CHICAGO — Steven Matz didn’t get out of the fifth inning, but thanks to Jason Hammel, he was good enough for the Mets in Wednesday’s 8-3 Game 4 win to end the NLCS.
Manager Terry Collins decided to pull the rookie left-hander in the fifth after a pair of two-out singles in favor of Bartolo Colon, who struck out Kris Bryant to end the inning and preserve a five-run lead.
Matz’s evening began very well, with his first appearance at Wrigley Field coming at the plate — not on the mound.
The Mets finished the sweep with a four-run first, and Matz gladly took the early cushion.
“It was awesome,” Matz said. “It took some pressure off, but I still had to bear down and that’s what the veteran guys told me.”
Matz listened well enough, though after retiring the first eight batters he faced, the lefty ran into trouble during the middle innings.
His first jam came in the fourth, when the Cubs loaded the bases with no one out with a double by Jorge Soler, a walk to Bryant and, following a visit by pitching coach Dan Warthen, an Anthony Rizzo single to center.
But just when it looked like the 24-year-old might be ready to let the Cubs back in the game, David Wright helped save the day, snaring Starlin Castro’s hard-hit liner to third for the first out.
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So what could have been a two-run double turned into the inning’s first out. Matz recovered to get Kyle Schwarber on a grounder to first. It allowed Soler to score, but the Mets gladly took the second out.
“That fourth inning, to have the bases loaded and nobody out, all you try to do is limit the damage,” Matz said. “David made a great play. I tried to get a fastball in and before I even knew what happened, it was in David’s glove.”
Wright barely had time to react.
“It felt like a double, but I was in the right spot,” Wright said.
Wilmer Flores followed by making a nice running catch in foul territory on a pop-up by Javier Baez to end the threat.














Matz faltered again in the fifth, though Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy could have ended the inning by catching a Dexter Fowler pop-up that instead fell in for a single.
Still, Matz was good enough, because the Mets had a rested bullpen and Colon has shown an ability to pitch out of the pen.
For the inexperienced Matz, it figured to be another valuable learning experience for someone who had just six major league appearances before the playoffs.
Only Philadelphia’s Marty Bystrom had pitched in fewer games before starting in an LCS game, with just five.



