What an incredible start by Jacob deGrom on Thursday, as he tossed eight shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 5-0 victory for the Mets.
DeGrom struck out 11 batters and did not allow a base runner after Matt Carpenter singled in the first inning, retiring the next 23 batters in a row.
After the game, we learned that deGrom was removed after 104 pitches and not allowed to complete his one-hit shutout because he had been dealing with recent stiffness in his shoulder and hip according to manager Terry Collins. (Adam Rubin)
The issue seems to be behind the young righty who said he felt fine and had no problem with being removed after the eighth. Neither him or Collins seemed to think this would be an ongoing concern.
I haven’t thrown a complete game in the big leagues,” deGrom said. “That’s something I want to do. But I had a lot of pitches early on. My goal was to try to stay in there for at least seven. Then, whenever they let me go back out for the eighth, I was just happy to do that.”
Here are some interesting notes on deGrom’s best start of the season:
DeGrom tossed 8.0 one-hit shutout innings and recorded 11 strikeouts. He tied his career-high with 8.0 innings of work, performing the feat against Colorado on September 9, 2014.
He is the fourth pitcher in franchise history to allow no runs, strikeout at least 10 and walk none in a game, joining Tom Seaver, R.A. Dickey and Matt Harvey.
The last Mets pitcher to retire 23 consecutive batters was Anthony Young on July 7, 1993 vs. San Diego at Shea Stadium.
His 11 strikeouts were the most by a Met since deGrom struck out a career-high 13 against Miami on September 15, 2014. It was also his fifth career double-digit strikeout game and his fourth career game with at least 11 strikeouts.
DeGrom is 10-4 with a 1.50 ERA in 16 career starts at Citi Field. That is the lowest home ERA in the major leagues over the last two seasons (minimum 140.0 IP). Over his last 12 home starts, dating to July 8, 2014, he is 10-1 with a 1.19 ERA and has allowed one run or fewer in seven of his last nine home starts.
