Michael Conforto showed signs of ending a prolonged slump Hakeem Butler Jersey , and the New York Mets got some much-needed offense for a rare win Saturday night.
Steven Matz pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1.

Conforto lined a three-run homer in the second inning, and that was all the support Matz needed against one of baseball’s hottest teams. Matz (3-4) allowed a run, six hits and a walk with three strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.

”Trying to stay behind it a little bit, that’s the best way I can explain it,” said Conforto, who was 2 for 29 over his last nine games. ”It’s something that I’ve been through before.”

The Mets ended a four-game losing streak and have won just two of their last 14 games. The Diamondbacks lost for just the second time in nine games.

”Doing some things that we’d been talking about as far as basic baseball I think is big for us Chris Lindstrom Jersey ,” Conforto said. ”We know we’re better players than the product has been.”

New York made it 4-0 in the third when Amed Rosario led off with a double and scored on starter Patrick Corbin’s wild pitch. The Mets had scored three or fewer runs in 11 straight games.

Corbin got into another jam in the sixth but got some help from center fielder Chris Owings, who threw out Brandon Nimmo trying to score from second base on a shallow single. With two outs in the inning, Conforto doubled into the right-field corner to drive in another run.

”You give up three quick runs the way Matz was throwing, it was a little too much for us to play some catch-up,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.

Corbin (6-3) surrendered five runs and eight hits in six innings with seven strikeouts.

”Take a way a couple of pitches there, I think it could have been decent,” Corbin said. ”They just did a good job http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kaleb-mcgary-jersey , made it tough. I got the pitch count up there a little bit and they made me work.”

The Diamondbacks made it 5-1 in the sixth with Nick Ahmed’s double and Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI groundout.

Arizona loaded the bases in the seventh against Matz and reliever Robert Gsellman, who rode onto the field in the Diamondbacks’ new bullpen cart. Gsellman got Ahmed to ground into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.

”Honestly, after the second inning it all clicked for me and I started feeling really good out there,” Matz said.

The Mets’ Anthony Swarzak struck out the side in the ninth to end it.

GREET THE METS

Most of the right field seats at Chase Field on Saturday night were taken up by hundreds of chanting Mets fans in blue shirts representing a group called the Seven Line Army. It bills itself on Twitter as ”the largest traveling supporter section in baseball history.”

The group went crazy as Conforto’s home run sailed into its area, and roared again when Conforto took his position in center field and waved before the start of the bottom of the second.

The fans serenaded Mets pinch hitter Jose Reyes with a soccer-style cheer in the ninth while he was at bat.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: Reliever Jeurys Familia is with the team in Arizona and is eligible to come off the disabled list Sunday. He’s been out with a sore right shoulder since June 7. Mets manager Mickey Callaway said he ”wouldn’t be afraid” to go to Familia in the eighth or ninth inning right away. … OF Jay Bruce is expected to be in Sunday’s lineup after missing the past three games with a sore back. … RHP Noah Syndergaard (right index finger) is moving closer to starting a throwing program.

Diamondbacks: RHP Shelby Miller (Tommy John surgery rehab) made a strong start for Class A Visalia on Saturday night, allowing three hits in 6 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts. … LHP Robbie Ray (oblique) will throw up to 70 pitches Tuesday for Triple-A Reno. … RHP Randall Delgado (oblique) is set for one inning of work for Reno on Sunday.

UP NEXT

Mets: RHP Zack Wheeler (2-5) is set for his fourth career start at Chase Field. He has 1.93 ERA in three previous starts.

Diamondbacks: RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1) faces the Mets. He has allowed two runs or fewer in four of his five starts this season.

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Todd Haley’s contract as the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers is up.

And coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t sound as if he’s in a rush to decide whether Haley will be back next season.

Tomlin sidestepped several attempts to endorse Haley’s return on Tuesday as the AFC North champions continued to dissect what went wrong in an upset home playoff loss to Jacksonville . Asked if he anticipated any changes to his staff, Tomlin demurred.

”I don’t know where these roads are going to lead Kendall Sheffield Jersey ,” Tomlin said. ”Some contracts are up. Some aren’t. I’m not ready to discuss that.”

Haley just finished his sixth season with the Steelers and has helped design one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses.

Led by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell and All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh (13-3) has finished in the top three in total yards in three of the past four years.

Though Haley and Roethlisberger have found a level of detente following a somewhat bumpy start to their relationship, Haley’s occasionally fiery approach has made him a touchstone when things don’t go well.

While the Steelers piled up more than 500 yards against the NFL’s top-ranked defense on Sunday, they also made a couple of curious play calls on fourth down that halted their momentum.

Bell was stuffed for a loss on a toss play when Pittsburgh needed just 1 yard in the first quarter and Roethlisberger threw incomplete to rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster on fourth down in the fourth quarter when advancing the ball a matter of inches would have extended the drive.

The Steelers, however, have gone away from using the quarterback sneak in recent years to help Roethlisberger avoid the contact.

Tomlin brushed off the notion that the sneak is no longer a part of the playbook http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-john-cominsky-jersey , saying ”to suggest there’s a resistance to it in concept, I’m not ready to say that.”

Tomlin also isn’t ready to say much about his staff.

Offensive line coach Mike Munchak has interviewed for the open head coaching job in Arizona and wide receivers coach Richard Mann is retiring.

Hines Ward, a two-time Super Bowl winner who is also the leading receiver in franchise history, spent time with the team during the season as a volunteer assistant, though Tomlin declined to get into any specifics about any sort of future role for Ward or anybody else for that matter.

”I’m not going to have a lot of definitive answers (right now),” Tomlin said. ”I don’t want to provide you misinformation.”

Tomlin called his 11th season a ”wild and challenging and fun ride.”

One with more than its fair share of bumps created from within.

From the ”botched” decision to stay out of sight during the national anthem in Chicago in September to wide receiver Martavis Bryant’s trade demand to Tomlin openly talking about having to face New England twice – hinting he expected the Steelers to face the Patriots in the AFC championship game more than a month before it would become a reality – hardly a week passed with the attention focused somewhere other than the field.

”We realize oftentimes it may create a storm around us, but that’s not us Qadree Ollison Jersey ,” Tomlin said. ”We don’t care. We can’t care. We can’t control it anyway.”

Not exactly.

Outside of linebacker Ryan Shazier’s life-altering spinal injury, the Steelers created most of the noise that surrounded them.

While Tomlin said it’s on him to help his players learn to use the attention directed at them and their own social media agendas ”for good” he’s also aware that none of it matters so long as his team wins.

For a franchise where success is only measured in Lombardi Trophies, 2017 ended in disappointment, one the Steelers will have a longer than expected offseason to process.

”It ended the way it ended and looking back at it, there’s nothing we can do about that other than learn from the experience,” Tomlin said. ”Hopefully that strengthens us for our next journey.”

One the Steelers are starting earlier than expected.

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