Jacob deGrom didn’t pitch long, but long enough to show why rival scouts and opposing general managers salivate when they catch a glimpse of him, and why his popularity is soaring.
The 2014 NL Rookie of the Year struck out the side in the fifth inning, and needed only ten pitches to do it.
Overpowering is too tame a word. He was nasty. He was filthy. He was special. He was so good that Madison Bumgarner, who is pretty special himself, waited on him when he returned to the dugout with a drink of water.
“He’s a nice guy,’’ the typically understated deGrom said of Bumgarner during a between-innings interview.
DeGrom also said, “I remember being nervous running out there, but not much else.’’
“That was unreal, it was an awesome experience.”
Said announcer Joe Buck after deGrom’s work was done, “That’s the best pitching we’ve seen all night.”
DeGrom gave Mets’ fans a memory that will rank among the franchise’s best in All-Star history as he joined Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver, Sid Fernandez and Tug McGraw as Mets who struck out the side.
Here are some other memorable All-Star moments for the Mets:
2013: Matt Harvey throwing two scoreless innings at Citi Field.
2012: R.A. Dickey tossing a scoreless inning.
2010: David Wright getting two hits and a stolen base.
2006: David Wright homering.
1979: Lee Mazzilli hitting a pinch-hit homer in the eighth to tie the game and drawing a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to drive in the game winner.
1968: Jerry Koosman striking out Carl Yastrzemski to end game.
1967: Tom Seaver earning the save in a 15-inning game.
1964: Ron Hunt became the first Met selected and collected a single in his first at-bat in the game played at Shea Stadium.
Watch deGrom’s electric inning again:
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