The Long Island Lefty, Steven Matz put forth a terrific performance in Sunday’s 5-1 victory over the San Diego Padres. Matz flirted with a no-hitter in an exhilarating performance.
He took the no-hit bid into the eighth inning and was just five out away from completing the feat before allowing a hit. In what was by far his best performance of his career, it provided a much needed boost to a team who won consecutive games for the first time since July 6-7.
“I’d say this is probably the best game I’ve thrown in the big leagues so far,” Matz said. “My arm’s been feeling great. I have no complaints there. … I think it’s been out of my mind for a while now.” (NY Post)
It is the deepest into a game a Mets pitcher has taken a no-hitter since Johan Santana‘s no-hitter on June 1, 2012 vs. St. Louis. Matz allowed just the one hit on the day while walking two and striking out eight. He improved his record to 9-8 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.40.
As Matz deals with the bone spur that will require surgery at seasons end, manager Terry Collins was worried as his pitch count began to rise, as he did not want to have to pull him from a no-hit bid.
“We really wanted to cut him back tonight because of the 120 last time, and I saw 65 or 70, and I said, ‘Crap, here we go again,’ ” Collins said. “So I wasn’t going to let that happen, but I didn’t have any particular number in mind that I was going to shut him down at, just going to read the situation.”
Matz, 25, was cruising, he did not have too many stressful at-bats to deal with. It would have been interesting to see what Collins would have done if Matz had crossed the 100-pitch mark entering the ninth with a chance of the no-hitter. I am sure flash backs of Santana floated in his head as many point to that game as ending Santana’s pitching career.
Matz now has put together back-to-back successful starts. Getting him going here down the stretch would be absolutely huge for a team who may need to rely on their pitching to carry them as they look towards a Wild Card spot.
