Even Jacob deGrom‘s ‘average’ is still pretty damn good.

The unexpected happened on Saturday during the New York Mets’ wild 4-3 walk-off win over the Phillies at Citi Field, as we witnessed that deGrom is human after all.

On a day where the Mets recorded their second walk-off victory in as many days, thanks to a Michael Conforto sacrifice fly that helped Billy McKinney  score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, deGrom wasn’t his usual dominant self on the mound.

The NL MVP contender allowed three hits and two runs over six innings of work, while striking out just five and walking one, with deGrom’s bid to set the Mets’ record for the longest scoreless-inning streak falling just short at 31 innings – R.A. Dickey set the team shutout mark of 32 2/3 innings in 2012.

DeGrom eventually left the game after 88 pitches with his mechanics and his filthy stuff not quite there, but Kevin Pillar‘s game-tying solo home run in the seventh inning and Conforto’s heroics in the ninth spared their ace.

His first run allowed of the year came after a Andrew McCutchen single ricocheted off deGrom’s butt, allowing the veteran to steal second base and then score on a Nick Maton single in the second inning.

Still, deGrom was at his commanding best for the most part and got the job done with ease, although he started to lose his control with his fastball and slider in the fourth, but he showed his brilliance by performing a Harry Houdini act to get out of a scary sixth inning unscathed with the bases loaded.

So, it wasn’t vintage deGrom when you compare it to what we have become accustomed to, but it was still pretty great, even though the man himself was frustrated with how his latest start unfolded.

“I got really rotational from probably the fourth on,” deGrom said in the wake of the game.

“That front side was flying open, kind of lost the feel for the fastball and the slider, but the changeup wasn’t really there all day. So I had to try and battle and find a way to throw it.

“I was trying to fix it in the game, but I think me trying to fix it almost made it worse.

“I was fortunate enough to get out there with only giving up two runs.”

Mets manager Luis Rojas probably summed up the events of the day best with his post-game comments.

“Jake is human, so these things are going to happen,” Rojas said.

“We’re talking about the best pitcher on the planet. He was the best pitcher on the planet for us today. He gave us a chance.”

However, the fact that we are talking about deGrom’s start on Saturday in somewhat negative tones is pretty startling given the fact that it was the first time he had allowed two runs in a start this year, while his overall stat line would be the envy of a lot of pitchers in the major leagues, if not most of them.

He even went 1-for-2 at the plate, making it 11 hits in 27 at-bats this season, and the fact that his ERA is now still at a godly 0.69, coupled with the fact that he’s 7-2 this year, just hammers home the fact that deGrom truly is a gift from the baseball gods.

Just consider this; prior to Saturday, he had allowed just five hits and struck out 35 in 21 his last 21 innings, while his fastball was consistently surpassing 100-mph.

He also entered Friday with a mind-boggling 774 ERA plus, which measures earned run average against the rest of the league, while he had driven in more runs (6) than he had allowed on the mound prior to Saturday.

Impressive to say the least.

Even after Saturday, deGrom has still allowed more than three earned runs on just one occasion in his last 31 starts at Citi Field, and he’s still on pace to top the legendary Bob Gibson‘s historic 1968 season where the ace carved out an out-worldly 1.12 ERA.

With that in mind, Saturday was the perfect proof that even on his human days, deGrom still is much more than a mere mortal, and the fact that a pretty impressive outing was considered his worst start of the year illustrates emphatically why this season will cement his status as one of the best to ever do it in baseball.