Sandy Alderson should probably collaborate with Lil Wayne and make “Sorry 4 The Wait Volume 2” for all the time he made the New York fans wait to see the hometown stud LHP Steven Matz.
It was worth the wait, as Matz shook off a leadoff home run to Brandon Phillips and led the Mets to a series sweep over the Cincinnati Reds.
Overall, Matz’ line was 7.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BBs and 6 K as he recorded his first career win in front of a bevy of his friends and family.
More impressively, Matz became the first Mets player in team history (pitcher or position player) to go 3-for-3 with four RBI in his debut. He is the only pitcher in MLB history to record such a feat.
In his first at bat, he smoked a two-run double over the head of speedy CF Billy Hamilton on a high fastball. In his second at bat, he hit a grounder to the vacated shortstop’s hole on a hit-and-run which allowed the runner to get to third. In his third at bat, he lined a curveball over Phillips’ head to break the game open.In the seventh inning, he struck out Jason Bourgeois to end the frame and he walked off the mound to a standing ovation from the home crowd.
It appeared that would be the end of the day for the left hander but with the depleted state of the Mets’ bullpen, Terry Collins sent him out for the eighth.
After getting the first two batters out quickly, he walked Joey Votto and was subsequently replaced by Carlos Torres.
It was a dream day for the prized prospect from Ward Melville and it couldn’t have gone any better. His family was there and loving every second of it as can be seen in this picture.
His second start will come against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
On a side note, the Mets are scheduled to play the Toronto Blue Jays in 2016 which allows for the possibility of a Matz-Stroman showdown–which would be a rematch of the 2009 Ward Melville-Pat-Med game which Matz won 1-0.
