.

The evening didn’t necessarily start well for Steven, but certainly ended well enough.

Feb 28, 2015; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) poses for media day portraits at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

With one on and 1-out in the top of the 1st inning, Matz allowed a home run to Oklahoma City center fielder and clean-up hitter Chris Heisey.  First baseman O’Koyea Dickson promptly followed with another home run to right/center, giving O.C.D. an immediate 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the frame, first baseman Brooks Conrad wiped Matz’ slate clean with a 3-run home run off Oklahoma City starter Scott Baker.  Both Daniel Muno and Matt Reynolds scored for a three all tie.

With 2-outs in the bottom of the 2nd and Matz on first, Daniel Muno connected on Las Vegas’ second clout of the evening to give the 51s a 5-3 edge.

Another 3-run outburst in the bottom of the 4th, sparked by Cory Vaughn‘s lead-off triple gave Las Vegas an 8-3 lead.

A pair of hits and an error by shortstop Matt Reynolds paved the way for 2 more Dodgers runs off Matz in the 5th, but only one was earned.  And in the 7th, O.C.D. earned their final tally off Matz.

• Steven exited the game after 6.1 innings pitched.  He faced 28 batters, and threw 92 pitches with 66 (72%) going for strikes.  He wound up allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits and a walk.  He fanned 7 batters en route to his 5th victory of the season, against just 2 losses.  Despite a somewhat rough outing, his ERA still sits at a stellar 2.24, with a 9.7 K/9 average, and a 1.101 WHiP.

Las Vegas continued rolling towards an 11-6 victory, to improve their record to 27-14, and increased their 1st place division lead over the El Paso Chihuahuas by 6 games.