The old axiom in baseball is that when you go to a game or watch one on television, you’re liable to see something you’ve never seen in a game before. On Tuesday night, Mets fan were looking to see something that had never been done before: a pitcher throw 27 consecutive quality starts.
Unfortunately, on this cold 46-degree night, it didn’t take long for the cold reality to set in. The record would not be broken and Jacob deGrom, the ace of the New York Mets’ pitching staff and reigning Cy Young Award winner, would actually look human. He had thrown 26 consecutive quality starts, tying him with Bob Gibson for the most in baseball history. His aspirations for a 27th would be snuffed out in the top of the third inning as the Minnesota Twins scored four runs to make the score 5-1 on their way to a 14-8 victory.
Watching the game, there was a sense of foreboding even in the top of the first. The Twins did not score in the frame but made two loud outs on long, hard-hit fly balls by Willians Astudillo and Eddie Rosario. In the second inning, Twins catcher Mitch Garver hit another long fly ball, this one clearing the center field fence to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. The home run ended two streaks.
It ended deGrom’s 27 consecutive scoreless inning streak and it was the first home run that deGrom had allowed in 43 consecutive innings. Jacob ranks tied for eighth in Mets history with those 27 consecutive scoreless innings. The record is held by R.A. Dickey with 32.2.
DeGrom’s evening fell apart in the third as he allowed four runs. Jorge Polanco tripled and was brought home on a wild pitch to make the score 2-1. After an Astudillo single, deGrom would give up back-to-back home runs for only the third time in his career. The first was a two-run shot by Rosario and the second a solo shot by Garver, his second of the game.
Only Mark Teixeira and Giancarlo Stanton had ever hit two home runs in a game against deGrom. Rosario’s home run made the score 4-1 ending a streak of 31 consecutive starts where he had allowed three runs or less (which is a major league record). By the end of the inning, the consecutive quality start streak had also been snapped.
DeGrom returned to pitch the top of the fourth and gave up a sixth run on an RBI single by Max Kepler. The score was 6-3 and it was the end of the evening for Jacob. His final line was four innings pitched, eight hits, six runs, three strikeouts throwing 97 pitches. DeGrom now has a 3.18 ERA. He also gave up five extra-base hits tying a high for his career.
It had been nearly a calendar year since deGrom gave up more than three runs in a game (April 10, 2018, against the Miami Marlins). The last time he gave up as many as three home runs in a game was on July 7, 2017, against the St. Louis Cardinals. Finally, it was just the fifth time in deGrom’s career that he went no more than four innings while allowing at least six earned runs. That last happened on September 5, 2017, against the Philadelphia Phillies.
After the game, Mets manager Mickey Callaway summed up the game, and deGrom’s sustained brilliance by saying, “we found out he is human finally, I didn’t think he was for a while.” As for his ace’s quality start streak said, “He (deGrom) and Bob Gibson had it longer than anyone else in the history of the game. And tonight, he just did not have it.”
DeGrom commented, “Tonight’s on me, I was bad out there. That’s all there was to it.” He mentioned that he could not locate all evening and that is slider and change-up were largely ineffective and when you take away two pitches out of his repertoire, it makes it much easier for the opposing team to take advantage. He mentioned that even on many of the outs, the ball was hit very hard. The fact that he couldn’t locate led to seven 3-2 counts which is a rarity for deGrom.
Even Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud took some of the blame commenting, “Unfortunately it happened today, the day I was catching. So I partly take blame for it.” D’Arnaud went 0-5 in his return to the lineup on Tuesday.
But this was only one bad night.
The enduring excellence during his quality start streak and his 31 consecutive games allowing three runs or less cannot be overstated. During the latter streak, he pitched to a 1.48 ERA. As for the former, his stats were 237 K’s/34 BB’s, .193 opponent’s batting average, only eight home runs allowed and a 1.55 ERA.
DeGrom’s superb pitching allowed him to win the Cy Young Award last year, only the fourth Met to do so. His 1.70 ERA last year was remarkable as were most all of his other stats. One performance on a murky, cold day in April against the Twins can not erase the brilliance this man has shown.
Callaway mentioned in so many words that it has been a privilege to sit back and watch Jacob deGrom pitch the way he has. No doubt Mets will feel the same way. Let’s hope Tuesday’s game was just a bump in the road to an otherwise tremendous, deGrominant season.
