NEW YORK - Steven Matz's giddy grandfather popped out of his seat at Citi Field and shouted with unabashed glee. Boy, did he have plenty to cheer about.
In an astonishing and storybook debut, Matz became the only major-league pitcher to drive in four runs in his first career game while leading the New York Mets to a 7-2 victory against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.
"Did it all today," Matz said.
Pitching about 50 miles from home with more than 130 family members and friends on hand, Matz got three hits and helped the Mets to a three-game sweep.
He was awfully impressive on the mound, too, working into the eighth inning after giving up a home run to his first batter.
"He was ready for this," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "All the things we heard from the guys in Triple-A, it was time. ... And today he showed it."
The club's latest prized pitching prospect, Matz had to wait 31/2 extra hours to make his much-anticipated debut because the teams needed 13 innings to first complete Saturday's game that was suspended by rain. Picking up in the seventh, New York won 2-1 with help from two miscues by Reds infielders.
Scores of fans, some already wearing Matz shirts and jerseys, came to see the lefty from Long Island pitch. But what really got the crowd going were his swings at the plate as the 24-year-old Matz, who grew up a Mets fan, rejuvenated an anemic lineup.
Matz (1-0) became the first player in franchise history - at any position! - to have four RBI in his first major-league game.
He did it with a two-run double off Josh Smith (0-1) over the center fielder's head in the second and a two-run single with the bases loaded in the sixth. In between those at-bats: Matz keyed a tiebreaking rally with another single, making him the first Mets pitcher to have hits in his first three at-bats.
He even slid hard into second to help break up a double play, helping New York tack on a run.
"I don't like being an easy out as a pitcher," Matz said.
No worries there.
By his turn in the fifth, fans had replaced the "Let's go Mets!" chant with "Let's go Matz!"
And with each successive hit, his family in attendance broke into delirious excitement - making his thrilled and animated grandpa an instant Internet sensation.
The Mets had scored just 15 runs in 10 games coming in, their worst string since September 1979, according to STATS. They have won four straight following a seven-game slide.
Curtis Granderson followed Matz's fifth-inning hit with an RBI double to make it 3-2. Matz's two-run single - followed by a big fist pump - in the sixth gave New York its most runs since June 14, when it scored 10.