New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom had his dominating stuff on display again during Sunday’s day game against the Cubs. In an effort to take three out of four from the Cubs at Wrigley Field, the Mets’ ace gave the team a very good chance to accomplish to that goal.
DeGrom’s electric four-seam fastball was sitting at 97 mph early on, as he cruised through a nine-pitch, perfect first inning.
In the second inning, after striking out Javier Baez with a slider, deGrom allowed back-to-back singles to Jason Heyward and David Bote. With runners on the corners and one out, he struck out Victor Caratini with the same 93 mph slider he used to get Baez.
However, starting pitcher Cole Hamels stepped up to the plate with two outs, and was able to turn on a 98 mph fastball for an RBI single. It wasn’t a terrible pitch by deGrom, but alas, Hamels’ single gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead at the time. DeGrom was able to settle down, striking out Albert Almora to prevent any further damage that inning.
DeGrom got back into a mini groove in the third, firing a perfect inning that included strikeouts of Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant.
He got into a little trouble again in the fourth, as Heyward and Caratini both singled to put runners on first and second. However, deGrom was able to get Hamels this time with two outs to hold what was a 1-1 tie at the time.
After getting two outs to start the fifth inning, deGrom gave up a ground-rule double to Bryant on a fastball and a single to Anthony Rizzo on a changeup. Rizzo was thrown out trying to advance to second on the throw, but the runner scored nonetheless, making the score 3-2 Mets at the time.
Baez led off the sixth with a single up the middle, but he was caught stealing by catcher Tomas Nido as deGrom retired the next two batters to get through six innings with only two runs allowed. He went to full counts on all three batters that inning, but did a good job to bear down and get the outs when the Mets needed them.
It was a gutsy performance by deGrom, who perhaps threw more pitches than he would have liked (97 in six innings), but he still provided a very solid effort for the Mets as he left the game in line for the win. It was his sixth consecutive start allowing two earned runs or less. Since May 1, he has allowed two earned runs or less in nine out of his ten starts.
Unfortunately, the usually effective Seth Lugo gave up a three-run homer to Baez, and like has happened so many times before, deGrom did not receive credit for a win despite pitching well enough to. Per Mathew Brownstein of MMO, it was the 47th time deGrom has tossed a start of at least six innings pitched while allowing no more than two earned runs and got a no-decision or loss.
After the game, deGrom stressed the importance of his slider in Sunday’s outing, saying “I noticed they were chasing the slider, it seemed like every fastball I threw they were right on it and they didn’t want to come off the fastball, […] so I figured I’d mix it up, and it worked out.”
There was also some concern over an issue with deGrom’s foot, which he brushed off as not a big deal: “I’m phyiscally fine. I get this thing on my foot where it hits the mound and every once in awhile it just clips it the wrong way. But everything else feels fine.”
After splitting a four-game series with the Cubs, the Mets will go to Philadelphia for a four-game set against the struggling Phillies starting on Monday. DeGrom’s next start will likely be on Friday, when the Mets begin a homestand against the Braves.
