The time had come for a cleansing. The Nationals punished Bartolo Colon for his once-in-a-decade wildness, and then left Matt Harvey to pick up the shattered remnants of his confidence.
It had been a rough two days for the Mets, who suddenly found themselves living in an upside-down world in which they had forgotten how to pitch.
Steven Matz restored order, beating the Brewers, 3-2, on Friday night, his first start since missing his previous turn with a sore left arm. Throughout his absence, Matz, 24, insisted that he and the Mets were being conservative. There was no reason to worry. HIs arm was fine.
Matz proved it, holding the Brewers to two runs and three hits in seven innings. At one point, the lefthander retired 15 in a row.
Michael Conforto showed signs of breaking out of his May slump, hammering a two-run homer to the opposite field in the sixth inning to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.
Matz departed after 88 pitches, with Terry Collins making good on his vow to take it easy on the lefty in his first start in 10 days.
Setup man Addison Reed worked a spotless eighth inning ahead of closer Jeurys Familia, who nailed down his 14th save in as many chances this season.
The Mets entered play as losers of six of their last seven. They had endured back-to-back thrashings at the hands of the Nationals, getting outscored 16-2 by their NL East rivals. But against a lesser foe in the Brewers, the Mets regained their footing.
In his first outing since May 9, Matz (6-1) won his sixth consecutive decision. He is the first Mets pitcher to put together such a streak since R.A. Dickey from May 22 to June 18, 2012.
In spring training, fellow Long Islander and former Mets lefthander Frank Viola predicted that Matz would be in contention for the National League rookie of the year award. To this point, Viola has proven prophetic.
Matz’s six victories leads all NL rookies and his 2.81 ERA is the lowest among all rookie starters.
Matz’s only mistake came in the first inning, when he left a 94 mph fastball over the heart of the plate to Chris Carter.
The slugger did the predictable, unloading for his 13th homer, a two-run shot. But Matz allowed nothing more.
The Mets halved the deficit in the second on Rene Rivera’s groundout thate drove in Neil Walker.
The Mets went ahead for good in the sixth thanks to Conforto, who hit his seventh homer and his second of the homestand. Perhaps it helps him get on track. After hitting .365 in April, Conforto began the night hitting .158 in May.
Extra bases
David Wright was out of the starting lineup. It was a planned rest day. Collins said he may put an emphasis on trying to get Wright into more day games, which the Mets have on Saturday and Sunday. The hope is that “a little bit better conditions” might help Wright manage the back condition spinal stenosis. . . . Outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis and reliever Carlos Torres may be playing for the Brewers. But the Mets didi not forget their contributions to last year’s pennant winning team. Before Friday’s game, Collins and assistant general manager John Ricco presented both former Mets with their NL championship rings.
..... - Newsday