The Mets and Washington Nationals will play a 12:35 PM matinee on Thursday with rookie righthander Jacob deGrom (6-5, 2.77) matching up against RHP Jordan Zimmermann (7-5, 3.00) in the rubber game at Nationals Park.
In his last start, deGrom tossed 6.2 no-hit innings against these same Giants before Pablo Sandoval doubled to break it up. It was the third-longest no-hit bid by a rookie in franchise history. Randy Tate pitched 7.1 hitless innings against the Expos at Shea on August 4, 1975 and Dwight Gooden tossed 7.0 hitless innings at Pittsburgh on June 6, 1984.
Jacob deGrom is 6-1 with a 1.52 ERA with 14 walks and 64 strikeouts over his last eight starts dating back to June 21 which ranks him fifth in the majors in ERA behind Clayton Kershaw (1.13 ERA), Corey Kluber (1.31 ERA), Jon Lester (1.40 ERA), and Felix Hernandez (1.50 ERA). He has also established a rookie franchise record hurling 66.1 innings without allowing a home run. Mark Bomback held the previous mark (60.1 innings) in 1980. It’s the second-longest current streak in the majors.
Juan Lagares is 13-for-his-last-33 (.393) with three RBI and at least one hit in eight of his last nine games.
Lucas Duda has hit six home runs and collected 13 RBI in his last 13 starts. He has a career-best 20 home runs, tied for the fifth in the NL.
Daniel Murphy has hit in 14 of his last 17 games, going 26-70 (.371) with eight doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI over that
span. He leads the NL in hits, ranks fifth in doubles, and is third in the league with a .323 road batting average.
Starting Lineup
Curtis Granderson – RF
Daniel Murphy – 2B
David Wright – 3B
Lucas Duda – 1B
Juan Lagares – CF
Wilmer Flores – SS
Anthony Recker – C
Jacob deGrom – RHP
Eric Young, Jr. – LF
Last night’s game was the opposite of the previous with the Mets dropping the game 7-1 behind a poor start from Niese and a great start from Fister keeping the Mets bats quiet. Tonight, Jacob deGrom takes the mound to put the Mets back on the right track. On the season he is 6-5 over 15 starts and 94.1 innings with a 2.77 ERA. In his last five starts he is 5-0 over 34.2 innings with a 1.04 ERA and 37 strikeouts. Tonight will be deGrom’s first start against the Nationals in his career and he hasn’t faced anyone on the Nationals roster when they were with other teams.
Jordan Zimmermann takes the mound for the Nationals with his 7-5 record over 22 games and 132.0 innings and a 3.00 ERA. After two, poor back to back starts in July allowed 8 ER over 8.1 innings, he has had two, great back to back starts allowing 2 ER over 14.0 innings. In his one start against the Mets he allowed 3 ER over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Zimmermann:
- Murphy 13-41, 4 2B, 3 HR
- Wright 11-36, 2 2B, 2 HR
- Duda 4-21, 2 2B
- Tejada 5-18
- E Young 3-12, 2B
- Lagares 4-12, 2B
- Granderson 1-4
