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Geregistreerd op: 03 Jun 2018
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Standing in foul territory Zay Jones Jersey , Steven Matz stared at the ball he had just mishandled and started to give it an angry kick, then changed his mind and instead just picked it up.
Matz and the New York Mets keep their cool Sunday, barely, overcoming three errors and escaping the NL East cellar after a one-day stay by beating the Miami Marlins 5-2.
The Mets, who endured their worst June ever, won for only the second time in the past 12 games to reach the season’s halfway point at 33-48.
”We’re all disappointed with where we’re at,” Matz said. ”We had higher expectations. We’re just going to keep pushing.”
Matz (4-5) did that in the series finale, when he pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed only an unearned run. It scored on his error, and he worked around misplays by two teammates – an encouraging sign from a pitcher still learning not to let setbacks snowball.
”You still see him get a little flustered out there,” manager Mickey Callaway said. ”But he regroups and makes the next pitch. Today he won the game for us because he did that, because they easily could have tacked on some runs there early. He held them right where he needed to hold them.”
New York’s bullpen leads the majors in losses but limited Miami to one hit in the final 3 2/3 innings. Jeurys Familia completed the four-hitter with a perfect ninth for his 15th save.
Asdrubal Cabrera hit his 14th homer off Dan Straily (3-4). Todd Frazier had two hits and scored three times, and Kevin Plawecki doubled home New York’s first run.
Straily allowed three runs in seven innings, matching his longest outing of the year. Cameron Maybin hit his first homer for the Marlins, but they slipped back into last place in the division.
”We just didn’t do a whole lot with Matz,” manager Don Mattingly said. ”That’s probably the best I’ve seen him.”
Matz loaded the bases with two out in the second by walking Straily, an .056 career hitter, but then struck out Starlin Castro to escape.
Matz also reached behind his legs to snare Lewis Brinson’s grounder and retire him in the fourth. But the left-hander failed to come up with Straily’s safety squeeze bunt with two out in the inning, allowing Miguel Rojas to score from third.
”If I had taken my time I would have had him Vontae Davis Jersey , but I rushed it,” Matz said.
MISCUES
Callaway talked before the game about how the Mets needed to play better defense, but they didn’t. Second baseman Cabrera and third baseman Frazier misplayed grounders for errors.
Miami misplays in the eighth led to the Mets’ final two runs. Center fielder Brinson failed to catch Frazier’s drive after a long sprint, and the play was ruled an RBI double.
”He probably should have caught that,” Mattingly said. ”I know they gave him a hit there, but if you ask him he gets to that ball and catches that pretty much all the time.”
Frazier then came home on a wild pickoff throw by catcher J.T. Realmuto.
UNEXPECTED CONTRIBUTION
Matz was 2 for 26 this year before he hit a two-out single in the fourth for his first RBI of the season.
”I was in a slump,” he said, ”but I’m out of it now.”
NIMMO SLUMP
The Mets’ Brandon Nimmo, hit by a pitch on his right hand a week ago, went 0 for 5 and is in a 1-for-19 slump.
”I’m super late. My bat speed is not there,” he said. ”But my hand feels fine.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: INF Dominic Smith, who had a cortisone shot for his sore right wrist, pinch-hit in the eighth and flied out. … OF Jay Bruce (hip) is expected to begin taking batting practice in the next few days.
UP NEXT
Mets: After an off day, RHP Zack Wheeler (2-6, 4.47) is scheduled to start Tuesday at Toronto.
Marlins: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (2-5, 6.14) is scheduled to start Monday against Tampa Bay to begin a three-game series.
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Despite disappointment that their Minnesota Vikings won’t be the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium, state officials and team owners opened their arms to Super Bowl fans on Monday as they kicked off a week of events before Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots.
Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton proclaimed it Super Bowl Week in the state, and Minnesota Host Committee co-chairman Doug Baker promised fans a week they won’t forget.
Many events include a local flair and outdoor activities that seek to turn the state’s snow and ice into a strength – what promoters are calling the ”Bold North.”
”This is Minnesota. It’s not going to be Florida balmy. But it’s going to be Minnesota cold Lane Taylor Jersey , and we’re proud of it,” Dayton said. ”We’re proud of our state. And we’re just very much willing to welcome everybody who wants to come up here.”
Officials say the Super Bowl wouldn’t have come to Minnesota’s northern climate without U.S. Bank Stadium, which opened in 2016. Dayton and Minnesota lawmakers in 2012 approved a financing package for the facility, which had taxpayers paying nearly half the cost of the $1.1 billion stadium.
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said Monday the partnership that got the roofed stadium built ”is a great template for other cities to see that it’s not just a one-way street.” Wilf said that while locales in warmer climates are more likely to draw future Super Bowls, this joint venture between the owners and the city and state resulted in what he called ”the best stadium in the United States.”
The Vikings fell one win short of landing on the NFL’s biggest stage after losing the NFC championship game to the Eagles 38-7 . Instead, the Eagles will be here seeking their first Vince Lombardi Trophy, trying to deny the Patriots a sixth Super Bowl title.
Neither team has played in U.S. Bank Stadium.
Though he joked about wearing a purple tie ”in defiance,” Dayton said the state will set aside its disappointment that the Vikings aren’t in the Super Bowl and will welcome all visitors, even suggesting: ”Behave yourselves – and dress warmly.”
Perhaps as proof that ”Minnesota Nice” really does exist, more than 10,000 people have volunteered to direct visitors and help keep things running smoothly during the week. In addition to bringing the Super Bowl to Minnesota, the host committee has spent the last year investing $5 million in grants to improve the health and wellness of kids around the state.
”I’m often asked what makes Super Bowl 52 unique, and the conversation often turns to the cold and to the weather. But my real answer is, it’s the people,” NFL Senior Vice President of Events Peter O’Reilly said. ”It’s the people and the energy and the warmth here in the Bold North that is really coming through.”
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