Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Other than one fastball that Jacob deGrom left up and out of the zone to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the second inning that led to a solo home run, the Mets’ ace was lights on Saturday afternoon. The right-hander went eight innings and gave up just five hits and one earned run and yielded no walks on his way to another career-high outing.

Over the course of his eight innings pitched, deGrom threw 95 pitches (76 for strikes) and struck out 14, which ties his career high in strikeouts. Three of those 14-strikeout contests have come against the Marlins.

According to Metsmerized’s Michael Mayer, in 78 starts for deGrom since the start of the 2018 season, he has a 2.06 ERA. The Mets are 36-42 in those games, with deGrom collecting just 25 wins over the course of those outings. The Mets’ offense seems to go quiet with deGrom on the mound, as was displayed on Saturday in yet another shutout, this time against the Marlins.

Per Jason Catania of MLB.com, the only other time a pitcher has struck out 14, hasn’t walked anyone, and given up just one run was James Shields on October 2, 2012 in a loss to the Orioles.

Luis Rojas spoke to the media following the Mets loss to the Marlins. He called Saturday’s loss “disappointing.”

“You can call [Jacob deGrom’s outing] a waste,” Rojas said.

DeGrom also spoke with the media following his stellar performance. He said Trevor Rogers was a tough matchup, adding that he did well with runners in scoring position and keeping the Mets hitters off balance.

“That’s part of baseball,” deGrom said. “Today we just got beat.”

Though he had a solid outing, deGrom is still beating himself up over the second inning home run he gave up to Chisholm. He said he tips his hat to Chisholm on the home run on a 100 mph fastball above the zone. DeGrom also noted that he had a good feel for his changeup Saturday afternoon.

As Anthony DiComo of MLB.com pointed out, Jacob deGrom’s ERA in day games is 1.80 through today’s game. That is the lowest in MLB history.

Brandon Nimmo spoke on deGrom’s performance as well, and weighed in on the low offensive output when deGrom toes the rubber.

“We’ve been through this before, and it’s never easy… Jake is a professional… He never comes in and is upset with us,” Nimmo said. “My hat’s off to Jake every single time.”

Nimmo said he personally doesn’t think about the Mets’ lack of run support for deGrom when he plays, but can’t speak for what’s in other players’ minds. He also said that deGrom has seen the work the players put in. “

He knows that we’re not trying to go out there and sabotage him,” Nimmo said. However he also said it’s “head-scratching” that the Mets can go out there and put up strong offensive numbers for some pitchers, but struggle to put runs on the board with deGrom on the mound.

“It’s one of those things that’s like, “what in the world is going on here?” He believes that one day, however, the Mets will be able to score runs for deGrom.

Matthew Brownstein of MetsMerized also tweeted out another impressive stat about deGrom. In his last three losses combined (two in 2020, one in 2021), deGrom has pitched 21 innings and given up just 15 hits, seven runs, four earned runs, four walks, and struck out 37. His ERA is 1.71 over the course of those games pitched.

Despite the Mets’ loss to the Marlins, it was another impressive outing for deGrom. The 32-year old Mets ace is 0-1 on the season, with a 0.64 ERA over the course of 14 innings pitched, with 21 strikeouts and a 0.71 WHIP.