Noah Syndergaard struck out nine and fired 5.2 dominating innings as the Mets defeated the Cubs by a score of 4-1 last night at Citi Field. Syndergaard surrendered only three hits and one run all night as Chicago’s lineup was simply overmatched against the Mets’ rookie sensation.
Even though this was only his second postseason start, he handled it like a seasoned veteran. He seemed completely unfazed by the pressure, and was incredibly sharp with his command. He walked just one batter during the entire game.
Syndergaard said that one of the reasons he was so comfortable on the mound was because of how the team jumped out to an early 3-0 lead against the Cubs’ace, Jake Arrieta.
“I felt pretty good out there,” the Mets’ right hander explained. “I wish I could have gotten ahead of hitters a little bit better, but it makes pitching a lot more easy when you go out there and offense puts a three spot on one of the best pitchers in the game right now. Kind of takes a little load off my shoulders.”
It’s amazing to see how much Syndergaard has improved since he was called up by the team back in May. When he made his MLB debut against this same Cubs’ team, he received the loss and struggled with his control.
“I wasn’t really thinking about my last start with them, making my debut because I feel like a completely different pitcher now. Being able to work with Dan has been a true joy being around Jacob and Matt and Matz, and even Bartolo, even though there’s a little bit of a language barrier, he’s a lot of fun to watch, and soak in as much knowledge as possible from those guys.”
“Well, he gets it real fast, ” Terry Collns said. “When he first got here you could see the power arm. I’m going to tell you, this guy sat on the bench. He pays attention, he listens, he asks questions. He got better real fast because he did what he’s supposed to do, and that’s learn things that he needed to work on.”
Syndergaard now has 20 strikeouts this postseason, which is a new franchise record for rookies in the playoffs. He also became the fourth Mets’ pitcher in history to strike out nine or more in two postseason starts in the same year, joining the exclusive club of Tom Seaver , Dwight Gooden and Al Leiter.
He’s really starting to come into his own this postseason and it looks like he will be a top pitcher for this franchise for years to come.
“This guy is going to be an outstanding, outstanding pitcher for a long time,” Collins said. “He’s big, he’s strong, hopefully we keep him healthy, and he has no fear. He’s not intimidated by anything. Of course when you’re that big you shouldn’t be intimidated by anything. But he’s legit.”
