Jacob deGrom went eight innings last night against a Chicago Cubs lineup that featured Daniel Murphy (.392/.452/.715 career line against the Mets) in the leadoff spot and a 2-3-4 trio carrying 235 total RBI from Anthony Rizzo, Jason Heyward, and Javier Baez. He only allowed one earned run while striking out 10 over 109 pitches (79 strikes) as his ERA fell from 1.71 to 1.68. And despite allowing an uncharacteristically high eight hits, none came for extra bases.
The one earned run charged to deGrom played out almost exactly as any fan could have expected, given the ace’s freakishly cruel luck on the mound this year. After retiring Kyle Schwarber on a clutch forceout to foil a sacrifice bunt attempt from Albert Almora, deGrom got a grounder from pinch-hitter Ben Zobrist that had double play written all over it in fine print. Fortunately for Chicago, Jay Bruce – everybody’s favorite greenhorn – failed to get his glove down in time to make a play, and the ball promptly trickled into right field as Almora raced to third. No error was charged to Bruce, and David Bote‘s sacrifice fly to dead center the following at-bat consequently spelled an earned run.
It’s not necessarily appropriate to let a pitcher off the hook and unofficially rule their start a shutout effort when they ultimately allow seven other hits. In the case of Jacob deGrom, however, it’s not hard to defend giving him the benefit of the doubt. He stranded 11 of his 12 baserunners last night to further improve upon an 82.3% LOB rate that entered the game fourth in the National League. What’s more, deGrom extracted a 31% strikeout rate from a team that boasts the fourth-lowest percentage in the league.
With all due respect to the Cubs, they were overmatched. And in their defense, who hasn’t been? DeGrom has made 19 of his 27 starts against above-.500 teams, and has a 1.47 ERA to his name and 11.12 K/9 in that split. This was the righty’s eighth start of eight or more innings this year, and despite his 2-3 record, he still has a 1.25 ERA in those outings. He has amassed 10 or more strikeouts in a third of his starts this season. The numbers certainly didn’t lie last night, either.
DeGrom sealed a 10-pitch first inning by making a fool out of a potential MVP frontrunner in Baez. The at-bat itself was jarring, to say the least: three fastballs over the outer third of the strike zone. 99, 99, and 100 mph. Swing-and-miss, swing-and-miss, and swing-and-miss. When a pitcher can knock a hitter that talented to the curb with such a routine, innocuous sequence, there’s really not much that can be explained or unpacked beyond one elite player dominating another.
The second inning wasn’t much easier on Cubs hitters. DeGrom threw nine strikes in a nine-pitch inning, working a three-pitch 3-1 grounder out of Victor Caratini before burying Schwarber and Almora on three pitches apiece, mixing in his slider both times to offset his four-seam and two-seam fastballs, which remained in the high-90s the entire night.
“I was able to locate [the fastball] in and out, up and down; those guys were geared up for it. And I kept throwing it,” deGrom said of his early approach. “I wanted to make them hit it before we moved to the offspeed, so I could have it in my back pocket for the third time through.”
As the order turned at the tail end of the third and thereafter the beginning of the fourth frame, deGrom remained poised and mature, beating Murphy with a full-count fastball up and away, freezing Rizzo with a payoff slider to lead off the fourth, and winning a six-pitch at-bat against Heyward by inducing a flyout to left. Concern arose after Baez pinched an infield hit in front of deGrom, who slipped and came up lame shortly after the play ended, but convinced both the training staff and Mickey Callaway to leave him in the game. Even after Caratini singled to extend the inning just one pitch later, deGrom settled in and hashed a 1-3 grounder out of Schwarber to put the fourth to bed.
“It didn’t feel great at the time, but I was kind of like, ‘well, you’ve gotta get up and see if you can keep going.’ It feels fine. I was able to continue, even ran the bases and it felt fine. I’ll be alright.”
Interestingly enough, the fifth and sixth innings followed a similar pattern, as the Cubs’ leadoff men each singled, but were nonetheless turned away on a combination of strikeouts and groundouts. DeGrom entered the seventh inning at a healthy 78 pitches, but lost his shutout as Chicago pounced on his first-pitch fastballs. A wild pitch pushed Zobrist into scoring position as the go-ahead run with two down and Murphy at the dish, ahead 2-0 no less. But deGrom stood up to the challenge, fighting tooth-and-nail in a seven-pitch at-bat that he ultimately won after he pulled a string and got Murphy to wave vacantly at a slider inside.
Things got dicey the following inning after Rizzo singled and Heyward walked to open things up and bring Baez’s league-leading 97 RBI back into the equation. Naturally, deGrom erased Baez with a five-pitch strikeout on another hot fastball before getting Caratini to bounce into a 1-6-3 double play and keep the game tied at one.
“He continues to do the job,” Callaway said after the game. “He’s just an all-around player and the best pitcher in baseball at this point.”
“The guy is as advertised,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon added. “That’s different. That’s another level of stuff.”
This may be a good time to note that the lone Met run had come home after deGrom squeaked a grounder into a gaping hole in the shifted Cub infield to score Todd Frazier and get his team on the board first. This may not come as much of a surprise anymore, however. Across the entire year, deGrom has kept up the same amazing act. This is the 24th start in which he’s allowed three or fewer runs, the longest streak ever put together by a Mets pitcher. Carrying a team when he starts is quite literally what Jacob deGrom does.
