Following Matt Harvey‘s dominant performance Tuesday against the Rockies, Jacob deGrom responded with a stellar outing of his own. He fired seven shutout inning while striking out ten to earn his 11th win of the season.
Colorado’s lineup looked completely overmatched as deGrom annihilated them with his explosive heater and electrifying breaking pitches.
“I was trying to throw it by them,” deGrom said. “So it worked out.” His electric performance also prompted Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez to say, “DeGrom is the best pitcher in the game, hands down.”
DeGrom ranks second in baseball with a 2.03 ERA and is 8-2 with a 1.46 ERA during his last 15 starts, which dates back to mid-May. He has nine starts of at least seven innings with one or fewer runs allowed.
In Wednesday’s game against the Rockies, the Mets staked deGrom to 2-0 lead, but he ended up pitching in and out of trouble the following inning. A walk and double put runners on second and third base with nobody out, after which he struck out Brandon Barnes, prevented a run from scoring on Jorge De La Rosa’s bunt and struck out Charlie Blackmon to end the inning.
“The last thing I want to do is give up the lead, so I beared down,” deGrom casually explained after the game.
DeGrom currently has the second-best ERA in baseball behind only Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke.
“I haven’t thought about it,” deGrom said of his ERA. “I just go out there and try to put up zeroes and give us a chance to win.”
Yesterday’s outing was the fourth time this season deGrom has struck out ten or more batters in a game, and it was also the seventh time he’s shutout an opponent for seven or more innings.
DeGrom has accomplished this feat ten times during his career, and he is only the the third pitcher in history have ten such outings in his first 44 games. Only Jose Fernandez and former Pirates’ starter Al Mamaux were able to achieve this.
With Harvey and deGrom anchoring the rotation, newly acquired Mets, Tyler Clippard and Eric O’Flaherty, are quickly starting to realize how special the team’s starters are.
“Oh my gosh,” said Tyler Clippard, who pitched a perfect eighth. “I was telling [Eric] O’Flaherty when he first got here, ‘Just wait til you see our starters.’ It’s kind of eye-opening to see those guys go out there and see what they’re capable of doing. They’ve been doing it the whole time I’m here. It’s fun to watch.”
As they shown in their last two starts, DeGrom and Harvey provide the team with an intimidating 1-2 punch and they both have the ability to carry the team deep into the postseason.
DeGrom’s ERA now sits at 2.03 to go along with 152 strikeouts in 146.2 innings pitched. Meanwhile, Harvey has also impressed with a 2.61 ERA and 135 strikeouts during his first year back from injury.
