Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed a run in six innings to earn his third win of the season as the New York Mets defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 on Tuesday.
Matsuzaka, who was left in the minors on Opening Day and brought up as a reliever, was making his third start of the season. He gave up three hits and three walks while striking out five. Matsuzaka, who entered the game having walked 25 batters in 33⅔ innings, walked two batters in the first but quickly established a rhythm with sharp command of his curve and fastball.
Coming off a rough outing against the Chicago Cubs on June 4, Matsuzaka held the National League Central-leading Brewers in check as the Mets opened a home stand after losing six straight.
"I wanted to end that losing streak," Matsuzaka said. "Whatever it took, I wanted to turn things around and I want to keep pitching like this.
"My intent was to challenge batters starting with the first pitch."
Indeed, Matsuzaka struck out the first man he faced and kept the ball around the zone all night and left the game more because he was hit on the leg by a line drive in the sixth inning than because he had reached 100 pitches.
"Pitch-count-wise, I think I would have been able to go into the next inning fine," Matsuzaka said. "Right now it's not too bad, but it should start swelling up by tomorrow."
Moments after Daniel Murphy's two-run homer put the Mets up in the bottom of the third, Matsuzaka hit Khris Davis with one out and Lyle Overbay grounded a little chopper past first base and into the right-field corner for a run-and-hit RBI double.
Mets catcher Taylor Teagarden, who was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas, iced the game with a sixth-inning grand slam.