Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Zach Davies dominated the Mets lineup for six-plus innings, which paved the way for his team to split the four-game series with New York.
In his body of work on the afternoon of Sunday, June 12, Davies allowed no earned runs (one unearned) on three hits and a walk; he also struck out seven, raised his record to 5-3 and lowered his ERA to 3.88. Davies is now 5-0 with a 2.49 ERA in his last seven starts after starting the season 0-3. Until the seventh inning, the Mets bats looked completely inept against the Brewers starter.
The same can’t be said for the Brewers hitters against Mets starter Steven Matz, who fell to 7-3 on the year. Milwaukee roughed up the lefty for five runs (four earned) on nine hits over six innings.
The Brewers got on the board early, putting up a three-spot in the second inning. Center fielder Keon Broxton drove in the first run of the afternoon with a line drive to center, scoring Aaron Hill. A one-out throwing error by Matz on a bunt by Davies brought Scooter Gennett and Broxton across the plate as well when he threw it too low for first baseman James Loney.
Things unraveled further for Matz and the Mets in the fifth inning. Davies singled and managed to get to third base over the course of the next two batters, setting up left fielder Ryan Braun to drive him in with a sacrifice fly. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy doubled to left field to score Jonathan Villar, providing the Brew Crew with a 5-0 lead.
Blaine Boyer came in to relieve Davies in the seventh after a couple of Mets reached base. It took a one-out groundout by left fielder Alejandro De Aza to get the Mets on the board at last, but that was all New York would score that inning. Eighth inning RBI-hits by right fielder Curtis Granderson and center fielder Yoenis Cespedes off Brewers reliever Carlos Torres brought the Mets to within 5-3.
That was all they could manage for the rest of the game. Brewers closer Jeremy Jeffress recorded his 18th save of 2016 by striking out two Mets batters in the ninth. The Brewers climbed to 30-33 on the year but are still fourth in the National League Central, 14 games out of first place. With the loss, the Mets fell to 34-28 in the NL East, four games behind the Washington Nationals for first place. Milwaukee will travel out west to play the San Francisco Giants next while the Mets will host the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Featured Image via Flickr/Jeremy T. Hetzel
