Remembering Mets History: (2015) Steve Matz's Incredible Big League Debut
On this Sunday matinee, 29,640 fans were at Citi Field as the Mets hosted Bryan Price's Cincinnati Reds (34-39).
In the bottom of the 3rd inning with short time Met Darrell Ceciliani reached on an error. With two outs, Eric Campbell was issued a walk to get to Matz.
In the top of the 4th inning, Matz gave up his second HR of the day, this one to Todd Frazier tying the game at two.
Matz drove a single into center field, bringing in Mayberry & Monell with his fourth RBI of the game giving himself a 5-2 lead. It was his third hit of the game as well going 3-3.
Mets Trivia: Matz was the sixth Mets pitcher to collect four RBIs in a game & the first since Dwight Gooden in 1990. Gooden was also the only other Mets pitcher to have three hits & four RBIs in a game.
Mets Trivia: Matz was the sixth Mets pitcher in franchise history to throw at least 7.2 innings in his big-league debut. It was the first time in 23 years as Brent Gaff was the last to do it in 1982. The last Mets to throw that many innings & earn a victory in their debut was Gary Gentry in 1969.
Matz soon joined the talented Mets rotation of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Bartolo Colon & Jonathn Niese helping become another winning piece to the NL Championship. Matz went 4-0 on the year with a 2.27 ERA.
Soon Michael Conforto would come up & then Yoenis Cespedes would arrive having an incredible
stretch run. Tyler Clippard, Juan Uribe & Kelly Johnson also joined the mix.
Today was the highly anticipated debut of the native Long Islander Steven Matz. Matz was highly touted prospect, having gone 7-4 with 94 strike outs in 90 innings at AAA Las Vegas he was ready for the big leagues.
Steven Matz took the mound with a large cheering section behind him as his parents, grandparents, other family members & a few friends were all in attendance.
In the top of the 1st, Matz was welcomed into the major leagues by a lead off HR to Brandon Phillips. Matz took a deep breathe & settled back in. He retired the next two batters then issued a walk to Jay Bruce but struck out Marlon Byrd to end the inning. In the 2nd, Matz retired the side in order.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning with short time Met Darrell Ceciliani reached on an error. With two outs, Eric Campbell was issued a walk to get to Matz.
But in his first career at bat, Steven Matz surprised everyone with a double to center field bringing in both runners to give himself a 2-0 lead. The Matz family & Citi Field crowd gave him a huge ovation.
In the top of the 4th inning, Matz gave up his second HR of the day, this one to Todd Frazier tying the game at two. In the bottom of the 5th, after Eric Campbell walked, Matz singled to left field, collecting his second hit in as many MLB at bats. Curtis Granderson then doubled, bringing in Campbell & Matz putting the Mets ahead 3-2.
In the bottom of the 6th inning with new pitcher Pedro Villarreal on for the Reds, John Mayberry & Johnny Monell started the inning with base hits. Villareall then hit Eric Campbell with a pitch to load the bases with no one out for Steven Matz.
Trivia: Steven Matz became the first pitcher in MLB history & the first Mets player to drive in four runs in their first game in the major leagues. Matz was also the first player to have four RBIs in their MLB debut since 1980.
Mets Trivia: Matz was the sixth Mets pitcher to collect four RBIs in a game & the first since Dwight Gooden in 1990. Gooden was also the only other Mets pitcher to have three hits & four RBIs in a game.The Mets added another run in the inning making it 6-2. In the 8th inning, Curtis Granderson added an RBI single making it a 7-1 Met lead.
Matz would pitch into the 8th inning; after recording the first two outs he walked Joey Votto. Terry Collins removed him so he could walk off the field to the huge standing ovation the Mets fans gave him.
Mets Trivia: Matz was the sixth Mets pitcher in franchise history to throw at least 7.2 innings in his big-league debut. It was the first time in 23 years as Brent Gaff was the last to do it in 1982. The last Mets to throw that many innings & earn a victory in their debut was Gary Gentry in 1969.On his amazing day, Matz gave up two runs on five hits, struck out six & walked three earning his first career victory. At bat he was 3-3 with four RBIs.
Soon Michael Conforto would come up & then Yoenis Cespedes would arrive having an incredible
stretch run. Tyler Clippard, Juan Uribe & Kelly Johnson also joined the mix.
Today would be the turnaround for the Mets, from this point on they went 50-35 the rest of the way clinching the NL East in late September. In the NLDS they beat the Dodgers then swept the Cubs in the NLCS, advancing to the World Series losing to the Kansas City Royals in five games.