Jacob deGrom dominant in first game of MLB’s grip crackdown, extends scoreless streak to 30 innings
100. 99. 100.
If there were any concerns about Jacob deGrom’s arm heading into his start on Monday, those radar gun readings on his first three pitches quieted them immediately.
That trio of pitches became a strikeout to Ronald Acuña Jr., one of six deGrom had in the Mets’ 4-2 win over Atlanta. Playing the first of two seven-inning games in a doubleheader, the Mets knew that something spectacular could happen given the smaller number of outs. If not a seven-inning no-hitter, maybe a seven-inning complete game.
Kevan Smith came up in the top of the fifth with Atlanta still searching for their first hit. He lofted a ball high into the afternoon sky. Left fielder Dominic Smith and center fielder Albert Almora Jr. drifted toward the ball, but neither of them wound up beneath it, left instead wondering why the other person didn’t catch it. That went for a double, but the rally ended one batter later when deGrom popped up Pablo Sandoval with an inside fastball at 100 miles per hour.
That ended the Braves’ only legitimate (albeit wind-aided) threat against deGrom. He bowed out after five innings and 70 pitches, and while he couldn’t get his first no-hitter, he did get his first sticky stuff check. Major League Baseball’s enhanced enforcement of its foreign substance rules means that pitchers’ gloves, hats, and belts are now subject to on field checks. As his teammates told us on Twitter, deGrom was clean.
The Mets played with a lead for basically the entire game, taking a 1-0 lead when Muller threw a wild pitch in the bottom of the first that allowed Jonathan Villar to scamper home. The speedster reached on a leadoff walk, moved up to second on a Francisco Lindor bunt, then tagged up on a Smith sac fly to get himself to third and set up the run.
Smith smoked a bases-clearing double in the fifth to extend the lead.
On a day where both teams combined for seven hits, some good old-fashioned small ball helped the Mets to their seventh straight win in deGrom starts. Monday’s mind-blowing deGrom stats:
— His ERA has shrunk to 0.50.
— He’s thrown 30 straight scoreless innings.
— He is now the only pitcher in MLB history to allow one earned run or fewer in 12 straight starts.
Most importantly, he got there without any new injury scares.
