Mets Waste Another DeGrom Masterpiece, Fall 3-0 to Miami

Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

After an off-day Friday, the Mets and Marlins were back at Citi Field in New York to continue their series. It was a Saturday afternoon pitchers duel as Jacob deGrom and Trevor Rogers both collected double-digit strikeouts as the Marlins defeated the Mets 3-0.

Rogers (1-1) took the win for the Marlins, deGrom (0-1) took the loss for the Mets, and Yimi Garcia (1) got the save for the Marlins.

DeGrom collected 14 strikeouts for the Mets and Rogers collected 10 for the Marlins as both starting pitchers collected 24 strikeouts Saturday afternoon.

Pitching:

Jacob deGrom was back on the mound for the Mets Saturday afternoon, producing another elite performance. He threw eight innings, giving up one earned run on five hits, no walks, and a home run, while striking out 14 to tie his career high in strikeouts.

The home run was a solo blast by Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the second inning, as the rookie squared up a fastball and hit it into the upper deck in right field.

DeGrom’s Saturday stat line, per Jason Catania of MLB.com, has only happened one other time in MLB history and it belonged to James Shields (15 strikeouts, 0 BB, 1 R). He lost to the Orioles in October 2012 with that stat line.

The home run to Chisholm Jr. was the only mistake deGrom made on Saturday as he sailed through the rest of the game. He averaged two strikeouts per inning except the third and eighth inning where he collected one strikeout in each of those innings. As mentioned above, 14 strikeouts ties deGrom’s career high on strikeouts. Three of those outings in which he’s collected 14 have come against the Miami Marlins.

DeGrom was replaced on the mound in the 9^th inning by Mets closer Edwin Diaz with the Marlins leading 1-0.

Diaz struggled and did not look sharp at all. He recorded just two outs, giving up three hits, two earned runs, and a walk in the ninth. He gave up hits to Starling Marte (double), Jesus Aguilar, and Miguel Rojas, with Aguilar and Rojas collecting RBIs with their singles. Diaz was pulled from the game after giving up the two runs.

The Mets once again went to their bullpen. It was Jeurys Familia who would come on to replace Diaz and ultimately close out the frame for the Mets.

Per Metsmerized’s Michael Mayer, in 78 starts dating back to the beginning of 2018, Jacob deGrom has a 2.06 ERA. The Mets are 36-42 in those games, with deGrom only collected 25 wins through those 78 games.

Offense

The Mets offense went down quiet on Saturday as they were shut out by Trevor Rogers. As a team they collected just three hits: Nimmo (double in the first), Smith (single in the fifth), and deGrom (single in the sixth). All three of the Mets hits were lead-off hits that the Mets weren’t able to capitalize on. They are 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position this series.