This will be the defining issue of this Mets season, so even if Steven Matz had either pitched a perfect game or allowed 10 runs without recording an out, the needle would move only so much this first day out of, let’s say, 100, optimally.
Hence Sunday afternoon at Citi Field went down as a day of more symbolism than substance. The initial defeat recorded by these 2018 Mets and by Mickey Callaway, 5-1 to the Cardinals, nudged the needle in the wrong direction.
For this marked the Mets’ maiden voyage into non-Noah Syndergaard, non-Jacob deGrom territory, and the leadoff audition, Steven Matz, lasted just four innings as he got tagged with the loss.