There was a good amount of skepticism surrounding the Tampa Bay Rays’ offseason move of signing veteran pitcher Steven Matz in free agency.
It wasn’t that Matz hadn’t been a useful pitcher in recent years. He excelled out of the bullpen for the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox, successfully reinventing himself when injuries made it hard to be a starting pitcher. In 53 games, he had a 3.05 ERA across 76.2 innings with 59 strikeouts.
Naysayers existed because the Rays planned on shifting Matz back into being a starter. It was viewed as an unnecessary risk when other options were available in free agency, but the veteran lefty has proven doubters wrong thus far.
So much so, he fell just short of making franchise history in his most recent start against the Chicago White Sox. Victorious in his first three starts with the franchise, he was aiming to make history.
Steven Matz fell just short of franchise history against White Sox
Apr 10, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Steven Matz throws a pitch during the first inning against New York Yankees at Tropicana Field. | Pablo Robles-Imagn Images
As shared by Ryan Bass, the Rays’ sideline reporter, on X, Matz was looking to become the first pitcher in Tampa Bay history to win each of his first four starts in a season.
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Matz entered the sixth inning in a 1-1 tie, but was unable to make it out unscathed. Chase Meidroth started the frame with a leadoff double before Matz got Munetaka Murakami to strike out swinging.
After he issued a walk to Everson Pereira, manager Kevin Cash went to the bullpen, calling upon Griffin Jax to relieve him.Â
The tie game was promptly broken with Edgar Quero hitting a double. After walking Colson Montgomery to load the bases, Jax got Andrew Benintendi to hit into a force out and Tristan Peters to strike out to limit the damage to one run.
Veteran starter Steven Matz has gotten the win in each of his first three starts with the #Rays. A win today and Matz would become the first Ray to ever win each of his first four starts.
— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) April 16, 2026
On the hook for the loss, Matz moved into no-decision territory when the Tampa Bay lineup was able to scratch a run across in the top of the seventh to tie the game at two. Eventually, they pulled out a 5-3 win to extend their streak to six.
While the veteran lefty just fell short of making Rays history, he has proven to be a consistent source of production thus far this season. Through four starts, his ERA sits at 3.80 through 21.1 innings with 21 strikeouts and only six walks.
Matz is scheduled to take the mound for his fifth start next week at Tropicana Field when Tampa Bay hosts the Cincinnati Reds in Game 2 of their three-game series.
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