MILWAUKEE — Steven Matz can now call it a slump.
After rolling through April and May with just one hiccup, the Mets lefty had his second straight blah start in June on Sunday, when he was spanked by the Brewers.
“The biggest thing was I wasn’t making a pitch when I had to,” Matz said after allowing five runs, one unearned, on nine hits over six innings with five strikeouts.
It followed a start Tuesday in Pittsburgh in which Matz allowed two earned runs over five innings, throwing 101 pitches in the process. Matz (7-3) has consecutive losses for the first time this season.
Matz wasn’t about to use the Mets’ shaky defense — to which he contributed with a second-inning throwing error — as an excuse for his woes.
“It happens,” Matz said. “I make a bad pitch sometimes and defense will help me. I hurt myself there throwing the ball away, it’s just part of the game. I’ve got to make better pitches, really.”
The Brewers completed their scoring against Matz with two runs on three hits in the fifth. Matz hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs in a start since lasting only 1 ²/₃ innings against the Marlins on April 11. He allowed seven earned runs that night.
“He competed [Sunday], he didn’t have a lot of help behind him at times, but he competes well, he got us through six innings,” Mets bench coach Dick Scott said. “We’re a little tight in the bullpen and all of our guys, they all compete, so they all give us a chance to win. He didn’t have his best stuff, but I thought he gave us a chance to win.”