Marcus Stroman solid for Cubs; Cards' Steven Matz decked

Marcus Stroman and Steven Matz made their first starts for their respective new teams on Sunday. Neither former Mets pitcher/Long Island standout got the win, but one of them had a much more productive debut in their new uniform.

Stroman pitched five effective innings in his Cubs debut. The righthander allowed one run and two hits. He struck out three and walked three and exited after five innings with a two-run lead before the Brewers got back in it against the Cubs bullpen and dealt Chicago a 5-4 loss at Wrigley Field.

Matz, on the other hand, didn’t exit with a lead.

He had a forgettable first start with St. Louis, allowing seven runs and nine hits over three innings in host St. Louis’ 9-4 loss to the Pirates.

Staked to a 3-0 first-inning lead, Matz gave it all back in the third inning on Michael Chavis’ go-ahead grand slam. 

"You want to go deep in games, it was really frustrating,” Matz said. “Especially when you come out hot and get three runs. Right off the bat, you want to get the guys back [in the dugout] as quick and possible and I wasn’t able to do that."

Chavis, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, said, “Any time the bases are loaded, you know the pressure is on the pitcher. I’m huge on mental skills. I kind of change the perception from I need to produce to the pressure is on him and he has to produce. He has to make and execute pitches in order to get me out.”

Matz, who signed a four-year, $44 million contract with the Cardinals, struck out five and walked one. He allowed just one hit over the first two innings before imploding in the third.

It was a far cry from his first start with the Mets back in June of 2015. Making his big-league debut, Matz became the first Met — pitcher or otherwise — to drive in four runs in his debut. He also picked up the win by allowing two runs in 7 2/3 innings.

Back to Stroman.

He delighted the crowd of 32,858 and called the atmosphere “pretty electric.”

“The energy from the second I stepped out there on the field was amazing,” said Stroman, who signed a three-year, $71 million contract to join the Cubs. “To see everyone come out and get there early is the energy I look to pitch off all year.”

Stroman exited with a 3-1 lead, but the Brewers took the lead in the sixth on Christian Yelich’s RBI double and Rowdy Tellez’s two-run homer. After the Cubs tied it at 4 in the bottom of the sixth, Mike Brosseau’s first career pinch-hit homer snapped a tie in the top of the seventh.

Brosseau was a Cubs fan growing up in Northwest Indiana. He said he went to about 50 games at Wrigley. But this weekend was the first time he had ever played there as a major-leaguer.

“I came here a lot. Full circle now playing here,” said Brosseau, whose parents and some high school buddies were at Sunday’s game. “... Kind of looking back on it now after it set a little bit, you can kind of see how cool of a story [it is].”