The ball was locked and secured in the safe atop Steven Matz’s locker inside the Mets’ clubhouse at Citi Field. It will eventually find a proper display in his home next to his first major league home run ball and the ball from his first major league victory.
The baseball he earned Saturday night for his first major league complete-game shutout against the Pirates might be the most cherished of them all.
“I may take it to my home in Tennessee,” Matz said with a wide grin. “It means a lot.”
At a time when it looks like the Mets are about to deal pitchers Noah Syndergaard and/or Zack Wheeler by Wednesday’s trade deadline, Matz made their imminent departures seem less catastrophic with his brilliant performance before a crowd of 39,944.
The left-hander allowed just five hits and no walks, while striking out seven as the Mets claimed a 3-0 victory with Matz throwing his 99th pitch for the final out.
“He was executing all four of his pitches,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “I thought his cutter/slider was the best I’ve ever seen. He was just tremendous in every way.”
The last Met to throw a shut out with fewer than 100 pitches was Johan Santana in 2012. Matz made his own history as he continued his dominance at Citi Field, where he is undefeated in 10 games this year, going 4-0 in eight starts.
“This is what I try to do every game,” Matz said of his first complete-game shutout as a pro, “so it was good to finally do it.”
Matz (6-6, 4.32) gave meaning to a night where the outcome of the game was secondary to the uncertainty surrounding the team. The Mets won their third straight game, but the 800-pound elephant in the stadium is whether Syndergaard will be among the assets the Mets trade and what they might acquire in return.
What’s the fate of Edwin Diaz and Zack Wheeler? What can the Mets get? That’s the cloud surrounding this team as it starts to care more about the future than the present.
Being an active seller was not supposed to be the Mets’ destiny this season. Being a pennant contender was the prediction after general manager Brodie Van Wagenen acquired Diaz and Robinson Cano from Seattle in a blockbuster move during the offseason to help the Mets win now.
Instead, the trade has been a bust so far, with Cano struggling at the plate for much of the season and Diaz failing to be the dominant closer he was in Seattle.
With Syndergaard, Diaz and Wheeler all being dangled as trade bait, Mets fans have been left to root for the young talent that isn’t going anywhere — like Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith, Jeff McNeil, J.D. Davis, and Matz. But even that approach hit a speed bump before the game on Saturday when the Mets put Smith on the injured list with a stress reaction in his left foot.
Truth is, you couldn’t help but feel some relief for Smith after he struggled playing the outfield in recent games. Maybe this is a good time for him to take a breather.
Davis started in left field Saturday night and took advantage of the opportunity by powering a two-run homer in the seventh to give the Mets their margin of victory.
“During the trade deadline you hear all those rumors and everything,” Davis admitted. “But right now, we’re still a unit and we’re together and we’re trying to make a push.”
The Mets figure to have a new look this time next week and whatever trades that are made could dictate the course of the franchise for the near future. But Matz helped put the attention back on the field, at least for one night.