Coming off a disappointing 16-inning loss, the Mets turned to ace Jacob deGrom. Despite losing in extras yet again, the Mets couldn’t have asked for anything more from their starter.
To start off the game, deGrom gave up a leadoff single to Brandon Belt, but ended the inning by striking out the next two hitters and picking off Belt at first base.
The next three innings were a breeze for deGrom, with the only runner on base being via a walk. He would also strike out Tyler Beede in the third, which was his 1,149th strikeout, moving him ahead of Ron Darling for sixth all-time on the Mets all-time strikeouts list.
San Francisco’s next hit wouldn’t come until the fifth inning which would be a two-out double by Kevin Pillar. DeGrom would go on to strand the runner at third as he got Joe Panik to fly out to Jeff McNeil.
DeGrom found himself in trouble in the sixth, giving up a leadoff single to starter Tyler Beede and a one-out walk to Austin Slater. Jacob, however, was able to avoid any damage by striking out Pablo Sandoval and Stephen Vogt.
In the seventh, deGrom walked the leadoff hitter but yet again, the Giants could not push the run across the plate. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second with one out, but Pillar lined out to right and Panik flew out to center.
In total, deGrom lasted seven innings, giving up no runs on three hits and three walks while collected 10 strikeouts. The Mets ace was nearly untouchable, fooling the Giants batters with his sharp slider and electric 99-mph fastball for the majority of the night.
The right-hander believes that what contributed to his success was how he was “mixing up and out, up, down. [Ramos] did a nice job and we worked well.”
Wilson Ramos surprisingly started with deGrom on the mound and with it working out this time around, it will be interesting to see whether or not Ramos or Tomas Nido is behind the plate in his next start.
DeGrom has now lowered his season ERA to 3.02, but owns only a 5-7 record in 19 starts due to a severe lack of run support. He will look to continue his season-long success in his next outing, most likely against the San Diego Padres on Thursday if the Mets don’t skip any starts in between.
