Life comes at you fast. So does baseball.
Isaac Mattson got the call earlier on Saturday that he was back in the big leagues. The right-handed reliever had been with the Pirates a few weeks ago, pitching in three innings before he was quickly shuttled back down to the farm.
Now, in his second big league run of the season (and third overall with the Pirates) Mattson was waiting and ready for his next chance. He certainly made the most of it on Saturday afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies.
PNC Park featured a left-handed pitcher’s duel between Pirates’ starter Andrew Heaney and Phillies’ star Ranger Suarez. Both pitchers made minimal mistakes as they combined for three runs against in a low-scoring affair.
Heaney had a particularly strong day on the mound. Though the free agent signee allowed a solo home run to Kyle Schwarber in the top of the first, the Pirates struck right back to tie it. Heaney would breeze through five consecutive scoreless innings after that, totaling five strikeouts and no walks on the day.
But in the seventh, Heaney got into some trouble. Replay showed Heaney looking to be in some discomfort during warm-ups, stretching out his calf on the mound between pitches.
Alec Bohm tagged Heaney for a leadoff double to right field, putting a runner in scoring position in a tied game. On the next batter, Heaney had thrown an uncharacteristic wild pitch that allowed Bohm to get to third easily.
The training staff then came out to check on Heaney, who was still flexing that calf. He was allowed two warm up pitches, and after further conversation with the staff and manager Don Kelly, he was removed from the game.
Later on the broadcast, Greg Brown reported that Heaney left with “left calf cramping,” which is a good indicator that Heaney won’t have to miss time.
Kelly called on Mattson, who he had warming up in the bullpen, to try and get the Pirates out of this jam.
Mattson was coming on in a very unfavorable situation. With Heaney out, the 29-year-old was called upon to take over. Not only was Mattson inheriting a runner on third with nobody out, Mattson also had to take over the 2-0 count that Heaney had left with.
Mattson’s first opponent was Nick Castellanos, who had recorded a two-out single in his prior at-bat. Despite being behind in the count, Mattson came back to strike out Castellanos, pinpointing his pitches and throwing a beautiful ball right at the knees for the punch out. Castellanos voiced his displeasure with the umpire’s call, but it was one out.
Catcher JT Realmuto was next up, and Mattson was able to get him on a bit of a jam shot to shallow right field. Realmuto’s knock wasn’t far enough to allow the runner to tag and score after Bryan Reynolds caught it.
Then, pinch-hitter Bryson Slott came on to face Mattson, and he flew out to center field, where Alexander Canario was waiting.
The runner from third never made it home, and Mattson was fired up as he walked off the mound.
In the bottom half of the inning, Mattson’s battery mate, Henry Davis, put him in line for the win when he drilled a solo home run to center field, putting the Pirates ahead 2-1.
Dennis Santana pitched a scoreless eighth, and David Bednar continued his renaissance with another scoreless ninth to preserve the lead and get Mattson the decision.
For Mattson, it was his first major league win in his 11th appearance. The Pitt product lowered his ERA to 2.25 on the season, and now has five strikeouts in four innings.
Davis praised Mattson’s poise in that tense moment in the game in his postgame interview with Sportsnet Pittsburgh’s Hannah Mears.
It was exactly the start Mattson needs to try and keep a big league job in Pittsburgh.
Mattson had a 2.57 ERA, 0.952 WHIP, and 4.17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in Triple-A Indianapolis through 21 innings this season.
The Erie, PA native also spent last season in the Pirates system. He was named Indianapolis’ Pitcher of the Year in 2024, throwing 60 innings to a 3.15 ERA, 1.300 WHIP, and 2.30 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He earned a late season call-up to Pittsburgh, where he allowed three earned runs in 5.1 innings.
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